In the Path of the Ravager
by AncientDoom
Summary: It's been a few years and NOW everyone wants Varus dead! Why couldn't they have wanted him dead while he was a Sith? Rated T for -mild cursing- and -violence-. Focuses on drama, humor, adventure, angst, hatred, and romance. Galen/Ahsoka and OC's galore. Season -2- of "In the Path of". Now complete!
1. Summary

DO NOT READ THIS UNTIL YOU HAVE READ "In the Path of Revan". This is a sequel. or just read the summary if you want to skip Season 1.

In the Path of The Ravager takes place 5 years after In the Path of Revan. There is a lot of stuff that happened between, but not enough to warrant its own fiction. Instead there will be back-stories and explanations to fill in the gap.

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**Here is a Summary of Season One:**

**Starkiller, apprentice to the deceased Darth Nihilus, was tricked by Darth Sidius into becoming a puppet of the Jedi through a force mind-wipe. He was renamed Varus Wynn and assigned to Anakin Skywalker as his second Padawan alongside Ahsoka Tano.**

**Following a lead from the former Sith, Starkiller, they a Sith Holocron linked to Revan that was implanted into Varus's mind. The following investigation shed light on the fact that the Star Forge was still alive. Anakin Skywalker was assigned to follow the trail of Revan left in Varus's mind to find the Star Forge for the Republic.**

**Thus far they have landed on Dantooine and entered an ancient tomb of the Infinite Empire. Inside Ahsoka and Varus both encountered illusions. Varus's illusion was a version of himself, twisted and dark by the temple, and he was forced to end the illusion by promising to himself to eventually remember who he was. They recovered the coordinates to five locations that would piece together the coordinates of the Star Forge.**

**Varus returned home and moved out of the Temple. After a blood scan, he looked into information that was contradictory. He wasn't human. He was a Miraluka. The Jedi had been wrong on his profile information.**

**Despite the Jedi's hopes, sins of Starkiller's past are catching up to Varus. Maris remembers him after Starkiller murdered her Master, and sees him in the Temple. She has been told it is classified, and to leave it alone. She spent time in mourning, and has improved while Ahsoka was gone, but then someone kidnapped her and took her to a dark place on Coruscant. There, he talked with her, and showed her who her true enemy was.**

**And an unknown power called 'Manager' is conspiring against the Jedi, and while he died mysteriously, his legacy was taken up by a mysterious woman who also died. Just before death, she confronted Palpatine, and presented the mask of Darth Nihilus.**

**The second planet to on Revan's path has been Tatooine. There, Anakin is confronted with his personal demons, and his Padawans step up for him after they are captured by the Ghorfa clan: Ineh. Striking a deal with the Ineh, they will be allowed to enter Builders Valley for the Forge's coordinate segment provided Varus ends the Ghost of Ravine. Varus and Koj'Ineh hunt the ghost and Varus turns the ghost to his side after figuring out the ghost was actually HK-47, the personal assassination droid of Darth Revan.**

**While they are leaving Tatooine, a hunter, assigned by Palpatine to 'remind' Varus, encounters Maris, and after subduing her allows her to join him. Maris, in realizing the Republic had sent this hunter, turned to the dark side in her anger, fury, and loneliness of being betrayed. They followed Varus to the second planet, Manaan, and while Varus was in the process of returning from having reclaimed the next segment, the hunter attacks. Varus barely survives by accidentally stunning his suit with electricity, and the hunter is forced to flee as reinforcements arrive.**

**Then, on the third planet, Kashyyyk, Maris and the hunter catch up with Varus and nearly kill him. Varus, while close to death, enters a state where his body acts on its own and he remembers the fact that he was a Sith. While barely conscious, he kills Maris and the hunter with his unlocked power. It leaves him emotionally scarred, and Ahsoka mourns the death of her friend. After some heart-to-heart talk with the team, they admonish Varus of his guilt, but advise not to access that dark power again. Varus and Ahsoka consider his past as a Sith and conclude that his "amnesia" was not what they thought it was.**

**They head back to Coruscant when news reaches them of War. Windu confronted Sidius and forced his hand, sending the Seperatists and Republic into one final large-scale battle as the droid army tries to reach the Senate. Also, the Sith come in full force to go after the Jedi Temple.**

**The whole galaxy moves in these final days: The Revanchist extract Senators from Coruscant, the Republic generals either attack Confederacy space to take it or return to Coruscant in defense, the Mandalorians and Hutts expand in every direction, and the Jedi find themselves pushed to the Temple to fight for their lives against the Sith invasion.**

**Nihilus, bearing the face of Sidius, leads the attack on the Jedi Temple and begins a whole-sale slaughter of the people. The Jedi, and the clone battalian stationed there, put up a valiant defense, but ultimately cannot stop the Sith from entering the depths of the temple in search of prey.**

**Varus, Anakin, and Ahsoka arrive at the temple, in time to help, and Varus continues to show a darker side consistently growing inside him all the while, but cannot stop the Sith completely. Nihilus, still bearing the face of Palpatine/Sidius, duels Windu. Windu manages to kill his body, but fails to kill Nihilus. Nihilus rises from the body as a shadow and reveals his true form before them all, only to point to Starkiler in their midst and order him to return to his side.**

**Varus, fearful with the knowledge of what Nihilus can, and will, do, flees. The Jedi flee as well under Anakin's assistance after seeing Nihilus slay a hundred of their strongest with ease. The sight of Starkiller running from him, and how he still failed to reclaim his apprentice, enrages Nihilus, and he unleashes his greatest, and darkest, power. He begins a purge of all of Coruscant.**

**Falon is blinded by a touch of Nihilus's mist, but is saved by Varus as they flee. Anakin is pulled into the mist, and Varus stays behind to protect the last of his team. A few Jedi escape the planet and the purge, but still become an endangered species. Ahsoka is stunned at the death of her team.**

**However, Varus and Anakin were not dead, but shrouded in Nihilus's persona. After a brief talk with Nihilus, Varus comes to learn of the truth: That the Jedi wiped his mind and turned him into a Jedi against his will. Feeling betrayed by Anakin, whom he considered like a father-figure, Varus returned to his Master's side and fled home to the Ravager.**

**Anakin gives chase to Varus all the way to the Ravager, and Ahsoka feels them again when they leave Nihilus's touch and she goes after them as well.**

**Anakin catches up with Varus. There, he experiences of vision of how the meeting could go: With Varus killing him and Ahsoka in a fit of rage and pain. Rather than allow the vision to pass, Anakin goes in unarmed and offers himself in Ahsoka's place, and this opens up talking between him and Varus. After a heart-to-heart session with Varus, they reconcile. Anakin closes the door to Varus's personal chambers, hiding all of the boy's trophies among which was Plo's lightsaber, the man who was Ahsoka's mentor before him all her life. Varus willingly agrees to turn himself over to justice for his past.**

**After a brief reconciliation with the team, and the promise to reveal all secrets when they are safe, they come across a fragment of Nihilus. Varus casts him out, and Nihilus is truly enraged. He gathers himself up from across the planet and comes at them to finish them once and for all, and take back his apprentice. Varus leads them to the bridge of the Ravager, puts the ship back together through the force, feeds it with his own power, and brings about their escape in the nick of time and killing Nihilus in the wake of their Warp-jump on the planet's surface.**


	2. Prologue - Varus Wynn

**Note:**

**Okay, what I am doing is a series of chapters to start off and do a kind of… prologue/epilogue. It more or less covers some of the time span between Season One and Season Two. There will be MORE in terms of "stuff has happened in the last five years", but these prologues are meant to give the basic idea of what 'path' in life the characters are taking after the events at the end of Season One.**

**Because really. Coruscant is a rock devoid of life and the Jedi Order is down to its last thousand or so occupants. (some weren't on Coruscant at the time, realistically. But without a Council or Central Government for the organization, and without many of its Masters and Knights that it lost, or its archives and holocrons, then it doesn't have much to work from.)**

**So a lot of people are going to go in directions that are very un-canon.**

**I have also recruited the assistance of one of my biggest reviewers, randoomy. She/he knows Ahsoka best, and has all the while, since the very beginning, had the characters pegged beautifully and gave me a few minor ideas. She does some beta reading and advice in terms of Ahsoka's mentality from chapter to chapter so long as she/he is willing to offer the help. I'm not holding her to anything.**

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**Prologue - Varus**

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The last few days have been… difficult.

A year ago, give or take a month, I was mind-wiped by Jedi under the influence of Darth Sidius. Sidius promised me, Starkiller, a duel, over my right of ascension, since he was the killer of my master Nihilus. I was wrong on many counts. First of all, Nihilus wasn't dead, far from it. Second, Sidius had no intention of dueling me. Third, I was wrong to think the Jedi were all-perfect as their image presented. The Jedi are as whimsical as anyone else. They are just as human.

The part I don't get about them is how their Order tries to make them above what they are. Deny emotion, your better than that, blah blah blah. I went through all this time under the teachings, and what I got was the extremely-filtered-essential crap from one Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, my appointed master. I don't want to imagine what the other's would have told me or wanted me to do.

Regardless, the year was one to reflect on. It was fun. It was peaceful, as peaceful as my life has ever been, and I found something denied to me before. A family, as it was. Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano. It was fun. If given the choice, I'd do it all over again, only without the mind-wiping.

Unfortunately that doesn't appear to be much of an option. Starting a few days ago I've slowly started to remember everything, due to outside influences, and it is due to that remembrance that I will be in trial soon. My master has a strong sense of justice, and knows it must be done, and I just… need it resolved. Starkiller never felt guilty. His ambition was his singular purpose and his focus kept him from acknowledging any emotion that got in the way, but I'm not like that. I threw away that ambition to keep my… family alive.

I used the Ravager to escape Coruscant. We went adrift somewhere and sent out a beacon. The ship was in pieces again, and our life support was gone, but we got recovered soon. It was a big spectacle too. People were all "YEAH! THE RAVAGER IS CAPTURED!" and one skeptical general… Onasi, watched us with a perception and wariness that was scary.

I turned myself over, and here I am. The trial should be starting soon.

The punctuality of the army doesn't disappoint. The door opens and a few soldiers enter in. They put a special collar around my hands. Being a Sith who has electricity flowing through him at all times, I warrants a special collar. I should feel grateful! Nah, not really. But not resisting and even trying to smile is worth something right? Yeah… they don't seem to be buying it. I'm also in new clothes and unarmed. They practically stripped me naked to ensure I didn't have a weapon on me.

They lead me down the hall and we enter a larger room. It's actually a lot smaller than I was expecting. On one side is a long table with a number of high-ranking looking military people. In the middle is a round pedestal. To the other side are two tables. On one is my lawyer and the other is my 'rival' lawyer, whatever the heck they call it. I'll just call him Hardback because he sits straight as a board. Tree-Hugger and Mother Hen sit in the back, further away, with a third person I don't recognize. Tree-Hugger offers me a reassuring smile, but Mother Hen avoids gazing at me.

Uh… okay? Did Tree-Hugger tell her everything? That might explain why she is so closed off.

The sight of her avoiding my eyes hurts, but I shake my head and shove the emotion away. It feels foreign. It hurts a lot more, and closer to my core, than it should be. I can't let it affect me here. Tree-Hugger notices her avoidance and shrugs apologetically, but his eyes tell the truth. He told her.

Yeah, I'm doomed. She's a witness.

Don't know who the third person is.

"Varus Wynn." The first general says. Some woman. She's very thin and actually very alien. She looks almost like a cat with very very short fur. She stands up. "You are here to answer to crimes you are accused of including forty counts of first-degree murder, two-hundred counts of second-degree murder, thirty-thousand counts of third-degree murder, theft, sabotage, and terrorism against the state." My eyes explode open. I knew I murdered, but 30,240 people?! Is she serious? "How do you plead?"

…

"Varus?"

"Oh, I'm allowed to speak?" I say before I think. Manaan I wasn't allowed! What am I supposed to know?

I'm actually liking this already! I'm allowed to talk! Wait… bad idea. I shouldn't be allowed to talk.

"Yes, Varus, you are allowed to speak, or your lawyer can do it for you."

"Uh…" I stammer. "Plead? I don't plead anything. I'm not asking the questions. I'm just standing here."

Tree-Hugger face palms and the judge stares at me blankly. What? I am not pleading for my life or groveling. I'm just standing here.

My lawyer jumps up and grabs me by the arm to lower me. He whispers. "What she means is, are you innocent or guilty?"

"Ohhhh! Guilty." I tell him. "I'm a murderer."

"Yes, but of all that? Or do you want a reduced sentence? Because if you just say 'guilty', you will be executed by tomorrow. If you say 'innocent' we can reduce the charges down and get life."

"Ah. That sounds good. What does that have to do with-?"

"It's a figure of speech." He tells me. He raises himself up and says louder, "Your honor, he pleads innocent of the charges."

"Very well." She nods and sits down. "Let us begin with the first witness."

The first witness is actually the third person besides my team. From here on, people are talking and moving so fast I have difficulty keeping up. The soldiers grab me and bring me off the stand to my lawyer and I sit.

Hardback stands up and asks the witness who she is and her relation to me. She was a Czercha worker and watched me on video cameras as I infiltrated a Czercha compound and stole research.

Oh dear, yeah… Nihilus had ordered me to go into a Czercha space station, take something specific, bring it back, and leave no witness. That involved a lot of dead people.

The talking became increasingly negative. She cries, she points at me a few times, she describes how I butchered people.

Then the cameras come out. Whoo! Home movie! Except its of me… Cutting security forces and scientists down like wheat and leaving a path of destruction in my wake. I wince with each one because I can see them in my memory. Starkiller didn't see them, he didn't care. They were just obstacles that kept getting in his way.

My lawyer asks some questions in my defense, such as why she didn't bring it out beforehand. She says I threatened her.

Liar! I never even met her. Trust me, if I had so much as laid eyes on her, she wouldn't be here. I don't doubt the material and her fear, but don't confuse it for me threatening her directly!

I tell my lawyer that exact thing. He turns the questioning over in that direction and points out the flaw, that if I had seen her, she would have been dead since I 'apparently' spared no one. It sounded actually very very bad to be saying outloud, but an hour later she is proven to have lied and the evidence is thrown out the window.

"That was close." The lawyer says to me on his return. "If that had held against you, it would have been several thousand third-degree murders."

"But it happened." I look at him curiously.

"That doesn't matter." He says flippantly.

Doesn't matter? Doesn't matter that I have blood staining my hands? Doesn't matter that I have to live with the nightmares of seeing this refreshed memory?

I close my eyes and recoil my anger. This is off to a wonderful start! Already this isn't doing what I intended.

Next up on the stands is Tree-Hugger!

"Anakin Skywalker." Hardback stands. "It is an honor to have you here, your reputation precedes you."

"I'm sure." He smiles, but it looks unnatural and fake. Is he just being polite or is he angry about something?

"Now, tell the courts, do you know the defendant?"

"Yes."

"How so?"

"I am his Jedi mentor and his master."

"I see. Did you know he was a Sith when he was placed under your tutelage?"

"Before."

"Pardon?"

"He was a Sith before my tutelage, not during." Tree-Hugger corrected.

"Objection." The lawyer says smoothly. "Matter of opinion."

"Overruled." A general states.

"Very well. So knowing he was placed under you, you took him in despite his history?"

"Yes, I did." Tree-Hugger nods.

"Why?"

Tree-Hugger opens his mouth, but shuts it quickly. He glances at me and says, "I was ordered to."

He nods and repeats it. "You were ordered to… Were you also ordered to bring him into war council meetings days after having him? Meetings he destroyed?" "No." "Were you ordered to bring him into a war zone with the uncertainty of whether he would do any good on Dantooine or bring about harm? Your own report states that he was reckless."

"Objection!" My lawyer says. He stands up. "Influencing the witness."

"Sustained." A general says.

At this point I lose any and all interest. There is only so much technical stuff I can take before I lose focus. My lawyer stands and asks questions of my history with him, pinpointing details that I wouldn't have considered, and Hardback does the same thing.

It lasts about two hours… I can barely keep my eyes open with all the crap. Its either something I've heard before, remember easily, or are words I don't understand.

More than a few times Tree-Hugger looks like he wants to say something more, but every time he says anything beyond an absolute answer, he is treated like a 'hostile witness' as my lawyer calls it.

He doesn't even get to his opinions or anything! Just straight facts! Yes, I was a Sith. Yes, he knew. Yes, he took me in. Why would he treat me like he did? Finally he is able to say something.

"Because what I saw before me a broken young man. He was a Sith and murderer, yes, but one molded by a Sith Lord since childhood. With the influence of the Sith Lord gone, Varus, I found, was just as easy to mold in many ways as Nihilus may have found. It was a bumpy road, but over the year I watched over him, he became a Jedi Padawan I was proud to have at my side." He looks at me. "And a friend." I smiled in thanks. "You would have never known he was a Sith unless told otherwise. He went out of his way to help people."

The questions from there, actually became worse as the time table moved to more… recently.

"Yes, I was scared, when Varus remembered everything from his past, both how he was wronged and the wrongs he did. He was angry. I had a vision-"

"Objection!" My lawyer stands up. "Are we allowing dreams into evidence now?"

"Sustained." A general states. "Please avoid delving into visions, General Skywalker. This is not a court of Jedi."

"Understood." Tree-Hugger nods. "I… felt… that under the condition of his anger, he would lash out and kill me. It took a lot of convincing, but I managed to resolve the situation and calm his anger. Once he was calm, he helped us escape."

He wasn't on the stands much longer, but the line of questioning didn't seem all that good. I know that his experience with me means a lot, but it seems professionally it's all about the facts.

Yeah, I'm doomed.

Next witness called was Mother Hen. She still looked down and unsure. Whether that uncertainty was of me or Tree-Hugger or herself or the courts or what, I couldn't say.

I still can't see what is going through her head, and it scares me. She's always been someone who's mind I can read, somewhat. Not like I'm psychic, but it's just… I don't know. I just know her. A connection or something where I can at least predict her train of thought.

She gets on the stand, but doesn't raise her head. She just stares at the ground blankly. I share a curious glance with my lawyer.

"Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano." Mr. Hardback begins. "Do you know the defendant?"

I smile and watch expectantly… but she doesn't answer. She keeps looking at the ground as though she didn't hear it. Her wide-eyed stare is getting scary.

"Ms. Tano. Did you hear the question?"

Still no answer.

"Ms. Tano?" A judge asks.

Her eyes well up in tears and she still doesn't answer. I turn in my seat to Tree-Hugger and we share a worried glance. She's not acting like herself.

Was the knowledge of what I was, and what I did, as Starkiller, this much of an impact?

After several seconds, the judges whisper amongst themselves briefly before the cat-woman stands up. "Please escort Ms. Tano from the stand." She motions to security. "It appears this witness is in no condition to make the stands. General Skywalker, would you explain this? She is your student."

Tree-Hugger stands up from the back. "Apologies, your honor. The last twenty-four hours have been… difficult. She lost a friend to madness then death, witnessed the battle of Coruscant and slaughter of the Jedi Order, witnessed both me and Varu-the defendant die only to learn we didn't, in fact, die, and then the escape from Coruscant was rather… hectic. Now being made to stand on trial against another friend under the accusation of so many murders."

The woman nodded in understanding. "Please inform her we feel for her in her loss, General, however, we cannot afford much time for her to recover completely. The Senate is demanding action of us, as well as the remaining Jedi. That this is a military trial is evident of how serious the pressure is upon us, as it is the only way left to alleviate and buy time for proper proceedings. We will allow her a day to recover enough to be able of sound mind." The other judges nodded in agreement and I was escorted away.

The next day, she never showed up. A psychiatrist informed us that it would take a while before she would be able to.

So I was called up to give my testimony. Testimony is a very long word that I needed translated, but I sighed and stood there. "I was born Galen Marek of the Miraluka. When I was a child, a man named Nihilus offered to give me a glowy-stick and show me how to lift rocks if I showed him where something was. I did, and he destroyed my family, my people for it. Out of anger, guilt, self-loathing, whatever you want to call it, I followed after him with the intention of killing him and became Starkiller."

I see the judges sympathize, but keep their faces neutral. "I was far too weak to kill him, and he never killed me. Instead, in return for doing 'missions' he would teach me more and for each Jedi I assassinated in the future he would do a proper duel with me with the full opportunity to kill him, rather than a spar. I don't know how many people I killed on my missions, as it was my assignment to leave no witnesses and therefore, no survivors. I don't even know who's side I killed or what organization I stole from. All I knew was targets, finishing the mission, returning home, and killing him. It was how he raised me for fourteen years and that mindset became everything to me."

My lawyer looks visibly upset that I'm being THIS honest, but really, I'm ticked off that he thinks so little of what I told him was the truth. 'My best interest' is supposed to be his job, well guess what, I need this crap settled! THAT'S my best interest!

"I turned my target to Palpatine, or Darth Sidius, whichever you wish to call him, when I believed Nihilus to have died to him. He told me he would smuggle me to him if I turned myself over to the authorities on Coruscant, and I did. I wound up before the Jedi Council and had a Force-Amnesia technique used on me at your Chancellor's pushing. I became Varus Wynn."

"As Varus, I lost my ambition, my revenge, my hatred. I still had my hostile instincts and 'vulnerabilities', but Tree-Hugger…" They look at me curiously. I shake my head. "I mean Skywalker taught me how to be responsible, how to think of others, and other things that you all take for granted as lessons. I don't claim to BE responsible or to give much of a crap about other people, but I stopped killing and worked to protect people. You have the mission statements, you know what I did as a semi-Jedi. I have no desire to kill people unless they force my hand. Even after I learned and remembered my past, and what the Jedi did to me, I had Tree-Hug… Skywalker's influence enough that I didn't resort back to the same anger, hatred, bloodlust, and revenge. Don't get me wrong. If I get in arm's reach of Nihilus, I'm going to break his skull. If I get in arm's reach of a Jedi besides these two, I'll break his nose."

My lawyer stands up to stop me, because apparently being that blunt isn't a good idea. But the judges motion for him to sit back down. They've realized I plan to speak my own mind. Good.

"But besides the crap against me by both the Sith and Jedi, I am both, yet neither, now. I have no desire to kill unless forced, but to protect while I still see the faces of the people I killed in my sleep. Yet I still want to kill Nihilus if given the opportunity. I don't want to die. But I don't want the deaths I inflicted to go unanswered." I pause and look to my lawyer. "Now, I'm done."

He doesn't stand. Guess he isn't up to saying anything now. Oh well, his loss.

"Very good, Varus. You may now sit." A general says.

I nod and sit down. The lawyer is PISSED. Frankly, I don't care. I'm not going to be his publicity stunt for winning a famous trial by twisting the truth. I'm here to 'kill Starkiller' in a sense. I'm not leaving until I do. If they want to forgive me, that's fine. So long as I destroy that dark corner of my mind.

'Recess' is called, and apparently that means a short break. Why can't they just say take a break? Why does everything need to use such technical crap?

When we return, the generals ask us to stand. One of the four generals, apparently a man named Carth Onasi, is the one who speaks. He hasn't said a word this entire time until now. "We have looked at the testimony of our one viable witness, looked into the records of the missions the defendant went on, and the testimony of the defendant himself. We sympathize with the position you were under as a child, but you were old enough later on to know what you were doing before an outside influence erased your mind. We also sympathize with this crime against you, and see you did change after that. However, while it may excuse a few crimes, we are looking at death in the thousands and undeniable intent to kill that goes beyond the norm. I came here expecting to have you executed in front of a firing squad, but the sentence decided upon is fifty-years in a maximum security prison without parole and no visitation rights." The other Generals stand and are in agreement. Not that the agreement wasn't already obvious with them having decided it, but I guess they need to show before witnesses that it was agreed.

The Starkiller inside me screams and rages, but I clamp down on it and keep him down. I close my eyes and put my face in my hands. If this is what it takes… then this is what it takes. It actually feels good. I was getting tired of running from my past. Now I shot it down. This trial will probably be a public spectacle.

"Varus Wynn, do you have anything you want to say?"

I raise my head. "You mean like last words?"

"In a sense."

I shrug and stand up. "Just a simple request."

"Okay?"

"Don't have my sentenced publically as a Sith or Jedi, just simply as Varus Wynn."

The generals share a brief glance with a few nods. The Onasi person says, "We will see what we can do."

I sit back down and let out a breathe I didn't realize I was holding. The lawyer rages at me in whispers, but I ignore him. He's already ticked me off, and I don't give much of a crap what he thinks. He gets the idea and stomps away. A guard is on me a moment later gently pulling me up and escorting me away.

As we walk away I glance back and paste on a fake smile for Tree-Hugger and Mothe-… she's not here. Right. Oh well, can't blame her. If anything, the affect the last couple days have had on her is only more guilt I have to deal with.

Doors close behind me and I face forward toward a ship that will take me away to… wherever. Doesn't matter. I'll get out when I'm old and wrinkly. I'm just so… tired of it all.

* * *

(A few days later.)

I stand in line behind other prisoners. I'm wearing something orange with a number on it and a special bracelet over my wrists. Apparently they have had to deal with other 'Sith' in the past here. Most of the other prisoners look like very high profile killers, illegal bounty hunters, and incredibly dangerous idiots. I move through the line and some… orange goop lands on my tray. It smells like dysentery.

I shrug mentally and walk away. The cafeteria is massive. There are about a hundred prisoners here or more and Republic troopers walk the paths above us in a patrol, as well as several dozen at the edges of the room prepared to jump in at a moment's notice.

Whispers and wide-eyed stares of wonder pass in my wake. "That's the apprentice of Nihilus!" "His master destroyed Coruscant!" "He's killed five-hundred thousand Jedi and-" Really? It was forty. The rumors are as stupid as they are boring, but the fear of me is obvious enough. With it being public knowledge of how my former master destroyed Coruscant all on his own, yeah, I'm going to be #2 on the galaxies most wanted list, even in here, and that includes from other prisoners.

I sit down in isolatation and poke at my food. Some yellow liquid comes out of the… potatoes? Not sure what it is, but on the inside I remember the time Falcon and I were joking around. 'IT'S BLEEDING! HAHAHA!' I snort in memory.

"You find something funny, runt?" A deep voice says above me.

I glance up without turning my head. There's a kind of massive hunched-back lizard with scales looking down on me from barely a foot away. Everyone's eyes turn to us, and he has scars over almost every single inch of his scaled hide.

Sounds like Mr. Tough guy wants to show me who's boss. Yeah, that's going to go well. I ignore him and shovel more in my mouth.

"Hey, I'm talking to you!" He says in a kind of yelling-whisper and moves my platter away from me.

I swallow. "I wouldn't suggest touching me." I grab the plate and continue eating. Should I be bothered to deal with every low-life that crosses me path? That would leave me with a lot of wasted moments.

Another prisoner tries to stop Mr. Tough Guy and pull him away nervously. "Cracus! He's the Sith Apprentice to Darth Nihilus!" Sith!? I clench my jaw. I barely restrain the anger that appears at being called Sith. I'm not Sith. I'm not Jedi. I don't want to be affiliated with either of them, but I guess this is part of having your past dog you.

"Ha!" Mr. Tough Lizard says mockingly. "If he's the Destroyer's personal apprentice, then I'm a soft little pastry!" He shoves the other prisoner away and turns back on me. His hand is stupidly close to me.

"Whatever you say, Cupcake." I smirk. Even looking down at my food, his head is close enough that I see his rage and jaw open. Before he has time to think of doing something stupid, I stab his hand with my fork. It draws blood before I spin around and do a maneuver I'm used to. I kick him in the back of the knee-caps and send him toppling backwards. Normally a punch on the back of his neck mid-fall would snap it, or a lightsaber swipe would be a perfect beheading, but that's not what I do anymore. I have no interest in that.

He falls flat on his back with his legs still under him in a position that is more than a little embarassing. I return to sitting and already three soldiers are around me with lightning-staffs pointed at me. It isn't all that intimidating when lightning doesn't hurt. "You're going to be a lot of trouble, aren't you scum!" One of them growls.

I shrug and focus on my food. "I was just… playing with my food."

They pick me up and shove me in detention for two days. Fair enough.

I don't plan to cause trouble, and I don't want to. But I felt that taking Cupcake down a notch was message enough to the rest of the prison, and therefore, necessary. Leave. Me. Alone.

* * *

(Ten Months later.)

Cupcake still has a grudge, but the rest of the prison got the message. I sent an eight-foot scaled lizard to the ground like it was nothing and drew blood, hand or not. Even if a few are skeptical of whether or not I am as dangerous as my reputation truly is, I'm still dangerous. They leave me alone.

A group assembles around me, like I'm a "big boss" or something stupid like that. They share stories of girls and pictures of children. (Some of the stories are so graphic I cough in embarrassment at having to hear it.) They chide each other and crack rude jokes and laugh all the time. They would actually be reasonable company if they weren't murderers and rapists and political prisoners.

One of the little 'rules' around here is to assemble in groups for protection. One of the rules is to draw blood of an opposing gang in order to get in. I tell the people who 'think' of me as some boss that I will not protect them if they are stupid enough to draw blood to get in. They want me to sit here and keep an eye on them and make sure other gangs don't kill them? Fine. I don't care. Just don't think I'm some gang leader who is going to protect from if they stab someone in the gut and cause scars just to prove to me their tough.

Since then, things have actually be relatively calm. A few new people try to kill me like I'm some achievement to be won, and I always beat them down. One of them I didn't even move for. I just allowed the natural electricity in my body to make him realize that grabbing me by the neck probably wasn't the smartest thing to do. With each challenger I knock to the ground and walk away from, my reputation builds as someone not to make trouble with. I earn several detentions, but it's nothing big. I think the Warden recognizes that I am purposefully not hurting people.

I sit in the main lounging room with the 'gang' of people who feel protected around me and listen as they do the usual chiding.

"F***, man! You never did that!"

"I f****** did, F*******! I F**** him for daring to touch her! That F******* got the F****** idea! Don't F****** my-" Force! How many F's is this guy going to use? It grates my ears.

"Stop that!" I roll my eyes, and they stop talking. "That f-word makes me cringe every time you use it, plus it makes you sound like an idiot. Speak like an intelligent human being."

"Sorry, boss."

I groan and lay back on the table. "I'm not your boss…" I whisper, but they don't care. They want me to make sure they aren't killed by other people? Fair enough, but don't think I'm in charge of them or anything. I don't want underlings.

Really, I will protect them if I have to. These 'gangs' or something actually kill people over stupid things like… shadows. That still makes me scratch my head. I make sure these idiots don't kill in turn, and to be fair, a lot of the more… 'peaceful' ones migrated because of it. I guess even criminals have their standards. Which is fine, I let anyone near me provided they don't cause trouble with others or each other. There's only about ten of them, but its ten more than I care to have, personally.

An alarm blares and most everyone either panics or thinks someone did something or there's a riot or something stupid. I just lay here. If there's a riot, not my fault or problem. The 'gang' of 'idiots' who like being under my shadow stay here nervously. I know for a fact they didn't do anything.

Before long the guards are on the move. Many of them leave to go help take care of whatever, and the rest funnel us to a place more secure. 'Secure' in this case, probably being where they can control us better if we do something stupid.

"None of you should get involved." I make it clear. I sigh at the stupidity of people. "Some 'gang' probably had enough and are pulling a stunt that will get them killed."

"But, boss." Stop calling me boss! "What if this is our chance to escape?"

I open one eye and look down at him. "Really?" I blurt out. "Fine, go ahead. Go get yourself killed and murder some troopers in your bid to get your own life back. Two of you will be getting out in a year anyway. Decide whether it's into the arms of that girl of yours, or in a body bag. I'm going back to sleep." I close my eyes with a deep sigh and will the sound away.

It doesn't actually work. The alarm is blaring and I'm forced to head to this 'secure' room until the situation is under control. The 'gang' of idiots, which I claim no participation with, follow along.

We sit around in the 'secure' room. I lean back against the wall and just… do nothing. I'm completely calm. Compared to even half the stunts I've been in over my life, an alarm is nothing. It's less than nothing. It's boring really. The idiot's see my calmness and calm down in turn. It must be contagious or something, and they return to the usual banter of comparing the size of their humanity.

The door is shut and sealed and the guards get ready in case we do something stupid or someone comes in and does the same. Unfortunately, after a while, something like that happens.

The door explodes open and a bunch of army-people with guns storm in.


	3. Prologue - Ahsoka Tano and Rex

**Note: This is the first work that I have done with randoomy here.**

**This is the second prologue. There are a number of them to go before we get down to the meat of the story.**

* * *

**Prologue - Ahsoka Tano and the Clone Army**

* * *

There was the swish of the door opening, closing, the sound of receding footsteps and then silence.

She felt like she was falling. Every foundation in her life had crumbled or was in the process of crumbling.

All her life, since she was three, she had a stable foundation under her feet. Master Plo Koon had taken her away to a safe haven where she could be with others like her and not be singled out as different, where they would develop their gift to help protect those in need. In her small mind back then he seemed so strong, with such a profound sense of justice. She idolized him so much so that she aspired to prove herself worthy of being a Jedi like him. She took to the Jedi Order like many of her peers. She could still see the group of younglings struggling through it.

The two top of her class was Maris Brood, a girl renowned for her skill, but having difficulty with principles, and herself, being almost the exact opposite. They studied together and rubbed off on each other all throughout their initiate years, traveled to Ilum where they undertook the Trials and gained unique crystals to forge their own lightsabers with. That's it until Maris was taken by Master Shaak Ti at the age of twelve, and then two years later Ahsoka was assigned to Anakin Skywalker by Master Yoda himself.

Maris and her went apart as they no longer saw each other and turned into "old friends". The good kind that always had each other's back when it mattered no matter what they were doing, rather than leave them alone to time.

Being Anakin Skywalker's Padawan was tough. Master Yoda seemed to have paired them up with a specific purpose in mind and in the beginning his reasoning eluded her. But soon enough she could see her own flaws in her master, the overconfidence, recklessness, pride, temper, impatience and realized that someone had to compensate or they were both doomed.

The next few years were a rollercoaster, or so she thought. She had never needed to be responsible for anyone before, but under Skyguy she found herself helping keep him be in check just as much as he did her. Maybe that was Master Yoda's cruel way of teaching accountability.

Then she met Varus… If it was a hint at the future, her first encounter involved being called a 'slut'. Beyond that, it went well, all things considered with a very unorthodox Padawan partner. She found herself having to be responsible for him just as much as for her master. She expected to despise him, dislike him, or even be forced to tolerate him, first impressions considering; but instead found herself truly caring for a young man, a bit older than herself in nothing but age, who lacked every foundation she had.

Something as small as a lecture made him cower in fear, the slightest mistake sent him into submission, and the prospect of friendship was the greatest achievement imaginable to his currently-hallucinated mind. A kind word made him stare blankly as if he had never heard it before, and a gift of acknowledgment made him so emotional he couldn't help being huggy. (Even though he will deny it to his grave every time.)

How could she hate him? She couldn't.

Over time she was by his side as he explored his past. He found out he was a Miraluka and that his people were destroyed by Darth Nihilus, while he was the 'prince' of the Miraluka. He came to realize he was involved with the massacre as a youngling, and blamed himself when he had no need to.

In time he was the only person she ever knew who could make her happy or aggravated at a moment's notice and she couldn't imagine her life outside of the team.

Then Maris happened… She accused Varus of being a Sith and lost her mind in mourning. She believed the Sith was chasing after her and disappeared, despite Ahsoka's efforts. She reappeared insane and tried to kill her friend. Maris all but succeeded. It was only a day ago… She could still see the blade coming out of Varus' chest. And he had that stupid smirk as if everything was alright. She wanted to either smack him on the arm or tell him to shut it, that wasn't alright! How could it!

Everything turned upside and her foundation dropped out from under her feet. Her whole concept of the Sith as these inhuman beings that knew no mercy and fed off the suffering of others, was beginning to falter as she witnessed what had become of Maris and what would happen to Varus. To her, they were both victims of the Dark Side.

At first her partner was barely holding on to life, falling in a kind of stupor, but then cornered and on the brink of death he was forced to unleash the Dark Side with such terrifying power the likes of which she had never seen, killing Maris. She forgave Varus, he wasn't in full control of his actions after all, but it still hurt so much. And then there was that sinking feeling in her stomach, that she won't be able to do anything to help, events are getting completely beyond her control, something massive is brewing that on such fathomless scale that she is simply left out, utterly incapable of even affecting fate a tiny bit.

And then is when she learned Coruscant was under siege by the Seperatists and Sith simultaneously, while Palpatine all but publicly admitted to being the Sith Lord Sidius. The same Chancellor that had a more than creepy fascination with her master, who was the Sith mastermind behind Dooku and the Clone Wars, who was right under the mighty Jedi Council's nose. Darth Sidius, the reason she now felt all her efforts put into the war, the lives of countless clones wasted, a worthless sacrifice. She never liked him, but Master Anakin… he was close to Palpatine... he took it the worst.

Then her partner came to realize he wasn't just a Miraluka, he was the apprentice to Nihilus and a Sith Assassin for the very man who slaughtered his family. Her heart went out for him.

And then the Jedi order were sieged by the Sith and rather than focus on preventing combat, rather than focus on saving lives and getting people out and just leaving the books and servers behind, they threw themselves into battle with gusto just short of the hatred the Sith presented.

And then, again, Sidius was defeated and replaced by Nihilus, who all but left no survivors of her 'kin'.

As if that wasn't enough, she watched her Master get taken by Nihilus and… Varus… sacrificed himself to save her. Her heart plummeted at the sight. She felt cold… alone.

In true Varus style, that still wasn't enough. Not only did Varus and Skywalker not die, but they were stranded on Coruscant, and they had to do a sudden escape with a broken ship that was all but held together by duct tape!

And let's not forget that Coruscant, her home all her life, was left a lifeless rock by Varus's old master.

Not to mention the Jedi, her kin, the foundation of her life, were now left in so few numbers she could be classified as an endangered species.

But wait, there's more! The Jedi Order, who she all but worshipped, committed a philosophical, hypocritical, and preposterous act in RAPING Starkiller's mind to produce Varus. She may appreciate the final outcome in producing Varus, and Varus would acknowledge that it came out for good, but that still didn't help but leave her… disappointed. Hurt. Broken. Nay! Ashamed! Ashamed to think that THIS was the very thing she aspired to her entire life! A Council didn't exist to do illegal activity as though they were above it, but to aspire to GREATER things than ever, and be an example to all those beneath them!

And Varus, Starkiller, Galen, whatever name he could profess and choose to use now, had once been a mass murderer of tens of thousands. Ahsoka had no doubt in her mind that now that he remembers it all that he regrets every single bit of it, but it still isn't something easy to take in much less comprehend. He murdered a total of forty Jedi Masters and Knights in the name of revenge and duels.

She hated Starkiller, not the broken person, but what he represented and what his actions had caused. She could say that truly. Not necessarily a hatred of passion, but Starkiller was everything she was not, but in the same breathe Varus was everything Starkiller was not as well. Varus was almost Galen given influence by herself and Skywalker. Varus made it his mission to cast aside Starkiller, and she couldn't be prouder deep down.

And finally, at the end of this single day, with her mind and heart barely able to comprehend the sheer enormity of all she had seen, learned, and experienced in the last twenty-four hours… she was asked to testify in court to decide the fate of both Varus and Starkiller at once. Varus, whom she cared for so deeply, and Starkiller, whom she despised and rejected as being beyond understanding. Both were in her hands. And she had to put EVERYTHING into words. EVERYTHING experienced in the span of a year-long day.

All she knew was that she was falling… and she continued falling. Inside, she knew she helped destroy Varus at the cost of destroying Starkiller, but it was a pale benefit. She lost her foundation. She lost… her team. She lost Varus. She lost… everything.

She blinked and realized she was sitting in a bed in a bare room. The faint rumbling was a sign she was on a ship and the food by her was left uneaten. It was cold. Her arms and legs were stiff. The blanket was too tight. The room was too small. The white walls caved in on her and the flue scant lights bore down on her.

She needed to get out of here. This place was suffocating her. She needed some air. She needed to… move. She needed… she needed to do something.

She needed to see Varus, make sure he was alright.

She climbed out of bed, not even noticing her lightsaber on the side table as she walked out the door.

Rex was standing right outside the door leaning against the wall and turned his head at her appearance. "Ad'ika?" He asked.

Ahsoka walked by him and down the hall, but Rex swiftly moved in her way, and she noticed him. "Rex… get out of my way." She tried to move around him, but he wouldn't allow it. Her lowered disposure worried him.

"Commander, you need to return to bed! General Skywalker and I have been worried for days!"

"I can't…" She whispered, having given up moving past him. "I can't go back. I need to get out of here."

"And… go where?" He wondered.

"I don't know. Anywhere. Everywhere. Just not there. It's suffocating. Please… just-"

"Okay."

She hesitated, "What?"

With difficulty he lowered his massive stature down to be at her level. "Ad'ika, I've been on enough battlefields and seen enough death to know that even the strongest mind can reach its breaking point. If you say you need a break, I'll believe that. I only ask one thing: that I come along and watch over you."

"Why?" She wondered. "Why would you come? I don't know where I'm going or where I'll end up."

He shrugged. "We never leave a soldier behind. I'm not about to start now."

She nodded. Her mind and face blank, and he didn't press for a response. He stepped aside, and she walked aimlessly. He placed himself behind by several paces. As they walked, he grabbed a soldier and had the trooper let General Skywalker know that she was leaving and that he would keep a close eye on her. She was in good hands.

They took the first flight without even bothering to check where the destination was. Rex only checked to be sure it wasn't into a battle.

* * *

**(Nine Months after the Fall of Coruscant)**

Ahsoka was glad Rex was around. She doubted she would have been able to function as well in the world, the first few months, without him. She would probably be on the streets by now, or dead. She was messed up. After she found out about Varus' sentencing, it only made things worse. She was a moving vegetable, devoid of personality.

She sat on the porch looking out over the farm.

Of all places Rex chose to go that was quiet and out of the way, it was where some other clone had gone A.W.O.L. and started a family. Rex didn't ask her to keep it a secret, but after seeing the kids, and how quaint the place is, he didn't have to. If anything, soon, there wouldn't be a government left to report it to. The Republic's infighting within the Senate still hadn't settled since they reconvened. There was no Grand Chancellor, no king, no supreme leader, and a lot of the corruption in the Senate was now exposed publically.

There was no war, no battles, nothing. It was a battlefield Rex and his friend could not participate in, and where she could only hear of from news he would bring back.

The hovercraft appeared in sight and drove into the barn. The farmer-clone ran in. Some yelling started between the two clones and the wife of the farmer took the kids away. Ahsoka welcomed them to come sit with her. "What's going on?" She asked.

The woman shrugged. "Not sure, things have been quiet, too quiet. Something is going on. Hubby isn't talking and only looks more tense every night."

"This new-found Dominion or the Hutts getting too close?" Ahsoka wondered. One of the news recently was that the Confederacy had split in two: The Dominion and the United Systems Alliance. The Dominion was aggressively expanding and the Republic was too busy arguing with themselves to do anything about it. Rex had been getting more tense as well. The prospect of being unable to do anything was getting to them. Ahsoka just worried about the United Systems Alliance, they were not having a good time of it, if the news was anything.

The woman shook her head. "If a battle was getting closer, it would make the two of them feel better." She chuckled. "Hubby despises war, but he still is at his most relaxed when he is hunting or working himself to exhaustion."

"Hm…" Ahsoka nodded with a frown. Rex wasn't telling her either and he had been in yelling matches every time he comes back, and half the time she couldn't tell if the two clones were agreeing or not. They yelled when they agreed and just as much when they didn't.

The kids had an idea to cheer up 'papa'. They suggested soaking Rex's underwear in meat juice so the dog would attack him at dinner. That was the kind of idea that would probably make the man laugh, being at Rex's expense. It was the kind of thing she would expect from Varus. Ahsoka found herself laughing.

"Ahha!" The little girl pointed.

"What?"

"That's the first time you've laughed since you got here. We been wondering if you would ever smile."

Ahsoka looked curiously at the mother and noted her neutral concern. Tano nodded in acknowledgement. She hadn't been smiley or happy much. This was as good as she's felt in a long time.

Almost on cue, Rex stormed out of the barn furiously and stomped his way into the house. The farmer stood at the door watching him, and there was a hidden fury in his eyes that frightened Ahsoka. Something was definetely going on, but she couldn't tell who or what it was aimed at. It didn't look like they were mad at each other, but rather a mutual agreement of anger.

"I'm going to see what's up." Ahsoka stood. The farmer's wife agreed to do the same, sent the kids off to play, and went into the barn to see her husband.

Ahsoka entered the farmhouse and found Rex sitting at the table. His helmet was thrown to the side and he had roughly peeled off his upper armor. He actually broke a piece of it in the process. He had a quietly concealed anger in his eyes, like a volcano about to burst. She was used to it, being around Skywalker all these years, but Rex looked like he had a much tighter lid on it. He wasn't about to lash out, accidental or not. He was a professional. He was absolute. Every action was perfect and precise. Every word was chosen carefully, no matter how fast or angry it was. She felt perfectly safe standing in front of him glaring at him and demanding he tell her what was going on.

"Rex. You've been getting angrier every day for weeks. Something is going on. It's frightening everybody, including me. Now, are you going to tell me, or am I going to have to go through your brother?"

Rex looked up at her and sighed. "It's time we told you. Go get the others… this isn't just for me."

Ahsoka nodded and left to get the others. A minute or two later, they were all assembled. The wife looked like she was in the dark too and the kids anxiously sat in their chair. Rex and the farmer-clone exchanged a heated glance for standing side by side. They were truly brothers, whether they would admit it or not.

Rex put down a piece of paper. "This… is the recent news I got from channels from my brothers." He hesitated and the farmer picked up where he left off. "With the end of the Clone Wars, our brothers, and various Senators, have been pushing a bill that will give us, clones, equal standing in the Republic." Rex explained, "We aren't asking to be heroes, or considered anything more than the people we have been protecting. Only that we be given a place in the Republic we have been shedding blood for, for years."

Ahsoka frowned. This was wonderful! So why were they down… Oh no. Rex nodded at her dismay. "The bill was shot down with only a 14% approval yesterday. We are, by definition, a slave army now. Not equal. Not above. Lesser. We have no place in the Republic now but to stand up and die for a government that will not see us as anything more than... Than…"

"Lab-produced rats." The farmer growled.

Rex nodded and Ahsoka was infuriated. She was already getting a bad taste in her mouth from what she had been learning of the Senate's "dirty laundry" being exposed, but this?! This was no better than what the Council did to Varus in some ways! Varus was made, used, and cast aside! Okay, technically there were reasons, so the two scenarios aren't the same, but still!

"It's bad enough they made you with no other reason than exploitation! But this?!" Ahsoka hissed. She blinked. "No offense."

"None taken." Rex and the farmer mutually growled, with the same tone of voice at the same time.

"I agree, Ad'ika, this is too far! But… what can we do? Not like we can just…"

"Desert." The farmer finished, with obvious undertones. "Why not? I did. When I lost my entire battalion and was left behind as dead, what other options was there? I didn't have transport. Now we're all being put down and left behind as something worse than dead! As trash! What other option is there?"

"I-I-We…" Rex stammered.

"You're no longer at war." The wife added. "There is no place for you but by your brother's side. By your families side. And now your family is in danger by the very master's that bore you. Tell us, soldier, what are your options? Cold and hard, what are they?"

"Serve Or die." He answered.

"Then you need a third option, because those are no longer acceptable. What are you going to do?"

Rex looked between everyone and sighed. It was no small matter. They could be disgraced for abandoning their post. But they were already all but disgraced anyway, and there had to be people who were sympathetic. "I'm going to send out feelers. See who is most enraged by this out there both within and without. We're leaving."

* * *

**(Eleven Months after the Fall of Coruscant)**

The once quaint farm, filled with the sounds of animals and quiet of the winds, was now filled with the smell of oil and the sounds of running engines. Hordes of star fighters landed in a nearby valley and in the distant orbit rested The Harbinger, flagship of the Mandalorian fleet.

In the clearing just beyond the farm was an assembly of clones who came for the gathering. Clone commanders gathered from many legions including no less than two hundred senior commanders. Rex was a captain, but he was no senior commander. This accounted for two thirds of the total senior commanders.

Out of the whole gathering the ones chosen to represent the whole was Gree, Deviss, Colt, Dexter, Cody, and Rex. While Cody and Rex were not as high rank as the others, they were considered honorable enough to be so due to their achievements in the Clone Wars, and how Rex did most the work in gathering them together.

Ahsoka was there at Rex's request, but chose to stand back and stay out of the way.

In the distance, Mandalore's personal transport landed and a fighter escort landed around it on all four sides. The ramp lowered and Mandalore, in his massive golden armor stepped down the runway. The ones with him were Zaalbar, the Wookie System Governor, and a woman who Ahsoka had never seen before. She was tall, thin, and lanky. She had a grace to her that she had never seen in a Mandalorian, but also had the pride in her face. It was odd to see a Mandalorian so… thin.

Ahsoka had pictured Mandalorian women as being hulking figures.

Mandalore placed his rifle on the table opposite the clone commanders. He shifted his shoulder cape to reveal the cyborg arm, rather than conceal it.

"Welcome, Mandalore." Rex shook the man's hand.

The man simply nodded. "Allow me to introduce my seconds: Zaalbar. Governor of the Kashyyyk system, and Satine, Governor of the occupied systems of both Manaan and Korriban." He shrugged without shame, "And my woman."

Being his women earned a bow from each of them.

"Thank you, all." She nodded.

Mandalore turned his head. "A Jedi?" Ahsoka flinched. She hadn't expected him to notice her, she was so far out of the way.

Rex raised his hand, "Yes. I am watching over her currently. She has been helping me ever since I made the decision to do this months ago."

"May we cut down to business, Mandalore?" Gree asked. "We understand you to be a very forward politician."

"I prefer to think of it was blunt and straight." The man chuckled. "But certainly." He took a seat, as did the others. Zaalbar and Mandalore both sat in their chairs heavily due to their massive bulk, and Mandalore's chair nearly gave. The man must weigh half a ton as much armor as he has. Satine sat down with smooth grace, yet again something rarely seen in Mandalorians.

Mandalore removed his helmet to reveal a very broad face, thick chin, thick neck, wide nose, and forward piercing eyes. His hair was short and flat on top in a military cut. He had a thick scar running down the side of his face. He was every bit the powerhouse expected of him, except he was so pale it made Ahsoka wonder if he ever leaves the armor.

Mandalore bluntly started, "I am hesitant to admit the Clone army into Mandalore as a clan. I do not consider myself very politically minded, but we have only just managed to unite the clans at long last, and are in the process of restructuring the government from the top down to become a truly recognized galactic state. We are in a fragile state right now, and one of the few subjects to be politically discussed amongst the clans is our view of… you." He gestured to the clones.

Whether they took offense, they did not show it. Satine spoke, her words gentle and flowing like water, "We appreciate your request and sympathize with the injustice forced upon you, but accepting you may lead to civil war right now within ourselves."

"Is it because of the fact that we are clones?" Clovis wondered heavily.

"Yes." Mandalore admitted. "One of the principles in Mandalorian culture is purity of self. While it is no longer looked down upon to be a bastard, and purity of self is mostly created through action and honorable choices, your existence is a complicated one. Half of the clans feel you to be an insult to their existence while other's would happily take you in because they consider you equal brothers. And this is not some simple debatable value any longer, because if I choose to take you all in, then the simple heated debates would turn to civil war."

Satine continued from there, "Plus, there are so many of you. Not that we cannot take in refugees in large numbers, but you are a huge population of one-hundred percent males. It's not like we can scrounge up an equal number of women for arranged marriages, or do marriage auctions or anything of the sort."

"And you? Mandalore?" Gree asked.

Mandalore sighed. "While it is a concern on whether or not we even have enough females for you all, that is more your problem than ours. I am both, yet neither. I would take you in, but all the same I would keep my distance from you. I consider you to be honorable men, worthy of a clan, but you all bear the face of a dishonorable scoundrel and scum bounty hunter. I do not care to see his face everywhere."

He fixed a kink in his neck. "However, that is purely a personal issue I can set aside. What I cannot set aside is the problem of civil war that is very real. What I think doesn't matter. What Satine and Zaalbar think do not matter. What matters is how it would affect us. Yes, we would gain a large clan. Yes, we would gain a massive army. But the cost would be splitting us down the middle and losing everything."

The true debate started. The clones understood their concern, but a few of them had already tried the United Systems Alliance, and the Alliance, being formerly Confederate systems, were untrustful of their request. And the Hutts and Dominion was unacceptable, and the Revanchist disappeared off the map. They couldn't get in touch with them.

Some of the Republic had been making substantial gestures to them and were trying to reverse the bill, but a small ten percent was nothing.

The Clans wasn't just their best option, it was the considered only option. The other one was to turn around and conquer their own home world, a daunting prospect at best and unacceptable at worst.

Ahsoka listened to the debate and considered the problem. At the core of it, the Clans were newly united and such a sudden admittance of a controversial new clan would potentially shatter that unity.

Unless. It wasn't sudden.

Ahsoka wrote a note down and passed it to a clone to pass to Rex. It would be rude of her to just walk up and talk during the debate.

Rex took the note, read it, and turned in his seat to look to her with an appreciative smile.

"Mandalore." Rex inserted himself. "Let us say you provide us an isolated world in your system. A place far enough to put the worry of the clan's at ease, but also close enough that we might interact with them and help shape their views of us personally rather than with prejudiced hearsay. We do not need full acceptance into equality with clans that have been beside you from the beginning, but a chance to prove ourselves. We need a place with hope, Mandalore. That is all we ask."

The other clones nodded their agreement and said nothing. Their silence showing their agreement. That was what they all wanted. Hope, a chance. An opportunity to work their way to equality rather than having it shut in their face. They were not above work. After all, they had been on the front lines of an intense war for years on end. What was this compared to that?

Mandalore sat back in his seat and contemplated it. Satine brightened at the idea and Zaalbar looked pleased as well. Mandalore was the only one to look neutral, and his decision was where it mattered. No one could say whether it was a decision by vote, or if Zaalbar and Satine were merely to offer an opinion and discuss.

Ahsoka put her hands together nervously as the seconds ticked by. Mandalore's face was so completely neutral you couldn't even see the gear turning.

At last he said, "I'll make a list of planets for you to choose from. The one you choose is all yours."

Instantly a cheer went out from the spectators and the commanders at the table let out a deep breathe they had been holding. Mandalore said nothing more, stood up, fixed his shoulder-cape, took up his large rifle, and walked away. Zaalbar stayed along enough to shake a few of their hands, and give the rest a bear hug that made the hulking men wheeze, before leaving. Satine said, "We'll get back with you." She bowed with a bright smile and left as gracefully as she entered.

Ahsoka couldn't contain herself. She cheered with all of them, laughed her heart out, and cried for them. They finally had their place, or at least the hope of one.

Rex made his way through the crowd patting him on the shoulder and back to reach her. He barely opened his mouth before she hugged him too. "Agh! Commander!"

"Shush." She ordered, but couldn't help smiling like a buffoon. "I'm not your general, not anymore."

"Right." He said.

Sensing his nervousness, Ahsoka stepped back. He immediately was at ease again but she couldn't help bouncing up and down on her heels.

The man smiled too, the atmosphere was too gleeful not to, but he still lowered himself to her level. That immediately sobered her up. He only did that when he was serious.

"Ad'ika, I am no longer part of the Republic. Well, at least once we sign the paperwork, and that means I can't watch over you anymore. I have my family, and, thanks in part to you, we have a future. I believe it is time you returned to yours. You are better, no?"

Ahsoka frowned briefly in thought, but she couldn't deny it. She did feel better.

And come to think of it, she did leave Skyguy without saying goodbye. That was quite rude. He was probably hurting now… She didn't mean to abandon him, it just… slipped her mind.

And she did feel better. There was a lot of bad things in the galaxy. A lot of fake innocence and people pretending to be more than what they were, but there was also hope out there when people simply did what they could for each other.

There was good out there, you just needed to work at it or strive for it. Perhaps that's why it felt so worthwhile when you got it, because you had worked for it.

"I am." She smiled up to him. "Thanks, Rex."

He nodded.

* * *

**_Review! Snoopeh needs your good will!_**


	4. Prologue - Anakin Skywalker

**Notes:**

**Guest #1: I'm glad you like where this is going. :) There is a power vacuum, and that will result in a lot of changes. The galaxy will still be the galaxy, but with new faces. But you know what they say, "The more things change, the more they stay the same."**

**Guest Andrew: Don't worry, I will keep it going. I'm glad you like it. To be honest, your half as surprised as I am where the story is going. I'm not trying to send it in different directions every time you figure out what's happening. It just happens, and I find myself just as much a part of the ride as you.**

**Don't blame me, blame the characters! They tell me to do stuff! I didn't mean to! Q.Q**

**Guest "1": Uh, Jango Fett gave sperm to breed a slave army of Mandalorians. That's not going to get him on his people's good side when they see the clones as imperfections or slaves. Not that the Mando'a blame the clones or call them abomination's, but I would be ticked off if someone cloned my sister because they were too lazy to do stuff themselves like that.**

**I don't know if Boba will exist. To be fair, with more focus being on the Mandalorians in terms of power, I can see Boba returning to the fold and finding a place. I'll consider it. He would be a side character at most like Izthark.**

**Guest #2: Glad you love it. :) I aim to please! :D**

**Buckle up! Things are going to be a bumpy ride! All we're doing right now is making the engines hum before the crap hits the fan! AGAIN!**

**So far most people are leaning towards Ahsoka or Visas in terms of matching. I have ideas for OC's if they don't work out, but I'll see if I can make it natural first before I make anything concrete. It has to be natural for the characters. Otherwise I'll dump the whole idea and make it an OC that WILL work, because it would be a major part of Varus growing up.**

* * *

**Prologue - Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan**

* * *

"She's just been sitting there staring at nothing for almost two days now. How much longer will she be like this, General?"

"I don't know Rex!" came Anakin Skywalker's aggravated response. "I've been trying to reach out to her but she isn't responding. I'm not sure she's even aware of my attempts to get through to her. Ever since we entered that courtroom it's like she's switched on to autopilot."

To say that the Jedi Knight wasn't in a good mood would be an understatement. Padme was still nowhere to be found and there wasn't even a hint of her presence nearby in the Force. He could still feel her, but it felt distant, and he couldn't pinpoint a direction or specific distance. He had no word from her and the lack of news on her whereabouts was driving him insane. If she was saved by a Jedi, there was no word from her. If she was captured by a Sith, there was no ransom or threat, and the Force connection didn't feel stressed or hurt.

One of his Padawans, Varus Wynn, has now been robbed of all chances for a normal life because of his coercively wrought out past as Starkiller for no other purpose than satisfying the gluttony of one vile monstrosity named Darth Nihilus, a twisted aberration of life or an abomination of death, or worse, something that existed on the border in the realm of gods and demons. Now that Varus was sentenced to fifty-years in a maximum security prison, without parole, even lacking visitation rights to top things off, Anakin truly felt that he had failed yet another loved one.

And his other Padawan, the original one, was... She was... Just sitting there, completely oblivious to her surroundings, staring with those entirely too large eyes that had lost any spark of rebellion or mischief, looking glazed over and far too empty; but at the same time her mind was engulfed in so much torment, as a hailstorm of emotions kept flowing through their bond including: anguish, sorrow, shame, guilt, dismay, distress, dread, regret, resentment, frustration, bitterness, hurt, agony, pain. So much conflicting emotions that it made him recoil physically and slam down his mental shields against her.

Anakin Skywalker was angry, infuriated with himself that no matter how much he tried he couldn't break her from her stupor. No number of attempts or intensity could drill through. The Beast was circling in its cage, raging in a wild frenzy, not being able to stand his weakness, the vulnerability and inability to do anything. He hadn't slept in what felt a lifetime, exhaustion and weariness seeping through him, settling in his bones, and he was becoming increasingly more desperate.

Anakin sighed. He felt a hundred years old. He stood up from the chair by her side and ignored how his bones seemed to creak. "I need some time to settle myself after... everything. Look after her please. I'll be back later."

"I will." Rex nodded.

With a nod, Skywalker left.

At first he ran, then he walked, then he stopped and stared out into the vastness of space. He had exhausted himself and still the Beast was not quieted down. It prowled inside it's cage. He had a tight lid on it, but the constant poking of his mental walls was making him agitated. He needed to calm down, but peace was eluding him. Sure, he could be passive and compliant and smile all he wanted, but true peace was another matter. True peace was where you didn't try to do those things and wasn't agitated with nothing.

Padme was missing. Varus was… unfortunately where he belonged. Ahsoka was all but missing. Palpatine was dead and with good riddance. Obi-Wan was… Obi was here.

He needed to see Obi-Wan. That would calm him down.

He found Obi-Wan in another room. It was a miniature lounge near the crew's quarters with a large window out into space, a couch, a mini-bar with refreshments, and a poker table. Only two soldiers were present and they seemed more content to sit at the table and read from their data pads. Probably news.

Obi leaned back on the couch watching the stars. In the distance the Onasi fleet circled a large space station being used for refueling and broadcast across the galaxy, while currently a hub for loads of transports coming and going. The refugees from Coruscant were heading out to other planets; and people were coming to see if their loved ones were on the casualty list, or just to find someone to blame. There were too many reasons for people to be coming here, what with this fleet being the one to be around Coruscant for the duration of the battle. There were so many ships jumping out of Warp here, that many have had to be moved to a nearby location to prevent collision. It was becoming the galaxy's parking space, so to speak.

Obi-Wan glanced up at his old student's approach and smirked, "You look as old as I feel, Ani." Despite the attempt at messing with him and striking up an argument, there was a hollowness to his eyes that fell to his feet.

Anakin collapsed beside him. He was exhausted. When was the last time he slept? "I'm supposed to be the younger one…" He responded. "How old does that make you?"

The Master gave a weak snort. His humor lasted barely a moment before darkness came over him again. Anakin got the impression that seeing him was perhaps not helping. Not that he didn't want to see his old mentor, but Obi was far more of a realist than optimist. He didn't need exposure to reality more than he already had this week.

"I-I," Obi-Wan started. He had a drink in his hand and he swirled it around. "I heard about… the Sith boy."

"Varus." Anakin corrected weakly.

"Yeah… him. I'm sorry Ani. I really am. I know he meant a lot to you, and, if it makes you feel any better, I did notice a lot of potential in him for good."

Anakin closed his eyes. Obi-Wan didn't much like Varus, that was obvious enough. Obi-Wan was a very 'Sith are Sith and Jedi are Jedi' type. Obi had practically worshipped the council as a Padawan himself, and most of that had gone away with experience. Obi-Wan had become very 'down to earth' over the years, but Anakin still didn't expect him to like Varus based on reputation. He was right on that, of course, but for Obi-Wan to admit that the "Sith boy" had potential for good was… nice.

"Too late now, though. The past caught up with him." Anakin let out a deep, aggravated breath. Obi-Wan let it go and they fell into comfortable silence.

Normally about now they would be already head deep in trying to mess with each other, but in hindsight of the last week or two, it felt inappropriate. There were times to joke and times to silently mourn the times. To mix them up was wrong. You could try to lighten the atmosphere, but the days would still be darkened.

Obi-Wan changed the subject: "Have you seen Padme?"

Perhaps Kenobi thought, and correctly so, that seeing Padme would help him feel better. Or perhaps he figured that since Anakin was still in a bad mood that he hadn't had the chance yet. Either way it was like addressing the elephant in the room, or in his heart. "No."

The Master's eyebrows scrunched in concerned thought. "No? You avoidi-"

"She's missing." Anakin cut him off. A horde of star fighters zoomed by on patrol.

Obi-Wan's thoughtful silence deepened and the room visibly darkened. If he looked old before, he looked like a very old man now. His shoulders were bowed, his head was down, his hair was unkempt, his mustache was untrimmed, his face was fallen, and his eyes had lost all mirth. Anakin was partially scared to wonder what he, himself, looked like.

Obi-Wan looked up fearfully into his eyes, "What happened?"

Anakin shrugged. He shoved the pain and guilt away. He knew if he let it out, that it would eat him alive. He needed to keep it contained and focus. Focus on what, he couldn't say, but he couldn't go flying off the handle in grief or rage until he was somewhere where… there wouldn't be damage. "We found lightsaber scarring on the furniture and floor, and pieces of cut-off pistols. No blood. No bodies."

Obi-Wan's eyebrows did the usual 'scrunching' when he thought. "Kidnapping or evacuation after defending herself?"

Anakin shrugged again. He couldn't allow himself to feel. Not yet. "Either a Jedi defended her and 'accidentally' (he quoted with his fingers for emphasis) cut blaster pistols of the Naboo guards, or an enemy kidnapped her."

"A Sith." Kenobi assumed. Anakin nodded. "That's good." Obi-Wan nodded in satisfaction.

…

Anakin's eyes exploded open in full blown rage and jumped up to face him down. "HOW IS THAT GOOD?!" He was about a half moment from tackling Obi-Wan, friend or not, and right this moment he was contemplating the status of the friendship. What kind of statement was 'that's good' when his Padme was kidnapped!?

Obi put up his hands in a panic. "That came out wrong."

"Damn right!"

"It's VERY bad that she was kidnapped, I'm not saying it wasn't, but the good side is that it probably means she is already being rescued."

…

"Come again?" Anakin asked heatedly. He forced his anger down for rational thought. Obi-Wan and Padme adored each other. They were as friends as friends could be in the middle of a weird triangle of we're-married-and-keeping-it-a-secret kind of way. He would never want Padme to come to harm.

Obi-Wan let out a breathe he was holding. "If she was kidnapped by the Sith, she would be taken back to Korriban. The Mandalorians took the system the day after Coruscant was invaded. Mandalorians may not like us, and we may not like them, but you and I both know what they will do about it."

Anakin allowed himself to nod numbly. He collapsed back on the couch and put his head in his hands. He didn't mean to fly off the handle. "Sorry… Master. I should have… let you explain."

"Yeah, well, I should have more tact that that, and I wasn't going to explain my thoughts until you reacted and I realized how I goofed." He returned with a faint smile.

The Mandalorians were honorable to the point of extremes. If they came across prisoners, no matter who's side it was, or hostages, they would probably make efforts to return the people. Anakin just needed to contact the Clans in order to let them know and see if she was found.

That was a load off his mind. Anakin sighed. "You're sighing a lot today." The Master observed.

Anakin chuckled. "It's a 'sighing' kind of day. Lot like your 'falling in traps' days."

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow and smirked. "If I remember correctly our motto was 'trip the traps'!"

"No. I trip them, you just fall right in." Anakin smiled at him.

They chuckled. It was faint, but they could still cheer each other up. Feeling somewhat better, Anakin asked, "So… what now for us?"

"Depends on your context of 'us'."

Anakin shrugged. He hadn't thought of it in any real context. "How about you, me, and the Order, and Padme, and Ahsoka, and the Republic for that matter."

"That's a lot of 'us'."

Anakin waited for him to get down to it.

Obi-Wan Kenobi put away his glass on the side table and took a moment to put his thoughts in order. "What remains of the Jedi Master's had a meeting. Nihilus may still be out there. With no corpse to confirm otherwise, we can only assume he will come back for us. He was able to defeat us at the center of our strength with thousands against him. In addition, the public outcry of the people is that the Jedi are at fault for every single thing that happened on Coruscant. The news are having a field day. They actually said 'if the religious-nuts hadn't opened their big mouths' etc. etc. and the result is that we are now in as bad of a place as I could have imagined."

Anakin fisted his hands as the only release of anger he would allow. Palpatine tricked him! Palpatine tricked everybody! The Jedi exposed it and suddenly that made it their fault? "That's corrupt. If people are too foolish to allow justice and proper proceedings, and would rather bury their heads underground… No wonder so many Senators are corrupt."

Obi-Wan nodded, but continued, "It's worse. Many Jedi are being persecuted, beaten, and killed in public. Between the public and fear of Nihilus, a lot of changes are in store."

"I'm listening."

"First, a LOT of knights are being promoted to full masters. In the past we have held back knights from promotion even when we felt they were ready, or nearly so, because… how do I put this… we could afford to wait it out longer and allow maturity to grow more before the promotion. Now, for a lot of people, that promotion will have to be the catalyst of the same maturity. That includes you."

Under a normal day, he would be surprised. He would be excited and would run home to tell his wife all the good news and take her and Obi-Wan out to celebrate. These days it was a pale comfort to be promoted. It was more of a weight and responsibility than anything else, but it was one he would have to take well. It wasn't completely that he deserved it, but it was more about the fact that there was a reason that pushed the promotion than just simply deserving it and seeing it was an achievement. Still, not letting his dark thoughts hold him back, Anakin smiled.

Anakin Skywalker was a Jedi Master.

"Second." Obi-Wan continued. "The Masters are splitting up the remaining younglings, knights, padawans, and acolytes between us and heading out in different directions. Every master is effectively becoming a separate sect. This will allow us to spread widely and hopefully make strides in reestablishing support in the Galaxy, but also to make it as difficult for anyone to come after us as possible. I don't know where the other Masters are going, and I won't be telling them what I'm doing either."

"So… I'm getting people under me?" Anakin wondered, barely believing it. He was… He was allowed to start his own sect?! "How many are we talking?"

Obi looked at him funny. "I know what you're thinking. To be honest, I think you having your own sect isn't all that good a thing. Last thing the galaxy needs is an army of Skywalkers… jumping out of hover cars in midair and… coming out of Warp two feet away from the enemy. I don't hate flying but what you do is suicide." He cringed.

Anakin put up his hands innocently. "Whaaaat?"

"Anyway, I am getting five under me, and you're getting three. Two younglings and a fresh Knight. They already know where you are, so I'm sure you will get to know them very soon. Just do the galaxy a favor and take your sect seriously? Please? We don't need any stars blowing up."

"Hey!" He barked. "That was part of the plan."

"And that changes what I said…" He raised an eyebrow. "How?"

Anakin turned away and grumbled. "Oh, Master! What of the archives and such?"

A clone soldier entered the room. He walked around the couch. Obi-Wan continued, "They're being moved to discreet locations and split up. Later on the sects will be notified of the locations, but only once they are secure. Yes, soldier?"

The soldier shook his head. "I'm here for General Skywalker. Sir, a report from Rex." He handed him a piece of paper and Anakin opened it.

He just as quickly scrunched it in his fist so tightly his fingers drew blood.

Seeing how close to cracking his old student was getting, Obi-Wan stood up, hauled Anakin up by his shoulders and said, "Let's go check with the Clans and see if they got her, and get some sleep. It will take time to get an answer."

* * *

**(Four Months after the Fall of Coruscant)**

Obi-Wan glanced around the doorway into the bridge. Anakin was still in the pilot's seat brewing.

News from the Clans had not been good. A 'Duchess Satine' was in charge of the system and personally told him the bad news: Senator Padme was nowhere to be found.

The Sith ships had been taken by the Clans, no Padme.

The Sith Academy had been stormed and every stone was turned over after a labyrinth was found underground, no Padme.

The Sith tombs had been checked and flushed out. The Sith had made a last stand in the tombs that lasted minutes, no Padme.

The slaves, prisoners of war, and captives freed were all cross referenced and were dealt with a woman's touch to ensure they were well taken care of, and still no Padme.

The Clans took control of the most annoying red planet this side of Coruscant, and the only part that mattered to them was the phrase that was repeated over and over. Padme was absent.

Anakin couldn't find her in the Force. He knew she was out there, but it was like trying to pick out a straw in a needle stack covered in a gallon of green slime that had been set on fire while annoying little elves danced around and sang and cheered.

Obi-Wan Kenobi retreated back from the door and returned to the main quarters. The main quarters had a relaxing area with a footlocker against the wall by an escape pod and a working desk. In the middle was a small couch towards the corner, and the room branched out towards the engine room, crew quarters, private holo-room, and Anakin's brooding chamber, otherwise known as the bridge.

In the main quarters sat two younglings and one of the knights. In total they had seven split up between the two Master's.

One of the younglings, a human boy of nearly eight, looked up at Obi's approach. He was born mute but made up for it by levitating a glowing ball. The boy moved with the ball with his mind and 'wrote' in the air with it. He was strong in the Force for his age, even perhaps a prodigy, but exclusively in the manipulation of physics. Aramas 'Firefly' Welcraft wrote, "Same?"

Obi-Wan nodded.

Aramas frowned and his ball, nicknamed 'Babyfly' dimmed. "Sorry." He wrote.

"It's not your fault." Obi assured him. The timing was bad. Anakin hasn't been able to get out of his depression easily and now of all times he was being given students and responsibilities. "It's none of your faults." He assured the rest. They were all depressed. "He will get better soon."

He just wasn't sure what to do. He tried speaking to Anakin and he wasn't responding. In the past, whenever he got like this, he always had something to focus his emotions on. Anakin would vent on enemy droids or duel and meditate when he was more in control. He was dangerous in how lethal his focus was at his peak, and the only person who could bring him back had been his students and wife.

Suddenly Firefly stood up, let Babyfly drop into his open palm, and disappeared around the corner leading to the bridge. Obi didn't hold him back. The kid might have something he could say to get through to the new Master.

So far as he knew, Firefly was an orphan. He had seen war and death plenty already for his young age and was taken the recent months better than the rest. Obi-Wan didn't know any more than that. There wasn't archives left to go through right now, and the kid only wrote in the air what he was willing to say.

A moment later Aramas returned. "What did you say?" Obi wondered.

The boy shrugged and sat down. Obi looked at him curiously, but let it drop.

Barely a minute later Anakin walked out holding Babyfly in his hands and passed it to Aramas. "Thanks, Firefly. I needed that." Obi-Wan smirked at the sight of a nasty bruise on the side of his temple.

"Anytime." Aramas wrote.

Anakin asked for his students to gather. His knight, Ramidash, and another youngling about the same age as Aramas, named Slavian.

Slavian was another male human, but while Aramas was scarred from childhood and became stronger for it, Slavian was untested in life. He was suffering the most from the recent loss of the Order. He followed the laws of the Jedi closely and studied hard, and the loss of those laws hit him hard. Slavian had next to no mediclorians, to the point that no matter how much effort he made, he couldn't do even the most basic task expected of Force sensitizes. He was also a vegetarian.

Ramidash was moderately good with the Force in most areas, but excelled in self-manipulation, making him more or less the path of a warrior or some path that used manual labor. Anakin pegged him immediately as the big-brother type. He kept Aramas and Slavian close all the time and watched over them since the day they were put together. He was a bald dark-skinned male who loved to tease and mess with people.

Such as yesterday for breakfast he asked Slavian, "So, is that bacon? Ham? Ham and Bacon? Or Ham wrapped in bacon?" He waved the pan under Slavian's nose. The kid turned green and lost his appetite.

They all assembled on the couch before Anakin, and Obi-Wan motioned off his own students to let them have their privacy.

Anakin sighed and said, "I want to apologize. I have been ignoring my responsibility lately. I have been brooding and pouting. From my perspective, I have been keeping my anger back, but it is easy to forget how that looks to others. I lost a lot of things on Coruscant. I lost almost every friend I have, my students, my home, my…" Anakin hesitated. "My-"

"Wife." Obi-Wan finished smoothly.

The reaction was mixed. Anakin's eyes widened to the point of bulging. Ramidash smirked. Slavian gasped in shock. Aramas tried to hide his amusement behind his hand.

A long moment passed. Anakin cleared his throat. "Right. I-uh… I lost my wife. On top of that, I received a promotion that… in all fairness, I may not have been ready for, and responsibility I didn't ask for. And I responded by hiding. But that was wrong. I didn't ask to lose everything, I didn't ask to receive responsibility I wasn't ready for, yet, but I also never asked to be born. Life is taking responsibility for being born. I will do the same for you guys. Right now, we are heading to a planet where Obi-Wan says we can find more. When we arrive, we will gather who we can, and head somewhere where we can be in peace and… start our little sect. "

He looked each on in the eye. "I'm going to be making some changes to what you know, and what you have been taught, but the overall ideal will still be the same. We are going to strive to be the best we can be, and we're going to help people. I'll do the best I can, but I need you all to understand that I will mess up a lot before it gets better."

A varied group of "yes", "understood", and "it will be okay" was said or written in the air. They forgave him in the simple and whole way children tend to. They would probably forget he had been ignoring them as of next week.

Anakin stood up. He turned to Obi-Wan and whispered, "How long did you know?"

Obi-Wan snorted and couldn't help the massive smile. "Come on, you didn't think the Court was that stupid, did you? Someone had to keep them thinking otherwise."

"So you-" He gasped. "Why- when- you!"

"One sentence at a time there, my not-so-young ex-married-student."

"Why didn't you tell us you knew?" Anakin asked heatedly through clenched teeth. "It would have made us both feel a whole heck of a lot better not having it be such a secret!"

"Well. Simply, it wasn't my secret to tell, Ani. I've been waiting, patiently, and collecting points each time I subtlety moved the Council's eyes from you. Points I intended to use on laughing in your face and collecting free retirement dinners for the rest of my life." He laughed, but it came out weakly. His eyes fell for a moment. "Bit late now, though."

Anakin frowned. It was a bit late… Padme was gone. All these years he had the gnawing fear that his old mentor would turn him in if he knew or force a situation of them versus her.

But to know that he not only knew, but was on his side… Anakin had half a mind to get teary eyed. Instead he let out a shuddering breathe and said, "Thank you. You have no idea how that makes me feel."

Obi-Wan smiled and embraced his student for a moment. He shook his head in the direction of the crew quarters, "Go sleep, Ani. You haven't slept well in weeks. Let's let your students take some of the load off and help."

Anakin nodded. It was never too soon to work toward bonding and learning. "Alright. I am exhausted… Come here." He left the room to the bridge again and sat in the pilot chair. The kids clambered behind and Ramidash followed them from behind.

Anakin motioned to various terminals and switches. "When this light comes on, we will be nearing the destination. Flip this." A small holographic image appeared, but it made no sense. "This will show what is around us from a long range, so we can guide the Warp window to a place where we won't collide with anyone head on when we exit Warp. Ramidash, do you have any experience in Warp flight?"

The knight nodded. Anakin continued, "Okay, take control at that point. Firefly, wake me up when it's time."

"Yes." Firefly wrote. Babyfly dropped into his hand and he pocketed the ball on his belt.

Anakin patted him on the shoulder briefly before leaving the room. He found an empty bed and suddenly all of his energy left him as the last several weeks hit him all at once. He collapsed on it and his head fell back. He wasn't on the pillow even.

He was snoring before his head ever hit the bed.

He woke up when something small, metal, and round, hit him in the side of the face. He jumped wide awake. Babyfly hovered next to him before disappearing back the way it was sent.

Anakin shook his head and pushed the grogginess away. He climbed out and to the bridge.

They were no longer in Warp and resting orbit over Bandomeer.

Aramas played with Babyfly in the air over his hand, Slavian was reading, and Ramidash looked bored out of his mind.

They descended to the planet's surface and Anakin and Obi-Wan descended. The students stayed behind.

The planet was a large scale plantation, if that could be considered it's title anymore. Farms were a few aces, plantations were many acres, but an entire planet desired for farmland? It was a term Anakin was unfamiliar with.

All he knew was that the planet was run by Agri-Corps, a former social branch the Jedi Order operated.

All around them stood tall wheat and corn. In the distance was orchards of fruit-bearing trees and vineyards on the hills. In the midst of the plants were droids, but also the periodic person. The Force was strong in this place, for the Jedi sent many of its "failures" here to work and grow crops.

Anakin wasn't sure how he felt about that.

One of the biggest ideals of the Order was compassion, or supposedly. It was one thing to take up children from their parents and raise them in a place where they could be themselves and flourish without being targeted as freaks.

It was another to label them as "failures even amongst freaks" and dump them, as though they were not the Order's responsibility and amounted to nothing more than… than… fertilizer!

Anakin found himself nearly drawing blood from his palm yet again from squeezing his hand too tightly.

He didn't have anything against farmers, nor the Lights power in slowly restoring battle scarred worlds to a point of survival again. But the manner of employment is a stark contrast between applying and being tossed aside like trash, and there were hundreds of them in sight, perhaps many thousands in other farmlands on the planet.

As they walked, he looked closer at what they were doing. One of the failed-Jedi, an older man in his sixties, had his hands around a tree. His hands shimmered in weak power, but he kept it steady. The tree before him didn't move or have any real reaction, but after several seconds Anakin couldn't help thinking that the tree looked… greener, healthier.

The man may be weak for his age, but that didn't make him a failure!

"Calm yourself, Anakin. You're drawing attention to us." Obi-Wan lectured good-naturally.

Anakin breathed in and out slowly. He gave the Beast a sleeping pill and walked down the path with his fellow Master. Even with his opinion of this… crime under wraps, it didn't stop people from stopping to look at them. Droids and failed-Jedi stopped just long enough to watch them pass.

In the distance down the path lied a town that functioned as a storehouse, city, government complex, and fortress. It was quite large but had no space port and no space elevator. Another city must operate as an exportation of the planet's crops onto large transports.

"I understand why you would be aggravated." Obi-Wan continued. "I am not pleased to be here myself."

"Oh?" Anakin wondered.

"Yes, Agri-Corp has never been something I've been particularly happy about. It may be necessary, but I can't help but be biased against it."

"Biased." Anakin repeated as a question. He wondered why Obi-Wan used that particularly word. "You have someone here you know?"

"Something like that." He allowed. "I was on my way here when Qui-Gon picked me up. If it had been one more day, I would be here sticking my hand in the ground and meditating to grow grapes that wouldn't even reach a hungry child's mouth. I did some research. Most of everything grown here is bought in bulk by restaurants or used in Senator parties. Apparently Force-bred grapes pressed into wine is a special vintage for the upper class."

Anakin stopped and gaped. Obi-Wan was almost sent here? But Obi was a Master! Perhaps not as strong in the Force as himself or Yoda, and not as skilled as Windu or Fisto had been, but that didn't make him worthless!

And all this food… not even being sent off to a planet with next to none that needed it!

"This needs to stop." Anakin said.

Obi-Wan glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. Whether Anakin was justified or not, passionate or not, Anakin was still unbalanced. It was like half of him was gone and the other half was trying to hold its own. But then, perhaps that's exactly what it was. His 'other half' was gone.

"It will." Obi-Wan replied. "That's why we're here. Operations like this are no longer funded and operated by the Order, so they have no ability to continue. In addition, a planet like this is amongst the highest potential targets Nihilus would target on his 'possible' return. The Force-sensitizes here may be weaker than you and I, but the number of them would still make them a target."

"You seem to already know what to do."

"Indeed. I contacted the minster and arranged a meeting. The Force-sensitizes will be split off and sent to other places where they will be safe."

"I want some." Anakin said a beat perhaps too quickly.

"Want?"

Anakin explained, "In my sect, I want to give them a place where they actually belong. Rather than be tossed aside as though we have no responsibility for them."

"Of course." Obi-Wan nodded. They passed by the front gate. Merchants filled the streets and cattle with bags on their backs. "I'll take some under me too. I have contact with a few other Master's and I'll see about sending them off to them as well. Arrangements and preparations are already made."

"I only have one condition." Anakin stepped aside for a worker as they walked.

"And what might that be?"

"That we ask them. I want to take them on, but only those that want it. I have no intention of forcing anyone. And those that want to stay shouldn't be making select wines for the nobles, but actually doing some good. I've lost track of the number of planets devastated in the war."

"Of course."

They entered the government complex and Anakin took a step back in their pace, an unspoken statement of Kenobi taking up all the talking. He was far more diplomatic anyway. Anakin knew his diplomatic skills leaned more in the aggressive direction, and this didn't call for that.

He followed his old master and listened and nodded while he thought to himself.

While the Agri-Corp may have been designed for a good purpose, the callas use of it now and the unspoken 'slavery' of the failures left a bad taste in his mouth. When had that started? Had the Jedi become so cold and callas as to see it as okay?

It was the kind of coldness he expected from Nihilus.

No, no that's wrong. Nihilus and the Jedi were nothing alike. Anakin recited the Jedi mantra to himself in an effort to restore calmness.

_There is no emotion, there is peace._

Nihilus had no emotion, or next to none.

_There is no ignorance, there is knowledge._

Nihilus was brilliant. Anakin shook the dark thought away and resumed.

_There is no passion, there is harmony._

Again, Nihilus was cold and dispassionate and calculating, with very little passion. He was calm in a sickening way. There was so little emotion in him he seemed alien.

_There is no death, there is the Force._

Anakin stopped himself in his tracks. Nihilus was a creature that existed seemingly beyond mortality, he may be purely a Force being rather than physical being. Nihilus was the very pinnacle of the Jedi code.

Anakin felt a shiver go up his spine as cold horror entered him. Nihilus was evil, and extreme in just how far to the 'passionless' side he went, but he was still everything the Jedi aimed for in their existence.

That was something he could not allow. Jedi were not designed to be cold and empty, they were still mortal and needed to be able to converse with mortals. What kind of goodwill gesture would it be if it was robotic and without true desire to do it?

But Anakin couldn't just open up the ways of emotion in his sect, that was the Sith way. The Sith was all passion without restraint and peace.

But then… the Jedi and Sith were polar opposites. One was no emotion at all and the other was pure emotion in its most raw form.

He couldn't see himself teaching younglings to go either way anymore…

Seeing as how Obi-Wan was still talking to the Agri-Corp Master (as it seemed to be led by Jedi Master's in some capacity) Anakin returned his focus to the matter at hand.

He could think on what direction he would be leading the sect in later.

After the talk, the Agri-Corp Master bowed and they left. The Master sent out messengers to all the Jedi on the planet to let them know of the situation. The place was being shut down. Without funding and with fear of danger, the place could no longer function.

"Something bothers you, Ani?" Obi-Wan wondered.

"A lot of things bother me these days, Obi-Wan."

"Yes, but something new? When you think of Padme, you get angry. When you see the people around you who you think are here against your will, when a few actually are, you get antsy and want to do something about it. Now you look like you tasted something foul."

"I'm not sure how to explain it…" He evaded. "But will I allowed access to the archives? I want to see the origin of the Jedi Code."

Obi-Wan nodded. "Of course. You looking for something?"

"I don't know." Anakin said honestly. "I just… I'm trying to figure some things out."

They left the city and returned to their ship. The next day a large crowd had appeared in the distance. Thousands of Jedi assembled for the news and split in two groups afterwards. The first group neared the two Master's and the second group reentered the city.

"What's this?" Anakin wondered.

The Agri-Corp Master approached, "These are the ones who want to leave and the other wants to stay. They understand the danger but are more at home here in a peaceful farm than elsewhere."

Anakin and Obi-Wan looked at each other in amazement. "We're going to need a bigger ship…"

* * *

**(Eleven Months after the Fall of Coruscant)**

A set of gentle knocks disturbed his mindset. Anakin blinked and looked up from the screen he was typing into. Even with hired assistance from the Naboo's queen, there was so much to do in keeping the isolated community up and running.

He had taken on nearly two hundred people in the last half year, and that didn't include families. He hired agents to find the forgotten families of his younglings, and a fair few among those found decided to come and join his growing village.

It was the first thing he did with his little sect, and already half the remaining Order was sending warnings of blasphemy.

He made sure the children were monks in a place isolated enough to not worry about being persecuted for being different, but he also failed to see how their parents weren't a good thing. It may be against what he, himself, was taught, heck he was almost dropped as a Jedi for having been with his Mother so long, but he felt it produced more stable minds if they received a strong foundation.

The families were also a big help. He recruited a bunch of them to be teachers in math, literature, reading, and so on, and a few to be accountants and other positions that needed filling. None of them could teach of the Force, but taking up the more generic jobs was helpful. The children needed education beyond just how to levitate rocks and control their power.

Which brought his mind to the Force-Sensitive's. A group of them got up and left as soon as he started making changes, and the rest were skeptical, at best.

He told them all he was rebuilding the whole thing from scratch and reviewing every single principle down to the letter to see if it was actually important or if it was just something a bunch of "cold" people came up with in an effort to be more controlling. Not that he thought the people were evil or had dark intent, but he failed to see how people without real compassion and caring and love could make half the rules they did and expect true good to come of it.

The village was growing. The monastery was more comfortable and he felt the kids were becoming less closed off than they were before everything. Many of the Jedi picked up from Agri-Corp were weak and unskilled, but they had a patience that astounded him and a casualness that made them comfortable around other's rather than see themselves as something higher. It made him proud. In addition, they were growing in strength. Already a fair number of the "drop-outs" were coming up on the same power-level as their peers.

Why banish kids at the age of twelve when their bodies were just beginning to experience a change… So many of them exploded in power in their teens and gained emotional stability as adults.

Another knock and he banished his worries away. "Come in."

Slavian entered in nervously holding a paper. Anakin smiled and left his chair. He approached the boy and asked, "Anything I can help with?"

"Yes." He fidgeted with the paper. "I don't understand this. It's so… different."

Anakin took the paper and reviewed it. It was the changed Mantra he felt was best.

The Mantra of the Jedi was cold and destroyed everything that connected communities, producing people that aimed to be like an abomination as Nihilus. While the Mantra of the Sith was all about blind power and emotion, so Anakin wrote one that he felt was… balanced.

Emotion needed control. But being human required emotion.

It read:

Emotion, yet peace.

Ignorance, yet knowledge.

Passion, yet serenity.

Chaos, yet harmony.

Death, yet the Force.

Ironically it was also the ORIGINAL Jedi mantra according to the archives Anakin was able to access, and he was more comfortable basing the sect on it.

It provided the balance he felt the children needed as a focus in their lives.

"What don't you understand?" Anakin wondered.

"It looks so much like the old one we recite, but it's wording makes no sense…" Slavian frowned apologetically.

"No need to feel sorry." Anakin patted him on the shoulder. "I know it may seem scary, but the change is meant for good. Here, let's go through it. The first line."

"Emotion, yet peace."

"Slavian, we are people, right?" The kid nodded. "People feel things. We cannot take that away, otherwise we lose everything that lets us understand and have empathy. All true goodness requires empathy, where you feel for others and understand them. The line means that we have emotion, yet we must strive to have peace with, or, despite it. Sometimes it makes us angry, sad, upset. These are natural, but shouldn't make us do things we shouldn't do."

"Yeah…" He frowned. Anakin saw he understood, but was having trouble adjusting.

The Master moved to the next line: "Ignorance, yet knowledge. Slavian, the thing about knowledge is that the more of it you gain, the more you realize how ignorant you are."

"What?"

Anakin groaned in thought. "How to explain this… It's like… You work your way through a maze. You figure out life's answers in various sciences and work it out. Yet, at every impasse, at every answered question, there are a dozen more. Every turn leads to three more turns. You hate those mazes right?" Slavian nodded. "That's what knowledge is like. You just realize how dumb we are. It is good to have knowledge, but that isn't everything you should base your life on, because knowing everything is simply impossible. I may be more knowledgeable in the Force than your math and history teachers, but I assure you I am not as bright in history or accounting as them. In fact, I think I might have hired your math teacher for an accountant…" Anakin thought about it a moment and moved on, "It was a month, but no matter. Ignorance exists, Slavian. We cannot stop it. Yet it is foolish to not strive to learn what we need to learn. You have to learn how to read and do math to live, but you don't need to know how to surf to live. I don't know how to sweep as well as the janitor, I don't know how to cook as well as the chefs, and I don't have to."

Anakin, seeing the understanding in his eyes, continued, "Passion, yet serenity. Much like the first line, we cannot distance ourselves from our emotions. Passion is much deeper than emotion. It is emotion at the very core of your being. It involves rage, hatred, joy, love. Rage is bad, and hatred is wrong, and love can lead to jealousy, but while there is a bad side, it also leads to great good. Love is amongst the purest of emotions and heals an empty heart, and it is good to hate evil, so long as you do not let it control you and lead you to doing wrong in return. Passion is necessary, but must be balanced by a controlled and disciplined mind to keep from losing yourself to it."

"But it's so hard." He complained.

"It is, but that's just a part of growing up, Slavian. You will find your emotions and passions easier to balance out as an adult… always remember to put purpose and thought before your own feelings, but don't just deafen yourself. You can't know what to think or believe without feeling what is true and false. just don't use me as an example." He smirked.

"Ain't that the truth." A young female voice said from the door.

Anakin looked up to see "Ahsoka?!"

"Hey." She smiled at the door. "Don't stop on my account."

Anakin closed his jaw and realized he had been gaping. "Wha?"

"You were talking to the kid."

"Oh." He returned his attention to Slavian, who just sat there watching patiently and with barely contained amusement at his dumb moment. Anakin narrowed his eyes at him. "I don't want to hear it."

The kid just continued smiling.

"Chaos, yet harmony." Anakin recited. "Chaos means disorder. Chaos is bad in its own right if there are no rules, but at the same time so is order. People are naturally disorderly. They make messes. They make mistakes. Sometimes they are bad people. Just because bad people exist doesn't mean the rights of everyone should disappear. Too much order destroys just as much as disorder, because it is impossible to achieve and you will only end up destroying everything you try to control."

A part of him disagreed with his own ideal. He disliked chaos and disorder, but he also saw what the Jedi were becoming and what Nihilus had over Starkiller. Nihilus controlled every aspect of his life to the point that he was nothing but what Nihilus wanted, and the Jedi were slowly becoming that way. It was no less evident than in the 'failures' he took on.

He wondered briefly how the others were doing. Obi-Wan had taken on the rest and was out spreading them to other sects. Anakin only took on a hundred or two.

"The problem with order." Anakin continued, "Is that too much of it also takes away intent. True good comes from the heart and desire to do so. If people only do good because they are left as robots, then it is just an empty illusion."

Taking a moment to let it settle in him, Anakin moved to the last line. "Death, yet the Force." To be honest, he doubted this line the most because of Nihilus, but he also saw how Nihilus was a contradiction. Nihilus was the Force, but he also was not dead. He was an abomination, wherever he was. "Slavian, no matter how much you may come to learn or love or do, the reality is that all things die. You cannot stop it. Families, lovers, friends, children, die. One day, so will you. But that doesn't mean you should disregard them. Mourn when it's time, but take comfort in knowing that they exist in the Force."

Anakin returned the paper to Slavian. "Does that make sense now?"

"Yeah…" He fidgeted. "It's just… different."

Anakin patted him on the head. "You'll get it. Run along now, I'm sure you have better things to do then watch me run my mouth all day."

Slavian bowed and departed, leaving Ahsoka standing in the door smiling like an idiot.

Anakin couldn't help smiling as well. He missed her. "So Ah- OOF!" She practically tackled him in a quick hug.

"It's so good to see you, master!" She squealed. Ahsoka pulled back and winced. "I'm… sorry I left like that. I needed to get some air."

"And did you?" Anakin wondered.

She nodded, smiling again.

He glanced her over discretely. She did look better. A year ago she had been a vegetable on the verge of a mental breakdown, but now she looked like she had done some growing up. She was stable and strong minded. She was a woman.

How old was she again? Wasn't she supposed to have a few years before she gets to this point. Oh, how fast they grow!

"I can see that you have." He said proudly. "You look much better than last I saw you."

Ahsoka walked around and looked at his desk. "And you seem to have more responsibility than last I saw you." She returned. "How's that going for you?" She sat in his chair and spun it with a giggle.

He groaned. "It's a pain… But I'm doing the best I can. I've never realized how many hypocritical traits I have until I tried to teach other's this much. You realize at least a third of them are like me?" He shook his head. "My mother's curses are coming back to bite me."

"I thought those curses accounted for me!" She joked. She looked at the papers on his desk. "Promotions?"

"Yeah, a lot of the people I'm watching over came from Agri-Corp." He pushed back the anger he felt for the past social project. "Failures and the like, as far as the Order was concerned. I don't expect them to be lifting mountains or becoming an army, but many of them have learned patience in their time as farmers that could rival Yoda, and they are far from dumb. They are a good bunch, and a growing number of them are turning out to just be 'late-bloomers' and have power-levels that rival a normal Jedi."

She looked over the list. "There are a lot of them."

"Happens when I'm supervising about two hundred between the age of ten and fifty."

"That old? Wow." She said thoughtlessly. "Wait, I'm on the list."

Anakin rubbed the back of his neck nervously and looked away. "Uh… Yeah. I didn't know if you were coming back, but with what I saw from you helping with Varus, I've been starting to feel that if you return, you would be ready for advancement."

Ahsoka visibly deflated in his chair, and Anakin lost the nervous smile. "You don't like it?"

"I… I don't know." She said truthfully. "I'm happy you think I've grown enough… but… the appeal of being a Jedi Knight doesn't sit with me that much anymore." She sighed. "I even wonder about being a Jedi at times…"

"Because of Varus?" He asked knowingly. She nodded.

"The Jedi are different from what I grew up believing."

"I agree." Ahsoka gasped quietly and looked up at him. Anakin explained, "The Jedi have grown to be heading down the path to becoming something cold and heartless, or at the very least trying to be, and I don't think they even realized it. They try so hard to fit ideologies and become 'perfect' and the complete opposite of the Sith, that the Jedi were sending themselves to the opposite extreme. Well, I believe I witnessed the end of that path in Nihilus. I know this sounds like a cheap advertisement, but I am trying to bring us back to our origins and find a kind of… balance."

Ahsoka smiled weakly. "Sounds nice." She stood up and let Anakin take his chair back.

Anakin turned the chair to his desk and silence came over them a moment. He gulped and asked the heart of the matter, "Are you here to stay, Snips?" He heard himself almost pleading. He missed her, a lot. He missed Varus. He missed Padme. Obi-Wan frequently visited to help him get things started, and they exchanged some knowledge and discussed matters.

She smiled and shrugged. "Sure, why not. I don't like the idea of being a Knight, but I'm sure there is something I can do to help."

Anakin sighed in relief, a great weight left his shoulders. "I won't promote you officially if you don't feel comfortable, but how about unofficially? No title or anything. How does that sound, Padawan?"

"Sounds nice, Master." She bowed, but couldn't help yawning. "I'm going to find a place to stay for the night. Been traveling for hours."

"Have a good night, Snips." He said warmly.

She opened the door to leave, but stayed just long enough to say, "I miss him… You know?" Before she turned the corner.

Knowing who she was referring to Anakin responded, "So do I, Snips. So do I."

Feeling more at peace than he had in a long while, he returned to the task before him. He scratched Ahsoka off the list and reviewed the rest again.

Hours later, when his eyes started to betray him to sleep and the sun was rising, he decided it best to stop. He opened the side drawer in his desk.

The Mask of Nihilus looked up at him.

Odd, he couldn't recall taking the mask or leaving it there. Must have slipped his mind.

Nihilus may be alive, but he also might not. That shockwave on Coruscant in the wake of their Warp in the midst of the gravity well would have dispersed both matter and energy alike. Nothing could survive that, not even a creature existing on the border of life and death.

Now the mask merely acted as a reminder of everything Anakin was building, and everything he was building against.

_"-if I find my apprentice taken from me, again…" Nihilus stopped and growled loudly, "I will return the favor!"_

Anakin snorted defiantly. "I'd like to see you try." He dropped the paperwork on top the mask and slammed the drawer shut.


	5. Prologue - Falon Grey

**Note: And here we have Kota/Falon's prologue. I plan for Falon to have a much larger role in PotRav. **

* * *

**Prologue - Falon Grey and Rahm Kota**

* * *

**(Two Months after the Fall of Coruscant)**

*BAM* *BAM* *BAM*

_"He's so smart for his age!"_

*BAM* *Bam*

_"That one there is special."_

*Bam* *Bam* *Bam* *Bam* *Bam* *Bam*

_"Poor kid, I feel sorry for him. That scar is huge!"_

Falon punched the bag furiously and focused his mind on a single target with singular purpose, namely, punching the bag. Sweat poured off his hair and down his little chest, but he ignored it. His fingers hurt and logically he deduced he broke the skin of his fist a while back, but he was beyond noticing.

All he allowed himself to do was punch and keep on punching. Anything to make the voices and whispers go away. Anything to keep himself from thinking.

People all his life have treated him differently. They raised him up on pedestals and whispered behind his back and b praised him at every turn since the day he was taken to the Order by Kota. He didn't remember where from, he was just two years old at the time, but even as far back as then he was considered 'special'. His peers looked on him with envy or jealousy, and his teachers looked on him with pride or confusion, depending on the person and situation.

Back when his peers were doing first grade material, he was bored out of his skull. He found himself sleeping all through classes and answering every quiz and test with 'too easy' along with perfect answers. It took him minutes to do it all and he went to sleep after.

He loved sleeping, it slowed down his thoughts, or he would watch cars go by and fall into daydreams just to make his thoughts leave him alone.

*BAM* *BAM* *BAM*

Kota took further interest in him and made him a Padawan before his time, although not yet with the privileges of a Padawan, but merely so he could have singular focus on him. Then Falon wasn't bored. Kota gave Falon a gift, probably the best gift he had ever received.

He taught Falon how to train his body, but most of all, how to calm his thinking. How to tune it out without making himself a zombie. Sleeping and daydreams were only temporary. Training was temporary as well, but it lasted much longer after he was exhausted due to the mental and physical strain, and also gave additional benefits. Like stamina, strength, and actual sleep without the need for drugs.

Kota also exposed him to strategy, battlefield tactics, board games, and the like, and Falon absorbed it all like a sponge. It would have been too easy as well, but his Master was experienced in that area. Perhaps that is what Kota intended, for his experience to rub off on him.

Back then, people considered his intelligence a gift. It was something that made him 'special'. Well, that same 'specialty' was boring and he didn't much care for it. He never cared for the eyes or whispers, but he ignored it easily enough.

Now, it was his greatest failing. Gifts came with responsibility. Power came with a need to be used properly. Well, he had failed on both counts, and now there was the singular and sole conclusion that he was a blind failure.

What was the point of being intelligent if it came down to nothing?

Stupid, Falon! Varus was the only survivor of the Miraluka at the hands of an obsessed Sith! Varus knew the Sith Lord! Of course an obsessed Sith Lord would come for him! If he had come to the conclusion long ago, he might have been able to save lives, but no. He was fooled. He was duped. He ACTUALLY ALLOWED potential friendship to cloud his judgment!

Varus was the first one to take an interest in him without it being about his so-called 'super intelligence' or to whisper around him. True, he irked the living snot out of him for confusing his name without remorse, but Falon actually had found himself ENJOYING being around the guy!

*BAM* *BAM* *BAM*

Stupid, Falon!

*BAM* *BAM* *BAM*

Stupid, Falon!

*BAM* *BAM* *BAM*

Stupid!

"FALON!" An older man roared behind him. It was Master Kota.

Falon stopped punching the bag. He was gasping for air, his legs shook and felt like noodles, and his arms weighed a ton and something in his glove was very wet and hurting a lot. He had sweat dripping off every inch of his body. The skin around his scar was throbbing and stretching. And his eyes were gone.

But it wasn't enough. His mind wasn't getting tired! It wasn't slowing down! His mind continued to race, making deductions of the area around him based on his hearing or going back into his memory to pull out facts that only taunted him with how he should have figured things out sooner! He saw Eria, a little crush he had up to two months ago, and how pointless it was. He saw his training and how he should have pushed himself further. He saw the battle of Coruscant, and how all he could do was stand back and do nothing while he had already figured out a lot of what the enemy was doing! He could do nothing!

Because he was a child! It wasn't his fault that his body couldn't grow fast enough!

He pulled his arm back to return to punching when he heard stomping close in on him, large rough hands grab his arms, and the glove on his hands get retracted off.

Cold air met his hands and he hissed in pain. The air felt like it was setting his hands on fire.

"Falon…" Kota said in clear shock. "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like." Falon hissed. He pulled his arm back.

"It looks like your trying to destroy yourself."

Falon laughed darkly. "Then why stop it? It's what you taught me to do. When my thoughts get to be too much, punch the bag. Well, I'm doing that. Now. LEAVE. ME. ALONE!"

Falon knew he was yelling at his superior, but really, he didn't care right now. A tense moment passed and suddenly he found himself being hauled off the ground kicking and screaming. "I told you to not get out of bed." His Master stated. "So back you go."

"No!" Not the room! Not back into the empty abyss left alone with his thoughts! "No! No!"

* * *

Kota was getting too old for this.

He looked in the window on his sleeping pupil and wondered to himself what to do. It had taken strong drugs to finally get the kid to sleep. For two months Falon had been silent and impenetrable, then he suddenly walked off, pushed himself to his breaking point and beyond, and yelled and spoke darkly. A part of him yelled that Falon was falling to the Dark Side inside, and not letting anyone in to help, but Kota knew that wasn't so. Falon was a kid. He was going to have his tantrums. Falon also had a tendency to hold his emotions in till they exploded because he believed himself to have a disciplined mind capable of handling anything and having the weight of the galaxy on his head.

Perhaps it made it best to vent it out, but Kota still felt he was at fault, partially. He had never been a father. He had never bothered with dating or anything of the sort. Being raised on a battlefield his entire life and then being a Jedi kept him on a very particular and anti-social path. It wasn't that Kota wasn't trying, but this was different. This needed a women's touch.

Yeah, a weird thought from a Jedi, but Kota was a realist. He put all Jedi in one of two categories. Idealistic and realistic. The idealistic tend to make it the furthest, but also be the ones to lash out and fall away, while the realistic ones tended to be seen as crazy and blasphemous and be pushed to the side. Kota was a realist. It was a simple fact: He was a battle-hardened veteran with all the tender touchiness of a blitz tank strapped to the side of a Republic Dreadnaught.

The problem was his 'nice-girl' address book was a bit on the empty, moth-filled side. There were a few girls he got reasonably close to before he was taken by the Jedi, but he was a kid the same age as Falon. Not exactly a committed relationship or ones he could reach for. The odds of them being alive in the midst of the civil war was low anyway.

The nurse-droid left Falon's room and Kota gave it his attention. The droid said, "Falon's injuries complicated with overexertion. It will take another week before his facial wounds heal once more. In addition, he has obtained new injuries. His arm muscles are torn from overuse and his knuckle-bones have cut their way out of the tendon, muscle, and skin around it."

Galon blinked. Falon's knuckle bones had fractured out of his hand?! He had seen blood all over the kid's hands, but not that. This was the kind of injury that could cripple a person. "Will he be able to use his hands again?"

"Yes. He is lucky. If he had used his hands the way he was even once more, he might have sustained permanent injury. The odds of complete recovery are high, as the bones will need the skin, tendon, and muscle healed back over it, but this merely requires time, patience, and care. He must not use his arms or hands for even a single action for a month. With your permission, his entire upper body will be placed in a cast to prevent movement."

Kota looked back on Falon. The breathing machine plugged into his nose and mouth kept him going while the drugs had him put under. Falon had always had difficulty sleeping and needed sleeping pills to manage it. Sometimes working himself to exhaustion did it before bed, sometimes not. The kid's mind just never shut down easily. It took some strong stuff to accomplish it this time.

As soon as Falon wakes up he would be doing everything he can to move, to punch the bags, or find something to do. Falon might have just watched things go by before, but he no longer had that option. That sense was robbed from him. Falon was trapped inside his mind, and that was the most feared place the kid knew. He was genuinely scared of himself.

Being in a giant cast and stuck immobile in a room like this, with only his own mind for company when Kota was not there, Falon would become claustrophobic within his own head.

"Do it." Kota ordered. "But keep him under until the cast can be taken off. There is little we can do to hold him down without it."

"Understood." The nurse-droid nodded and left.

* * *

(**Three Months after the Fall of Coruscant)**

Falon would be coming out of his little coma soon. Rahm Kota was pleased. The boy was finally making the recovery he needed.

Now if only he could find a way to give the boy his hope back.

Falon would have a difficult time without his eyes. They weren't just scared and torn, they were surgically removed. Whatever exposure to the Sith Lord had done, it was INFESTING his eyes like a plague. They had to be removed entirely to keep the infestation from spreading, but the damage was still done. A large portion of his upper face had black veins like some kind of emo-tattoo make-up thing.

For a kid with that, hope would be hard to come by, but possible. If he could see the world in another way, and focus his skill and training on it, it would improve him vastly. But how?

Kota contemplated these things as he walked the streets of his old homeworld. They had arrived not two days ago, and after these thirty years the place had yet to change. Civil War still was the primary topic, but undertones had developed in the sides. The planet was divided into twelve 'guilds', and being a factory world, with as much exporting as they did, they could afford twelve nations, were it not that they argued over who was the king.

Now the rumors was that the Hutt Cartel expansion was heading this way from one direction, while the Mandalorian Clans were expanding this way from the other direction.

The guilds would have to decide what to do about it. Unite and stand firm against both sides? Find an ally to help them? Stand neutral against the inevitable conflict? Or choose a side?

Kota owed his loyalty to the Brazerien Guild, but he was unsure whether or not he would have a hand to play. His voice would have a strong impact-

He saw in his mind's eyes a knife going into his back.

Having seen the vision through the Force a moment before it happened, he reacted. He spun around, grabbed the person by the wrist, twisted, broke his wrist, and threw him down the ground. With all of his weight on the attacker, and both of the surprised man's hands under his control, he had no chance for escape.

The man squirmed desperately, but was apprehended by the authorities of the Brazerien Guild. The assassin had the markings of a rival guild.

Kota returned to the hospital, he sat by the bed where his student laid, and he continued to contemplate.

His student would wake soon. If only there was a way he could see… again…

Kota blinked.

Of course!

He meditated into deep thought in order to figure out how to make his idea work. With most Jedi, it would be a stretch, but Falon would figure it out. Of that, he had little doubt.

The doctors over the day did a muscular treatment and tube-feeding that would bring him back to best condition within a short while, and he was brought out of the medically induced coma that night.

He was brought out of the coma and his head moved as if to look around, but he saw nothing.

"Wha? Where am I?" Falon wondered. He felt around, but found only bed cloth.

"You're in a hospital on my homeworld. What's the last thing you remember?"

Falon reached out, and with Kota's help, sat up. "Ugh… I was… Right, I was exercising to clear my mind. Then you came and stopped me." Kota nodded. So his memory was clear. Good. Falon's head bowed in shame, "I am sorry for my harsh words, Master. It was uncomely."

"You are frustrated." Kota acknowledged.

"Yes, Master." He explained, "People whisper where they think I cannot hear. It's always praise or pity… They think I can save the galaxy or that I'm some lost puppy. And… I can't do anything. I was powerless before, but now I can't even see. I am…" He hesitated before whispering, "I am nothing." He chuckled sadly. "I can't even cry. The tear ducts are destroyed. We will need tear drops to keep my empty eye-holes from chaffing."

"I'll make sure to add it to the shopping list." Kota responded. "But, young one, you are listening to people too much. Yes, you are smart. Yes, you have suffered a crippling blow. But you are not the center of the universe, little Falon."

"But-"

"Were there not thousands of Jedi at the temple, many of whom were stronger than you, and a few just as smart?"

"Yes, but-"

"Were they not adults with greater experience ontop of all that?"

"Well-"

"And did not Sidius fool them? Did not Nihilus reduce them all to nothing?"

Falon fell into silence. Kota saw his hands twitch slightly, a given sign that he was thinking furiously. Kota was happy to note the boy's hands were fully recovered now. Falon's hands calmed after a moment. "You are right, Master…"

Kota nodded, although why, he could no longer say. Not like Falon could see it. He smiled reassuringly, and made sure to convey it in his voice, "You are a child, my young apprentice. You may be someone great when you are older, but right now you are growing. You are a seed, a worm. Your time is not yet come, but when you do." Kota put his hand on his student's arm. "You will be a great tree and massive moth. Or butterfly if you prefer."

Falon scoffed. "How Master? When I cannot see? I do not have extremely intense senses to make up for it."

Kota poked him on the nose. Falon flinched, and the Master couldn't help smirking. "But you do have the Force."

Falon tilted his head to the side curiously.

"Come, I think you would like a chance to get a head start." Kota suggested.

He barely had the words out before Falon was struggling to get out of the bed and clamber over. He was wearing a hospital gown, so Kota had to help Falon into proper clothing. After he used the toilet and bathed, of course. He had been stuck in bed with tubes for a month.

With some minor difficulty they make it out, grab a taxi, and head for a clear place. Kota takes him to the roof of a building and throws him a staff. The staff clatters to the ground at Falon's feet.

Falon touches around the ground for it, and in finding it, picks it up. "We will be fighting?" He guesses.

"Yes." Kota says. "But this will be specialized training. I will be offense, you will be defense only. Move too far and you fall a great height. What I want you to focus on is predicting me and defending yourself. I won't do anything special, just block me."

"But how can I if I can't-!" *WHACK*

Falon hisses in pain as Kota whacks him in the knee. "Ow." Falon grumbles. He snaps his staff up and takes up a defensive posture.

*WHACK* Kota smacks him on the back of the head. *WHACK* Followed by the arm. *WHACK* And ending in the same knee as before.

Falon struggles to defend himself, but he responds to the pain too late. "Don't respond, Falon. Predict."

Falon growls in concentration, but receives a whack to the wrist. "Falon, calm yourself. Focus on the Force. Let it guide you and flow through you. Open yourself to it."

Falon manages to block the next blow, but Kota suspects it was because of his voice telling Falon where he was, rather than Falon truly predicting it. "I know that!" Falon barked.

"Then do it." Kota responded coolly. He backed off and returned again.

Repeatedly he whacked Falon. The continued blows aimed for the same locations would turn into bruises, and Falon became increasingly aggravated. Falon wasn't usually the aggravated type. It only showed how dark his composure had become of late.

Still, it was working. Falon complained and grumbled, but after a while he became silent and focused as they continued their dance. Then, after an hour, when he was tired from little exercise lately, he blocked a silent blow with ease, then the next, then the next, and the next. He blocked them as if he knew they were coming. Kota pushed him aggressively toward the edge, and Falon, sensing the edge was near, twisted to the side rather than allow himself to fall. (Not that Kota would have let him get hurt.)

Feeling satisfied, Kota called to an end for today. Falon collapsed to the ground in exhaustion. "What happened, Falon? Were you able to see it?"

Falon tilted his head to the side. "I… I felt it before it happened. I heard it before it happened. I didn't see, but I didn't have to. I felt your attack, knew where it came from, and acted on the prediction." He gasped for deep breathes. "Is… this what you meant by restoring my sight?"

"Yes." Kota said.

Falon smirked, but it fell. "This… revelation only applies to dangerous situations though. It is the only time our training kicks in and warns us. I'm still useless."

"Then we must continue and do it again, and again, and again, until you can do it without being in danger. You need to be able to sense it at will if you are going to regain yourself."

* * *

**(1 Year, 4 months since the Fall of Coruscant.)**

Falon was a year older, ten now, nearly eleven. He sat at the table of a diner in front of Kota. His golden hair had grown longer and came over his eyes and down to his shoulders. Kota's white hair had also grown whiter to the point it looked bleached. He was getting far too old.

Kota ordered a local newspaper and placed it down. "Are you ready to begin? Time reads 1:07."

Falon breathed in and out slowly, gaining focus, and said. "Begin, page one."

Kota snapped open the newspaper. "Page one. Military officials gave varying, and at times confusing, explanations Monday for what, if anything, would trigger airstrikes against Franac Guild targets…" He continued on.

Falon breathed in and out slowly. "Begin. Page 4. Hutts ambassador."

"Four pages in one go? Very well." Kota snapped open the newspaper. "Page four… Here it is. 'Interviews were left without comment and questions were left unanswered as to why the Hutt Cartel would have transport ships entering and leaving the Franac Guild on a daily basis. A witness says he saw a Hutt ambassador enter the premises, but the Franac Guild denies all claims of collaboration with the Cartel and…"

Falon breathed in and out slowly. "Begin. Page Thirty-Two."

Kota snapped open the newspaper. "Thirty-Two… 'Duchess Satine is scheduled to arrive before Brazerien Guild in continuation of peace talks in hopes of establishing a Guildpact between the twelve reigning guilds, on Saturday. While critics speculate that establishing a Guildpact between all twelve guilds will be an impossible task, there is speculation that at least seven of the guilds will acknowledge the efforts of the Clans in reaching out to the government for…"

Falon breathed in and out slowly, sweat collected on his brow and he wiped it with his sleeve. "Done."

Kota glanced down at the unopened newspaper and up at the time. "1:11. How many visions did that take?"

"Uh… fifty. It became harder near the end to keep them going."

Kota nodded and smiled. "Four pages in fifty visions. I'm guessing… three minutes each?"

Falon shrugged. "About that. You will be happy to know your predictions are right. The United Systems Alliance is reaching out for allies, the Republic is splitting, the Agri-Corp are being shut down piece by piece by Obi-Wan while people are in an uproar because they have to make their own food now, and the Clans are meeting with the Brazerien Guild openly for talks while the Cartel are doing the same with Franac discretely, and they aren't doing that good of a job at it."

Kota sighed. Falon continued, "And the Republic is in an uproar about the Clones having officially left, yet another thing instigating the division. Some are calling themselves 'New Republic' to restore the Republic to the old principles, while others are the 'Old Republic' and want to keep the 'way of things' as they are."

"You mean corruption as the way of things." Kota grumbled. Falon shrugged.

"Regardless, most of the Republic is returning to the old fashioned way of making their own armies and uniting resources to create security. Gungans of Naboo and Aldeeran being the first to provide military support to the Grand Army. And returning to the Clone issue, most of the Clans have voiced contentment on the 'perfection' issue, except one clan that is threatening rebellion if the Clones are not exiled. With this one clan being the last voice of argument, the Clones are being accepted fully as the 'Voda' Clan. Voda meaning 'brother'."

Kota nodded in thought, but after a moment couldn't help smirking. "And I didn't even have to open the newspaper."

Falon raised an eyebrow. "You did. Fifty times."

Kota picked it up. "But it's still in pristine condition! I can return it for a refund."

Falon 'looked' at him blankly before they burst out in laughter together.


	6. Prologue - Padme Amidala and Visas Marr

**Note: With this Prologue being so short, I felt it would be good to release it early.**

**It will be the final Prologue as far as I am concerned, the story comes up next! :D**

**So before we get to it, I want to hear what you want from the story, plot ideas, and other things. I don't plan to use every idea I have, or given to me, but I do want as large a pool of plots to go through and figure out what works with. Right now I have dozens of ideas, but more is always nice. So what do you want in the story?**

**Also, I am releasing a new fiction that I will be working on slowly! :D**

**It's a Merlin fic called "_I, Pendragon_". It covers the life of Uther Pendragon. SO GO CHECK IT OUT! :D**

**Also, if anyone is interested in being a Beta Reader, my skype is "ancient_doom" Or PM me what your skype is.**

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**Prologue - Padme Amidala and Visas Marr**

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**(One Year after the Fall of Coruscant)**

Padme Amidala considered herself a rational, patient women. It took great patience to not fight against the Revanchist when she was brought to their space station. It took a lot of understanding to put up with the refusals to let her go or for her to get word out.

But after a year of all but being officially labeled as a prisoner, she was having enough.

She was treated well. She was allowed to walk freely and do some things of her own accord, but she always had the silent Miraluka women dogging her, and her efforts to get word out was shut down at every turn.

Her latest attempt to break out resulted in her being brought before the leader of the Revanchist, Bastilla Shan herself.

The room was massive. Padme was lead through massive doors to a room that could only be compared to a Globe room. She stood on a ramp while the room itself was shaped in a hollow globe-shape, with an actual map in the center, around which the ramp snaked itself. Directly at the end on her side was a computer terminal and standing in front of it was a women.

Padme held herself with dignity and walked with Visas Marr leading her along. Bastilla was a lot younger than she had expected, barely older than herself. The woman also held herself and presented herself much like a Jedi. She seemed cooperative and presentable.

Padme wasn't fooled.

"For someone who should appreciate the rescue, one would almost think you thought us the enemy with how often I receive… colorful reports." Bastilla chuckled. "A few have made me giggle. You definitely picked up a few things from the 'Chosen One' in your marriage."

"I do appreciated being taken away from Coruscant, but you said we would return to Anakin when I was originally brought here. It's been a year." Padme swept her eyes across the room in shown disdain. "This doesn't strike me as grassy plains or filled with gentle rivers, and there is a striking lack of husbands."

"Don't I know it…" Bastilla grumbled quietly, then louder, "Unfortunately, it is necessary to keep you bound for the time being."

"So I'm a prisoner." Padme concluded with a challenge.

"Only if you insist on seeing it that way."

"You don't give me much room to think otherwise."

Bastilla and her stared each other down. Bastilla was blank and Padme kept herself blank as well, but glared at her. After a long moment, Bastilla's face flickered slightly.

The woman sighed. "Senator."

"Former Senator." Padme snapped. "I retired."

"Mrs. Padme." Bastilla corrected. She wasn't aware the Senator retired. It might be a sudden decision on her part, or one she decided silently in her time here. "According to my agents, you read the information we provided Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi."

Padme flinched slightly, but held her gaze. Agents, in other words spies, were watching them a year ago. She felt insulted, but didn't let it show. Bastilla continued, "You know Darth Nihilus used Chancellor Palpatine as a host. Practically everyone does, but did you make the connection?"

"The mask." Padme allowed. An easy enough connection with what she remembered. It made those files make more sense in hindsight.

Bastilla nodded, but frowned. "My agents have found the mask in the possession of Anakin Skywalker." Padme's eyes widened in shock. "And… they felt the taint of Nihilus on him."

Padme shook her head in denial. It was… it was ridicules. It wasn't true. How could it be!? "How dare you…" Padme seethed, all attempt at good-will tossed aside. She wasn't going to 'play' the Senator, she was a wife and a mother now! "You think you can hold me hostage with the accusation that Ani is the latest host to the Sith Lord! My view of you has been moderate as my patience has been, but now, one mother to another… You. Sicken. Me."

Bastilla simply blinked. She pulled up a visual file and handed the device to Padme. "Read it." Padme didn't, just glared at her. Bastilla nudged her with it, and she took it and started reading. Bastilla commentated, "It's a personal report by Anakin himself, you can see how it's tagged by Republic Military and kept on their archives. It's the real thing. He said, himself, that he was trapped inside Nihilus in the Temple, exposed to him in his greatest form, communed with him, and then was let go as 'entertainment'." Padme's anger turned to terror as she read. Her hands shook.

Visas Marr said, "No one is ever exposed to Nihilus and lives, not without being corrupted by him… You're husband wasn't spared just because Nihilus felt jolly. He was spared with purpose."

Terror fell over Padme like cold water, and all she could do was stare at the report. In the corner of the screen it showed Anakin giving an oral version of the report like a video-blog. She recognized his twitches and tells. It wasn't someone pretending to be Ani. It was him.

Padme's arms fell limp. Bastilla said gently, "And one mother to another… I know what it's like to have the person you love missing, and the reality of never seeing him again."

Silence fell over them for a long moment before Bastilla nodded in Visas' direction. Visas took Padme away by her arm and lead her away, gently.

As she walked away, Padme couldn't help smirking darkly. Something she had come to learn was that Miraluka couldn't see color or light, only three-dimensional objects, and Bastilla had been in front of her the whole time.

Padme had, hidden in plain sight, sent a message to Carth Onasi. She had tried Obi-Wan or Ani or others, but they had changed their address in the last year and Onasi was, for some reason, listed. She didn't have much time, so she didn't think anything of it.

"You will not see me again for a while." Visas commented.

"Oh?" Padme whispered dryly. She didn't much like the Miraluka, but Visas still had gone out of her way to be pleasant and helpful, at times. The kids adored her.

Visas nodded. "I will be away in the service of my Mistress."

Padme scoffed. "So you're going to be away helping Bastilla with another kidnapping?" She pretended to gasp. "What will I tell the kids?!"

Visas shook her head. "Bastilla Shan is not the Mistress for the Miraluka. We owe the Revanchist a great debt, but they do not control us. And you're the only one I've ever kidnapped, my lady. I'm sure you understand the need for it now."

Padme turned slightly to look at her out of the corner of the eye, feeling slightly ashamed for her presumptuousness. "Perhaps… What are you going off to do? I'm curious. You haven't left my side in a year. My own handmaiden is feeling useless."

"Someone very… important to my people disappeared. He is presumed dead, but we feel differently. We will find him. No matter how long it takes." She said with a bit more conviction than may have been necessary.

"Is he close to you?" Padme wondered.

Visas tilted her head to the side. "Yes. And no."

* * *

_**Give me your hungry, your weak, your reviews! You're thoughts and random desires!**_


	7. Ep01 - Five Years Later Part 1

**Note: AND WE ARE BACK TO VARUS! If anyone knows where the origins of this chapter came from, you get points.**

**Randoomy figured it out. :D**

**Beta read by: Randoomy**

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**Episode 1 - Five Years Later Part 1/?**

* * *

Five years…

Five long years, and I still can't say who I am. Of course, I have my memory back. The parts Nihilus suppressed and the ones the Jedi took, but in all of that I cannot say who I am. I was born to the name Galen Marek the son of a Miraluka Keeper, raised as Starkiller as a Sith Murderer, and turned into Varus Wynn as a mouthy-Jedi for about a year, maybe less. I would say about a year, but that's just me being picky. Oh, and let's not forget there are two of us going along for a ride. Yep, still got Revan's memories in here. So if I wanted to I could claim to be a Keeper-dude, Starkiller, Varus Wynn, or the second coming of Revan.

Five years ago, I realized I had been mentally raped by the Jedi, turned into a semi-Jedi, and used as an unknowing slave.

Ten years… no, nineteen years ago, I had been kidnapped by the Sith-pedophile-ghost who slaughtered my family and raised as a Sith apprentice, while being very much a slave.

And now I'm a literal slave. No pretending about that. Any chance for freedom? Not really. Any chance for ascending the ranks? Oh please, they enjoy it too much! In the mind of the Hutts there are two categories of people. Them and the rest of us. It's a very nonracist impartial system. All people, male or female, young or old, Human or non-human fit in the same category. Even the Republic couldn't manage such a complete impartiality.

I could break out of here, but uh… let's not get into that. I gave up that chance long ago.

"Uncy Varus," My small partner says. Her thick Ghorfa accent made even worse by the comm device in our space suits. "It's time for lunch."

I stop my work and look up at her. "Is it about that time?" I ask. She nods.

Odd. That was fast. I turn and look out of the suit's helmet toward the carrier-ship and note the flying scavengers returning home. We work for the Hutts as a bunch of scavengers on a ship graveyard. I don't recognize the symbols representing the fight's representative nations, and I don't care. So long as they don't come after us, and they aren't Jedi. The carrier is where we sleep, eat, work, and be bombarded with an utter lack of hope. Literally, there are billboards telling us to 'suck it up and work'. Another point for the Hutts. They aren't holding back on the 'you are a maggot' message. They love telling you where you stand in the food chain. Right now I'm somewhere between maggot and the stuff I eat, just below dirt.

"Alright." I acknowledge. I reach out to her and the kid hops over to where I'm standing. Our magnetic boots on the surface of a ship and limited propulsion on our backs is the only thing keeping us from drifting. I place down a small flare to designate where we were working, so we might return to the same spot, and I pin down the cutting tool.

The cutting tool is more or less a small version of those fancy ship-cutters I saw on a Republic ship once. The laser is razor thin, long, and designed to cut anything and everything for a good fifty feet. Like a huge lightsaber.

With the cutting tool firmly in place, I put my foot down on the portion of a massive ship we just finished cutting through, kick it off slowly, and watch as a 2-ton slice of a ship flies toward the carrier at an break-neck one miler per hour. With the tags we put on it, the carrier should send out people to grab it and haul it in. The metal would be used for some economical purpose, and I wouldn't see a single credit.

Squirt and I must have gone through five tons today. I'm a heavy lifter! Look at these muscles!

I pull on the rope tied to our ride home and Squirt unlatches the hook. I climb on. She hops in behind me on the hover bike and we fly toward the carrier. The ship graveyard is a mess to fly through, but we make it through without losing too much paint on the sides.

I fly in line behind the rest of the slaves and wait as the doorman checks our work quota.

Rule number one: You don't work, you don't eat.

Rule number two: You don't do enough, you don't eat.

Rule number three: The above two can be changed at any time without notice or complaint based on the Wardens approval of you. I should know, I am the key orchestrator of a lot of the complains and I'm not on Warden's best friend list. Might have something to do with short-circuiting half the ship. Really, people should realize that electric wires and me do not mix.

The line moves up. I'm number twenty-something in line, and its taking forever. The doorman has to check each person, see if the amount of work they have done fits the quota, and check their Slave ID to be sure it matches. Oh look, another person passed.

"Uncy Varus. I'm hurting." Squirt says weakly.

"Yeah, we'll get in and eat, Squirt." I smile for her. She collapses on my back and her breathing is heavy. Crap, not good, she has some issue with eating. She has to eat, all the time, or she passes out; and it's a painful process for her.

"Shit! Hang on, kid." I pull up the hover bike and jam myself down between 2nd and 3rd in line. They curse at me in some language, and as far as I'm concerned, they can just shut up. A little lightning would do the trick.

The next one in line passes and I move in to the guard post. A barrier flips up in front of me, not that I planned to break through anyway, and the guard glares at me. "Hey Tyceus." I greet with my most charming smile.

More glaring. "Listen, Tyceus, it's us. You've seen us every day, twice."

Glare. Bastard isn't even bothering to look at his data pad. "Tyceus, listen, she is allergic to a lack of food!" I point back at the girl collapsed on my back, and falling over. I have to physically grab her to keep her on the bike. "She needs to eat."

"Back in line." He says with a heavy point past my head.

"I am in line. Now are you going to pull your eyes down and check us so she can get non-allergic, or what?"

"Get back in line."

"Tyceus!" I hiss. "I already do twice the work load to cover for her. At least let her through and I'll go back as far as you want! I'll even scrub your toilet! Force knows I already know how to do that well enough!"

He sighs, grabs the front of my bike, and shoves me back hard enough to send us flying through the dispersing crowd all the way to the back. He then raises up the shield to allow the rest of the line through, without checking any of them, all while looking at me, just to prove a point. Then he throws some alien gesture that is completely rude. Ass…

A couple of others around me laugh, "Your stuck back here with us losers!" They're the ones the Warden dislikes the most. I am just barely staying out of it for Squirt's sake. They have to wait thirty minutes every time before they are allowed to eat, whether there is a line or not, before they can even get into the line. The gatekeeper, which is another slave, also has the right to choose anyone to be pushed back here at any time on a day to day basis because they need to overcompensate their anger issues.

I would love that job.

"Varus…" Squirt says weakly and she falls over. I grab her shoulder and haul her up.

"Lean on me, kid. I'll get us in." I encourage her. I look around and think of how to get in. I'm back here with the loser-bunch, the line is gone just to prove a damn point, and there is no longer line. But there is the main factory door. No, wait. Tried that once. The metal is melted down and compacted. That's not an entrance, it's a death trap. There is the side door designed for ship-to-ship walking however.

I kick the hover bike into overdrive and fly up toward it. One of the 'losers' calls up, "Watch out that you don't get yourself killed!"

"Cowards!" I turn in my seat to respond, "Nobody's docked with us in forever! The odds of someone docking is like a million to one!"

"Varus!" Squirt squeals.

I turn back and guess what? There's a ship. Because really, why not? When has my luck ever been positive? Yet another way the Force loves me.

"And that would be one…" I mutter.

I turn sharply to get out of the way, but we still crash. The hover bike takes the impact damage and Squirt and I go flying across the top of the ship. I push off with my hands just enough to keep from actually crashing into it, and wind up hopping along the surface. I barely manage to grab onto the rope keeping Squirt by me before she is sent flying along into the middle of nowhere.

With some brief propulsion bursts, I manage to slow us down to the point that I can plant my feet down on this new ship and walk along. "You okay?" I ask, but she doesn't respond. Squirt doesn't have the energy anymore to talk, and I pull her to me and carry her along. I walk on the surface of the new ship until we get to a point we can climb down. Thankfully, the newcomers have multiple doors. Problem is how am I supposed to get in? The carrier's entrance is blocked, and I doubt the newcomers have doorbells on the outside.

But the newcomers do have a bridge.

An idea hits me. It's stupid, but it's all I got. I walk over and do something I would never consider doing if it weren't an emergency. Window washing. I pull a cloth out and wipe the outside. Inside, a blind person does a movement that reminds me of eye rolling, and gestures for us to come inside. Trying to window wash to get the attention of a blind man probably wasn't my brightest idea, but it worked!

We amble along down to where the door was, and a little ramp extends. I drop down with Squirt, and the blind person from before has his hand out with some change. "Here's your tip… Please don't do that again. That was dangerous." How the heck is this person able to see me?

"How right you are." I smile and take his generous donation. The sound of Squirt groaning in pain reminds me what we are doing.

Without another moment to waste, I run down the hall, across the bridge joining the carrier to the newcomers, and enter the carrier. I can only afford to take the time to get Squirt and me out of these suits, because we aren't allowed to eat while wearing them, and I run as fast as my legs can carry me to the cafeteria with Squirt on my back.

* * *

The blind captain stuck the change back in his pocket and waved off the weird space-pair. He tapped the comm system. "Mrs. Marr, we're locked down."

"Thanks, Barnabus, I'm coming." Was her response.

"Do you really think you will find him here?"

"This is where the trail leads. I can sense him, he is close. Very close."

The captain shrugged. He was a Force-User as well, but not near as strong as she was.

* * *

I slip into line at the Cafeteria and put Squirt down onto her own feet. She sees the sight of food and pushes herself to stand even though her energy level is dropping rapidly. I can see her going incredibly pale on me right before my eyes. We both grab trays and scoot along down the aisle. I grab whatever looks edible among the slop and green things. One of them is a bunch of worms that are still alive and wriggling. They always give me the creeps. But Squirt loves them.

I motion to it and the chef, a lovable little bug-thing with all the mental capacity of a goldfish and the emotions of a bear-trap, slips some on both our plates. Mine lands directly on top the biscuit. Great, not eating that now. I mean look at this crap, the green worms are crawling over the side of my tray!

"Got ketchup?" I ask. I slip as much of the gunk as I can to the kid.

The bug-chef looks insulted. "Ketchup? You don't need ketchup!" He swings his large spoon at me and I duck out of the way. Wow. Really? You would think me asking that every. Single. Day wouldn't earn a ticked off reaction from him! "Move along!" He shoves the spoon in my face threateningly.

I stick my tongue out and follow Squirt out to a table with a fellow Ghorfa, Koj'Ineh, who is also her father. Squirt sits down next to Koj'Ineh, and I sit across from them. I take my tray and dump the rest of the worms on her plate, and she squeals in delight. Extra serving for her. "Have fun, kid."

With just a biscuit and piece of sausage slavered in worm juice left, I'll suffice. Squirt slips the worms into the massive maw that is a Ghorfa mouth, and after three of them, she starts to get some of her green color back. Koj looks at me expectantly.

"She was having a problem. Needed to eat." I answer the unspoken question.

Koj nods knowingly.

I pick up one of the worms curiously and look it over. I try sniffing it and… that really doesn't help. I groan. "You know, I'm not asking that much. I'd just like them to actually kill my food before serving it."

"hmm." Koj mutters. He eats the worms too. What's with these Ghorfa and the worms?

I pick up a little ball mixed in with the worms and the ball actually screams in pain under my fingers. That's disturbing. I continue complaining, "I mean, I do an honest day's work, double, in fact, on top of the extra load Skippy loves to give me. I want already dead food." I drop it onto her plate again. Skippy is the Warden. I love calling her that on account of how it's a little dog name, and she loves to bark. She's small too. It fits!

"And what is up with Tycheus and bug-face back there?" I continue talking to the silent statue. "Tycheus has the heart of a rock, and bug-face hasn't learned how to take a joke in… what's it been? Two years? Year 'n a half?"

"Something like that." Koj relents. Finally he says something!

"And all because I'm Skippy's favorite toy!" Squirt giggles at my pretend anger. I take a bite out of the biscuit and pause to keep from throwing up. By the Force, Koj would be a better cook than this insect!

"If you would stop messing with her every chance you have, your future would be brighter." He lectures me good heartedly.

I scoff. "Let me tell you something about this future of yours."

"Hm?"

"Every day, I wake up, look out the window, it's still the present." I wave the worms in front of his face. "Same grimy, stinking, worm-infested, boring present. I'm stuck here, you're stuck here, Squirt's stuck here. And the people haven't learned to deal with her issues, nor my mouth, in a year 'n a half. And the work around here hasn't diminished in the slightest. It'll take us five hundred years to go through the graveyard. We're all stuck in the same point in time every morning. It's like the present repeats itself. Not to mention, I'm here for LIFE! I don't think this future thing exists."

Squirt giggles for some stupid reason, and finishes her tray. She looks a lot better now. She has the energy and perkiness in her eyes again. That's good. Her lack-of-food-allergy thing nearly killed her a year ago. I've been on the watch for that ever since.

I eat my biscuit, and despite the effort, I am an inch close to throwing up. The worm juice is getting to me. "I can't take this anymore…" I stand up.

"Not much we can do about it." Koj argues.

"Not our situation, the food. I'm going to go throw up." I hand the plate off to the kid, and she shoves her face with what I had left. She's a growing girl, she's going to need it.

I head out to a pass where water is leaking out of a pipe. The rust-infested carrier feels like home, considering it's a drastic improvement from where I had been living prior, and yet still has that rusty, broken feel to it. I dip my face into the water and relax as the coldness keeps my nausea back, but it just isn't made to last. A pair of large hands grab me from behind and pull me back.

"Varus." The alien growls. He is about ten feet tall with arms as thick as logs. His eagerness to brawl is about as massive as his stature, earning him a bad spot in Skippy's book. I feel a presence sneak up on me from behind and grin as I recognize it.

"Good morning, Flo!" I greet sarcastically. "How's it flo-ting?" He hates it when I mock his name like that.

He ignores my joke. "You pulled a nasty stunt back there!"

Oh yeah, this is going to be another fight. But between Cupcake and Flo, I don't stand a chance.

Cupcake punches his oversized fist into his palm in front of my face. "Your attitude needs an adjustment."

"Wow, that is a massive word! How many dictionaries did you eat before you found out what that word meant?" Not my brightest moment. Because it earns me a fist to the face. I narrowly dodge the initial blow, but a ton of tentacles that make up Flo's arms coil around my waist and haul my up in the air. A second or two later I'm being bear hugged, held up in the air to use as a sandbag, and the sound of bones cracking isn't all that much more pleasant than how it feels.

The hair on the back of my neck rises, and a ball of energy explodes in the room. Cupcake and Flo both fly to opposite sides of the corridor and are held in place by an invisible force. I straighten up and pop my nose back in place. A woman stands just before us, someone I don't recognize. She has a red hood on covering the top half of her face. Judging from her extended hand, and the air-explosion, I would say she is a Force-User.

Jedi… My fist clenches and I have to hold myself back to keep from throttling her. I don't have the power to anyway.

"If you want to hunt people, remember: we travel in packs." The newcomer threatens.

"What are you doing?" I growl.

"It's commonly known as helping." She responds sarcastically.

"Yeah?" I scoff. "What for?"

She raises her hands defensively, "Sometimes, people just help each other out. You have no need to be angry."

Ohhh, right." I punch Flo in the side, and he hisses in pain. I think I hit a liver. He has three of them, he can spare to lose one. "I guess you don't want anything in return?" I head over to the water and dab the freezing cold water on my face. I hiss in pain as I touch bruises. There is no icepacks, so this will have to suffice.

"All right, maybe I do." She relents.

"What a shock…"

"I want you to come, give up everything you have, and join in a mission where you risk pain, torture, and possibly… gruesome death."

I laugh. She's funny. She rescues me from two idiots and expects me to give up my life for her? "And I would do that… because?"

"Because it's worth it. You may not have had a good look around lately, but there aren't many of us left." No crap. The Jedi were wiped out the night Nihilus arose. "Pretty soon we will disappear and everything we stand for will be left to the void. Kids will be reading about us in textbooks and hosting our traditions in museums. The fact is, I came here for you, Varus. We need you. The galaxy is in chaos and without you, our kind will perish."

Jedi in perish… I don't blame the lesser ones for the decisions of the higher, since very few probably were involved in my mental rape, but at the same time the possibility of the Jedi being extinct doesn't exactly rip my heart to shreds. "I'll do it."

She hesitates. "You will?"

"Yeah, your speech was thrilling." I start tearing up and sniff. "My whole life has been a mess with constant ups and downs, and it took your amazing speech to bring me see it. It was so moving and-and, it changed me. Its… beautiful! I think we need to hug!" I put my arms out and wait to see if she actually jumps into my arms.

Instead she raises an eyebrow above the cloth around her eyes. "Your faking it…" No kidding… What part tipped her off? She sighs in clear pity. "They really hurt you…"

She extends her hand to grab my shoulder gently, but I knock it aside angrily. "Get this! I don't even know you! I don't like you! I don't care for your 'kind'. I want nothing to do with your mission! And I don't need your help with these oversize morons! So leave me alone!" I walk away, and check behind me to ensure she isn't following me. She isn't. Good!

Yes, I am angry with the Jedi. Its… not that I BLAME all the Jedi for the decision their higher ups made, but I dislike the whole religion as a whole about as much as the Sith. When it is morally okay in a religion to rape a person's mind and enslave them, I'm not particularly obliged to be all giddy around them. I'll contains myself, I'll shake their hand, but I refuse to pretend that I am anything but on bad terms with Jedi as a whole.

The only ones I really care about are Tree-Hugger, Mother Hen, Falcon, and Psycho-Bunny, in that order. Although those aren't their real names.

she shrugs. "Ok." She flicks her wrist, and both Flo and Cupcake are released of the Force hold. She smirks and says, "I think he called you morons."

Oh… crap. Probably shouldn't have ticked her off. I smile as pleasantly as I can and put my hands up. "Listen, uh, guys-" Their eyes go red with anger, they come at me roaring, and I run screaming. Any witnesses who claim I was screaming like a girl while running full-throttle have got the wrong guy and I want names!

After ages of running and evasion, I manage to get away from the two of them and return to the Cafeteria. I find Squirt napping in her dad's lap. She put in a lot today, that's no surprise. I land heavily across from him and look around with all the stealth of a… a… thing with no stealth! None of Flo's and Cupcake's friends are around. Good! "I need to lay low for a while… If either of those two morons catch me, I don't know if I have it in me to sprint like that again for a while."

"You don't know the half of it." The red-hood lady sits next to us as though I hadn't just thrown her off.

"Hey!" I bark. "Get this, lady, go away!"

She smirks at Koj. "Wonderful job with the kid, he's a charmer."

"I expected you to take him off my hands a lot sooner." Koj returns.

Wait… hold up! "You know her?!" I ask.

"As do you. Visas Marr." She introduces herself.

Visas Marr… Marr… Oh, wait. Girl from my Galen visions that was mentioned a few times. "You know her?!" I repeat myself to Koj.

"Her contacts found us a few weeks ago and I been waiting for her to arrive." Koj explains.

She says. "My apologies, the Mandalorians made it difficult to get in undetected, even with the Hutts predominantly in control of this area under scavenging contracts. You will be happy to know the deal extends to you too, Sand… Person." She eyes him closely, now that she realizes consciously what he is. Clearly she has never seen a Ghorfa without the million layers of clothing. Yet another thing we have against the Hutts…

"Ghorfa." I correct abruptly. "Now what is going on?"

"The Miraluka bought you both. I'm here to pick you up."

I scoff. Bought me… Technically, not that difficult to imagine. I come cheap, very cheap. So they aren't actually Jedi. That's comforting. "Did they tell you what I did to my last three masters?" I ask. "I'm so cheap because all three of them are dead. Think you can hold me?" She probably could, easily, but I'm not about to say that. Why do I get the feeling Skippy paid them to get rid of me? "And what you mean two?" I continue. I point to Squirt and Koj. "We aren't moving without the kid."

"The deal can extend to her easily, but you will be given a salary once you return with me to our space."

Keeping my adopted brother and niece along, and getting a salary. It's good considering I'm a convicted criminal taken in slavery. "Not good enough."

She smiles warmly, like a viper. "You don't have a choice. Let's just say you managed to earn yourself some very big enemies. It's either you come with us, or you die to them."

"Why didn't you say that earlier?"

"I was trying to be nice and make it voluntary."

Koj touches my arm, grabbing my attention, and says, "The Good Spirit is in accordance with what has transpired." Yeah, sorry Koj, I am not much in agreement with a spirit right now. "And we have little choice in the matter. We are slaves after all."

I scoff. Why does he always have to be reasonable about things? This is what? The fifth master now? No, seventh. The first two couldn't stand me, the later three died, and Skippy apparently can't stand me either and shoved me off to the first person who could find me. The only reason I actually tried to make a good impression with Skippy was to stick around and help Koj and his kid. If it weren't for me, Squirt would be dead.

A door opens behind Koj, and a couple of droids enter in. Nothing new, but their model design looks odd. I don't see them very often. "Dominion." Visas whispers. She leans down slightly to keep her face hidden further from them under the hood.

"What's the Dominion doing here?" I wonder. "Another inspection check?"

She shakes her head. "No. They want you, Varus. The same way I want you, only dead."

I scoff. "What makes you think they want me dead?"

One of them sees me, aims at me down its sights, and fires. It misses and chaos erupts. People scream, people jump up and run around, and the three of us dive under the table. Squirt wakes up and freaks out loudly before Koj covers her mouth. She has no idea what's going on, and I can't stand the fear in her forked eyes. It scares me, and not in a way I'm used to be scared. They definitely want me dead. Another five of the droids enter the room, and a glance down the hall they are coming from shows a whole battalion. What did I do to the Dominion?! Visas whips out a lightsaber and cuts the table stand. We tilt it on its side and huddle behind it.

"I'm convinced!" I admit.

"Do something." She suggests.

"Like what?"

"Push. Lightning. Something."

"Yeah, now's not a good time to mention this, but uh… about that..."

Her face scrunches up, but with her eyes covered in a cloth I can't say what emotion that is. I'm getting aggravation or disappointment. We have a hyperventilating kid, a Ghorfa without any weapons, a former-Sith with no power, and a blind woman. We are royally doomed; so I share her disappointment. Why didn't she bring more men?

"We need to get to the kitchen." She suggests in an order-like-way. Yeah? How? And how is she looking anyway? Her attention is on the droids. What, can she see out of both sides of her head? Oh that's right... She's a Miraluka like me. Only the blind kind.

People die around us from stray fire. One of them falls to the ground directly in front of Squirt. Her eyes go freakishly huge at the sight of a man covered in blood and half his face missing, and here comes the hyperventilation. She's stunned silent. Visas throws to Koj a pistol -why not me!- and gestures for me to get moving. I grab the kid and dash as low as I can as fast as possible to behind the cafeteria bar. It's not far, but a number of blaster bolts still narrowly miss me. I pin myself against the bar and check over Squirt. A bolt edged her clothes and she passed out. Good. Her panicking was making me about to panic. I hold her close to my chest and adjust my grip. We might need some food later if she wakes up. Panic-attacks sometimes trigger her lack-of-food-allergy.

"Why do they want me dead?" I ask as Marr and Koj get behind the counter with us. Koj looms around the corner and lets off another shot, and with a 'clink' sound a moment later, I'd say we're down one droid with a million to go.

"Everyone wants you dead." She says flatly.

Wow... I... I actually have nothing to say to that. No wait, yes I do! Why didn't they just take a try at me when I was still a Sith?! I at least would have given them a reason! But no no no... no one has to notice me when I'm evil but as soon as I become a nobody stuck in the food chain between maggot and dirt, suddenly everyone wants a piece of the Varus!


	8. Ep01 - Five Years Later Part 2

**Note: Not really much to say here. I made this chapter very fast paced to help get things moving. This episode is a lot of "MOVE MOVE MOVE STOP AND THINK LATER!" because crap is going down.**

**Also, I have put up another chapter in a side story of mine for this series called "In the Path of Oneshots". It's a collection of snippets outside the story. The first oneshot is random nonsense, the second one explores a bit of the relationship between Nihilus and Starkiller, that I just put out. So give it a shot if you want a bit more background story. I'll try to let ya know as I release more, or ya can just follow it and find out.**

**Beta read by:**

**If anyone else wants to be a beta reader or help me with the story, feel free to PM me.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, so no sue!**

**Remember to Review. I want to know what you think and how the chapter is to you. Is it good? Is it bad? Anything I need to know? Any ideas or things you want to see in the future?**

* * *

**Episode 1 - Five Years Later Part 2/?**

* * *

Koj'Ineh raises himself over the counter and shoots a droid or two. "Go." He says.

I grab Squirt around the waist and leap over the bar, through the side window, and crash onto a stove. Squirt and I fall to the ground. Laser bolts fly through the window after us a second too late. I hold Squirt tight to my chest and examine the room. The bug-chef is huddling in a corner rambling about how its all my fault and something about me getting all the ketchup I want in hell. To the right is a door leading out of the kitchen as a backdoor, and a second door leading to the cafeteria, but the second one has no cover leading out, and the bug-chef just had to move a mini-fridge to block the door.

Visas jumps in after us. She Force Lifts an oven and throws it through the window. I don't see where it goes, but the resulting crash better take a few droids with it. "Come on, Koj!" I yell.

Another flurry of blaster bolts comes through the window, and in their wake Koj rolls in, his torn Ghorfa robes spinning in the air. I clamber out of the way, Squirt still held to my chest, as Koj falls to the ground beside me. He climbs up and puts his back to the stove.

"There are more of them coming." He says while checking his pistol magazine. The meter is nearly depleted, but slowly recharging.

"Any idea WHY they want me dead?" I ask pointedly toward Visas.

"I'll explain later, but for now, we need to get out of here. Our fleet is nearby, but the Cartel, Clans, and Revanchist are not far behind." She scrambles across the ground in front of me and heads for the door. "It's clear, let's move."

Koj and I exchange a glance. Koj asks, "What did you do?"

"Hey! I didn't do anything!" I glare at him. "I have no idea why everyone is after me!"

"Everything will be explained later, but for now, move!" Visas barks.

I growl, but scramble across the ground on three limbs while holding Squirt with the fourth. Visas kicks the door open and runs down the hall. Koj takes up our back and I follow along with Squirt. People all around us run in a panic and we maneuver through halls. I know this place. I know where that ship is, provided the ship I head-butted an hour ago was her's, so I know we are going in a merry-go-round in all kinds of directions.

"What are we doing?" I ask at last. "Don't you know where your own ship is?"

"I do." She replies. She suddenly stops and turns right. "This way! Hurry!"

Koj and I exchange around glance out of the corner of ours eyes, but follow along anyway. Just as we disappear, I see more Dominion droids back where we almost went.

Ah, thats right. Miraluka can see the world around them, like through walls and things. She must be weaving a path through the enemy droids.

Laser fire explodes in the distance as we run and people scream. Slaves are mowed down in the distance and the guards can barely keep a defense up. The ship is being taken.

Three people run down the hall toward us being chased by a pair of droids, and Koj and Visas take care of them instantly. The three people we just saved stop in front of me.

Ah, great... it's them. "Boss!" They yell at once and suddenly decide they are going to join us.

"You know them?" Visas asks.

"No." "Yes." Koj and I answer simultaneously. I glare at him. Don't help!

She stops and turns to 'look' at us. "You two want to talk it over? Work out one lie between you?"

I grumble and readjust Squirt in my arms. "I... know them. They think I'm their gang-boss."

"Their what?" She had not expected that answer.

"Long story short, I kept them safe in prison and every slaver that sold me off got rid of them too because they think we're a package."

"Let's not forget, Cupcake!" Igor, the tall idiot pipes in.

I groan and Visas stares at him in disbelief, "Uh-huh... You mean the big guy who was beating the snot out of you earlier?"

I wave her off. "Long story, just leave him. Is your ship far?"

"No. I can see it from here." Being able to see through walls must be awesome! "Should I have to buy them too?" She pointed to the three Stooges huddling around me like I'm leading them. I take a step away, they're in my personal space.

"You already ha-" I kick Koj in the shins.

Visas' eyebrow rises. "I did?"

I groan again... I am having such a great day... Why can't I just go sleep or get back to work? Why do people want me dead or have to bother rescueing me? It's all such a hassle. And why can't I get rid of the Three Stooge?

"The Boss and us come as a package deal!" The second one says. Rizzo is short and chubby. What he lacks in muscle and intelligence he makes up for in being a geek and nerd. Not sure how you can be a stupid nerd as nerds tend to be intilectual, but he managed. "The contract includes us. It's the only way our previous master's have ever managed to sell us."

Visas just 'stares' at us through the hood. "Uh-huh..."

"Technically five of us if you include Cupca-" I roughly grab Igor by the mouth with my only free hand, leaving Squirt hanging roughly in my other.

"Visas. Please." I practically beg.

"We'll take em." She nods. I groan loudly. Why!? WHHYY! The Three Stooges squeal in delight and huddle around me. "But you all need to be quiet. If you get left behind, I'm not coming back for you. If you get shot, it's your problem. Got it?"

"'iamon', cap'n!" Rizzo says with a salute and straightened back that only shows his belly and complete lack of actual military experience.

"I thought the reference was 'crystal'?" Koj wonders.

"It doesn't matter! We need to get out of here, and I don't plan to be taking along Larry, Curly, and Moe!" I yell.

"Technically, it's my choice." Visas corrects me. She shrugs. "And I don't mind. Old friends are valuable."

"Valuable?!" I blurt out. I'm sorry, but these three and the word 'valuable' do not exist in the same sentence.

"Yeah, she thinks we're valuable!" The three of them cheer. Rizzo adds, "It's 'k boss, we know you 'ove us."

Visas can barely contain a smile at my misery. She's enjoying this way too much.

I'm going to kill them... I don't know how many times I've said that to myself, but I'm going to kill them.

"Fine!" I lose it. "FINE! Come along, but only if you SHUT. UP."

The three of them finally shut up. Visas smirks, "How many time's do I have to remind you that it's not up to you."

I return, "Then you better leave me behind, lady, because I've never been very good at being told what to do. Why do you think you're the seventh master I've been sold to in four years?"

She scoffs. "Very well. The plan is to free you once we rendevue with the fleet, anyway. Can you at least follow my orders until then?"

Hmmm. "Sure."

She nods. "Good, because the ship is surrounded by Dominion droids and we need a distraction."

Everyone turns to look at me, and she smiles evily like the little **** she is. I can feel my right eye twitching.

I'm going to kill every last one of them...

"Fine." I snarl. I hand off Squirt to the Three Stooges and motion for Koj to come. "You want a distraction, you will get one."

Koj follows me to the hanger bay door and we peer inside. There is a tube leading out to a ship and a whole lot of droids on this side of the tube firing in. They are trying to force their way onto the Miraluka ship, but the Miraluka are holding the line. For a bunch of Force-User's, I don't see any with lightsabers. All of them are using blasters and sniper rifles. Must be because of the long reach of the tube in question. The droid's attention is already on attacking the ship, but there are easily a hundred of them.

Considering I don't have access to the Force right now, and no lightsaber, dealing with them might be a stretch. Koj, as it turns out, does have Force sensetivity, as is his people's version of a Far Seer/Jedi is, but he puts no training or effort into Force techniques, and he has no lightsaber either. Just a pistol.

Visas may be able to handle them, but this many would be a stretch for her to get through uninjured. What we need is... something not effected by laser bolts. Something big and loud and... (I smirk.) Someone who hates my guts. I glance around and see what I'm looking for. "Come on, I got an idea." I scoot around the corner and hug the wall and use the crates as cover. Koj is on my heels as we move. We head around the corner, make it to the stairs, and climb up. I keep my eyes on the droids, but their attention is on the little invasion of theirs. They aren't looking around to notice a pair of nobodies going up flights of stairs behind them.

We make it to the second floor without being seen, but the path to the destination runs too closely to a pair of droids. I signal for Koj to take the one on the left, and he nods. We sneak up and together I pull the wires out of the back of one's head, while Koj wrenches the other one's head clean off. Koj grabs the body of it before it falls to prevent noise, and lets it down quietly.

We scramble across the ramp of the second floor to the Hanger Control. Three more droids are in there, and this time they notice us. A bit too late really, Koj already has them in his sights and he is an expert marksman. Unfortunately the noise attracts some unwanted attention, and a few of the droids below head up. We've been seen. I shut the door.

Koj hunkers down behind cover from where he can watch the door. The droids make their way to the second floor and will be trying to get in soon. "What is next?" He asks.

"Next." I start pressing buttons. "We make some noise and embarrass ourselves." And... there. we. go! I'm in. "Just give me a sec. Accessing the audio feed for the entire ship."

"Why would you do that?" He wonders.

I chuckle. "I need for 'him' to hear this. And I don't know where 'he' is." I pull out a piece of paper in my pocket I had been holding onto for a rainy day. Well, by the bright light of red rain drops pelting our windows, I'd say it is storming out. I clear my throat and pull up the microphone. "This is Varus Wynn making a global broadcast from... I-C-A Hanger on floor seven. Hello, to all of you wonderful people out there!" I begin cheerfully.

"What are you doing?" Koj asks in disbelief.

I wave him off. "And a special message to you, most of all, Skippy! It seems you have an admirer out there. But hey! Don't take my word for it, take his." I snap the paper and begin reading outloud. I put special emphasis in in my voice to sound mockish and animated.

Koj's eyes slowly expand in shocked wonder.

* * *

"Is that a... poem?" Visas Marr wonders. She looks at Varus' friends. "A cheap romantic poem?"

The three of them clamp their lips shut to contain their laughter and tears begin to appear in their eyes. One of them nods.

"Why would he be reading a poem?" She asks. The loudspeaker continues on with the poem as Varus continues to make an ass of himself. "He's supposed to be making a distraction! Not giving everyone literature lessons!"

"Wait for it..." One of them manages to say. The three of them look at each other and burst out in crying laughter as the poem becomes incredibly cheesy. Even Visas feels herself cringing. The poem is awful and grating. She almost wished he would stop just to save her from having to hear it.

* * *

As I continue reading, and fluctuating my voice at the wrong times on purpose, there is a noticeable shaking. It starts in the floor and rises to the walls. Distant sounds of crashing appears, but I continue reading anyway. A moment later, there are distant explosions and the shaking is only becoming worse.

Koj notices the tremors, looks confused, then looks at me with wide eyes. "You didn't..."

I just smirk and read the last line. "You're dearest wall-flower, George."

No sooner am I done then the wall explodes beneath us and a massive creature storms into the room. It's read, it's a huge twenty-feet tall, it's ugly, it's plated in a greasy-laser-resistant-exo-skeleton, it's angry, it has two sets of tree-like arms ending in razor sharp claws, it has a massive tail with a kind of blade at the end, it has horns,

and right now it wants to kill me.

"WHERE ARE YOU!?" Cupcake roars.

Visas wanted a distraction, well she got one.

"Thankyouallandgoodnight!" I say hurriedly and drop to the floor.

The laser fire stops hitting the shielded windows around us, and instead it sounds like Cupcake was nice enough to be loud and distracting for me. He roars angrily and I see droids flying from where Koj and I are on the floor hiding. I almost feel sorry for the droids because when Cupcake is this mad, he is like a tornado-wrecking-ball, or a shark tornado filled with dynamite.

"WHERE ARE YOU, VARUS!" Another roar, and a crate goes flying and hits a distant wall with enough impact to imbed itself in the metal.

Yeah, like I'm going out there. "You have gone a step too far this time, Varus." Koj says. We both cringe as another explosion shakes the floor. "He is probably going to kill you this time."

I roll my eyes. "Please, what makes you think he is going to catch us all the way up here. He's too stupid to look in the control center. He's probably assuming I'm hiding in a crate or-" Another shake, but the impact feels entirely too close and it lurches me forward into my face. I raise myself back up and... I hear angry, heavy, deep breathing right outside the window above me.

"Don't tell me. I left the microphone on didn't I?"

"Yep." Koj says with a hint of boredom.

"Red, massive, wide-open eyes filled with enough hatred to give the sith a run for their money? A bulk large enough to take up the entire view? Spikes and claws coming out of every corner of his exo-skeleton?" I ask. Can't have the hate without the spikes.

"mhmm."

...

I dare the universe, "Bring it on."

* * *

Visas had heard from reputation that Varus Wynn, former apprentice to Darth Nihilus, and possibly-former Padawan to Anakin Skywalker, had a knack for chaos, being loud and disruptive, and being difficult to notice. Well, as if a testament to that reputation, he managed to completely tick off a twenty-foot red dinosaur-rhino with enough muscle to break a small ship in half, read off a very bad love poem to the entire slaver-ship, leave the hanger bay in flames and sparking ruins, and finally was running out the door of the control center screaming like a girl while being chased by said beast.

And this was his idea of a simple distraction.

"How does he do it..." She could only gape in wonder. She was going to regret this, wasn't she?

"Oh please." One of Varus' friends said. "This is a normal day for us."

* * *

I dared the universe to come at me, and it delivers. George, aka Cupcake, brings his hulking, armored, universe-pumped fists down on the roof of the room I'm in. He crushes the entire 'building' like it's a soda can. I barely run out in time before the whole room is flattened. Koj is ahead of me running. He seems to be more concerned with keeping a distance from me since I have a proverbial nuke coming down on my head.

The stomping of Cupcake's feet alerts me to his presence, and I am left with few options. Ramp forward, wall to the left, and a fall down to the right. The fall is only a ten feet, so I take it. I roll to the right and go right off the edge when his fist comes down where I was a moment before hand.

I land on my feet, stumble, but keep running. Crates provide cover, but I know cupcake. He'll knock them aside like they're nothing.

In the distance Visas and the Three Stooges make for the exit. Cupcake was nice enough to put down the droids in his frenzy to look for me, and the few remaining droids are only knocked aside by him as I run past with him on my heels.

No Force, no weapon, the crates won't help, and he can smash through most walls. What I need to do is hide, get to the ship, and have Visas jump us away before he notices I'm no longer there.

I weave myself around a corner and go around it, only to jump into a pile of crates. I wait for him to wisen up and start knocking them aside before I scramble out between his legs and slither into the space between the opened door and the wall. It's a tight fit, but with his intelligence, he'll think I ran off.

I stop to take a breather. Exhaustion hits me a bit heavily. I have been exercising a lot over the last few years to keep away the boredom, but running at full-throttle still leaves me winded. It's amazing how much of a Jedi or Sith's stamina comes from the Force when they have to endure long periods of time. I don't think they even realize how much of their physical energy is from the Force.

If they were stripped of it like me, then they'd figure it out.

A set of massive, red fingers grab hold of the door and pull, revealing me pinned up against the wall, and a hulking monstrosity looms down on him. Cupcake looks like he could pass for Diablo in a movie with how much red steam, red eyes, exo-skeleton, spikes, and strength he has. He holds himself low to the ground on his massive arms while his tail sways side to side, and his legs aren't all that small either. He just holds himself very forward. His spine also juts out of his back.

None of that I notice, I've seen it before. I'm a little more concerned with the eyes.

Followed by his fist.

I throw myself to the ground and lunge forward. His outreached hand grazes my back and I run out from between his legs. He growls angrily, turns around, and comes after me again.

With no other place to go, I run into the tube leading to the ship.

Cupcake, just by being as large as he is, if he tries to go in, would explode the tube and send us both jutting out into space. Cupcake is stupid, but he isn't that dumb. He glares at the smaller tube, roars, then forces himself to calm down. After a few moments his massive stature falls to normal and he continues coming after me.

Now he's brown, ugly, and looking like a normal lizard. The spikes, red eyes, red steam, tail, and exoskeleton is gone.

Cupcake manages to catch up with me just as we enter the Miraluka ship, and he grabs hold of my neck just as I lower myself down. He lifts me up and I squirm in his grip. "You have gone too far this time!"

I chuckle despite the fact that he could crush my windpipe with little effort. "I could say the same for you."

He looks at me curiously, then notices that a dozen guns and lightsabers are pointed at his head, neck, and chest. He growls and drops me. He puts his hands up.

"Shut the door." Visas orders. A soldier shuts the door, and barely a second later there is a loud clicking as we detach, and the ship shifts as it's engines kick in and we leave the station.

Visas looks at me, then at Cupcake, and asks, "What to do with you two…"

"Let me kill him…" Cupcake growls. One of his large eyes turns on her, but he doesn't move his head.

"For pulling that kind of crap like he did just now, I'm inclined to." Wait, what? I snap my head in her direction in surprise. Didn't they come here to get me? "But he's too important. We bought Koj'Ineh and his daughter, but I'm also told that the contract to buy Varus, that we signed, includes you and the three of his friends."

"Unfortunately…" Cupcake laments.

"Mhmmm…" Visas continues. "Sounds like the five of you are a load of trouble, and if I hadn't seen the last few minutes with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it." Well, technically she doesn't have eyes, but I probably shouldn't run my mouth and bring that up.

Visas takes a moment to think in silence before saying more firmly, "We will rendezvous with the Nomadic Fleet shortly. We will process all of you and decide what to do with you once we arrive. Until then, you" she points at the big guy, "will be confined to the brig. The other four will be confined to quarters."

"Hey!" I bark. I didn't do nothing!

But a couple of blind people grab me by the arm and lead me off anyway. One of them, who I recognize from earlier, groans. "Great… of all people we came to rescue it had to be the window washer…"

Why isn't Koj confined to quarters too!

I find myself and the Three Stooges thrown into another room. It's rather small, but judging from the approximate timetable of 'shortly', it's really just a place to keep hold of us. I look out the window. We jump into Warp soon after and the stars fly by.

From one master to another… I sigh.

"'ook on the bright side, boss." Rizzo says gently. "You sti' have us!"

That only makes me groan in agony. Visas said the intent was to free me later. Odds are she will be freeing George, Igor, Rizzo, Koj, Squirt, and Reeve (one of the three who is on some stupid spiritual journey related to silence) as well. But… the question is why? I recount to myself what I know.

She is Visas Marr. We were betrothed at birth. So there is a chance this whole 'freeing' escapade is her way of getting a husband if I'm forced into it. Yippee. Don't know anything about husbandry, romancery, or any of that stuff. All I do is get confused when shown interest and even more confused at emotions I don't understand.

I've gotten a better grasp of those emotions over the years, as the prisoners little hard-course on explaining sexuality and lust did wonders for my ignorance, but it's still not something I care to get involved with. The emotions of Revan is still in my head deep down, and frankly, the crap the prison taught me in that subject sounds brutal, harsh, and unnecessary.

She better not be doing this as a way of getting me back.

Another option is that I am the Miraluka Keeper. I don't know necessarily what that means entirely. I know it involves some kind of royalty or leadership but… that's not me. I'm not a leader. I don't want to be leader, I don't claim to be leader, and I couldn't care less about people I don't know. I mean, I'm happy my people are still alive, but I don't know them and they don't know me. That leaves me rather detached.

They have the wrong guy if their plan is to have me lead them.

But then I've been gone for the last nineteen years, give or take a year. They have to have had a government of some sort in that time. Whatever or whoever it is, it can keep the position. I don't plan to usurp the throne.

Unless that is the plan. Crap, is Visas pulling me out to start a rebellion and claim I'm the real leader?

I shake my head and put aside the imaginative mess. I'm just going to work myself into a frenzy. All that matters is that soon I will be freed, and then I can figure out what to do with my life.

She said the most prominent nations in the galaxy are out to kill me, and we are actually on the run from them. That doesn't leave many options… But I'll make do. I will do fine once I'm a free man again.

I went to prison to redeem myself. I may have been put in for life, but I think, logically, that being subject to slavery, torture, and hard, backbreaking, physical labor over the last four years might take off a good chunk of the life sentence, if not all of it.

If the Republic makes another go at me for my past sins and claims, with rightful authority and judgment, that the slavery does not replace the life sentence… then I'll do what I need to do to ensure Starkiller pays.

Until then, Varus is going to make do. How are Tree-Hugger and Mother Hen doing? Would they be happy to see me again? I also have a promise to Koj'Ineh I made a long time ago, concealed as a not-promise, to help his people. Not sure what I can do, but that sounds like a good start to my life. Also I need to find out what happened to the Ravager and HK-47. And how's Falon and Kota doing?

Where to begin…

To the Stooges credit, the three of them are being awfully quiet while I sit against the window in the dark room and think. Guess they aren't completely bad. I haven't thought this hard in a long… time…

They are staring at me wide eyed. That's not them just being quiet to let me have some peace, that's them hero-worshipping! "Turn around and knock it off!" I bark.

They jump in fright and do as I say.

First thing I will need to do is get an idea of all that has happened in the last five years. I've gotten the most of it down the grape vine. The galaxy has reshaped itself in a power vacuum. What was once the Hutts, Confederacy, and Republic as the main powers, is now Hutts with the Dominion and Old Republic against the Mandalorian Clans with the United Systems Alliance and New Republic. Not sure how the Revanchist fit in there or the Miraluka and I don't know who is winning or what.

The Dominion showed up at the Mining station regularly for shipments and checkups, that was obvious enough for an initial change.

And how are the Sith and Jedi doing? They slaughtered each other yet?

I shake my head and chastise myself. I shouldn't be wishing bad on them. The ones responsible for the crimes against me are long gone and dead. The remaining Jedi don't deserve my bad will. Of course, same could be said of the Sith besides Nihilus, as Nihilus was the only one to have truly done me wrong. Guess it doesn't work both ways. I either have to forgive 'em all or hate 'em all. I'd rather be distant and wary of both. I don't plan to be indoctrinated again.

It's time to forge my own path.

As soon as I figure out what that is.

We come out of Warp after what feels like a few minutes, but the time on the wall shows it was just half 'n hour. The ship turns and I get quite a view. I don't even mind the Stooges crowding me to get a breathtaking view.

Hundreds and hundreds of ships make up this fleet. Big ships half the size of a dreadnaught, small ships the size of a small transport. They all vary so vastly in design and size that its hard to say that this is a single fleet. It looks more like a pirate crew thrown together from dozens of cultures and designs. They are also made up of hundreds of colors and art-designs splattered all over them. There are very few windows I can make out or lights for that matter. Usually ships have lights out to reveal nearby ships in the darkness of space, but they lack that. The only way I can see so many ships is from the engine lights. They look spooky in the shadow of space.

Our ship comes up near the largest of the vessels and enters the hanger bay. The ship itself has hangers going out both sides that connects in the middle, so you could fly straight through the whole ship and come out the other side if you wanted. It has small vessels going in and out of it by the dozens across hundreds of landing pads. It takes several minutes as we wait for a spot to land.

After a spot clears in the hanger, we float down and a sudden shake of the ship tells me we landed.

A knock on the door. "Come." A Miraluka opens the door. He has a pair of sun-glasses over his eyes instead of a cloth. It looks rather classy. I wouldn't guess he was Miraluka if it wasn't that kind of ship.

"If you would come with me." He motions for us to follow.

The four of us follow him out and I see Koj waiting for us at the exit. Jerk wasn't put under room arrest... Speaking of which, "Where's Squirt?" I ask. Visas is here as well, but Cupcake is missing.

Koj nods his head down another hall. "Sleeping. She woke up soon after we departed and went into... what do you call it? 'Fanatics'?"

I wince. I should have thought about how she would react on waking up. A part of me wishes I would have been there to comfort her. I sigh and pinch my nose as I feel a headache coming on. "I'm sorry, Koj. I wish I was there for her." Koj may be her father, but there is something about me that makes her feel safe.

Koj nods his acknowledgement. "I will stay here with her. Return when you can."

"Varus is the only one coming with me." Visas responds. "He is expected. The rest of you are going to stay until someone comes in to process you. I don't mean to be rude, but we have no idea what to do with you. You have no place here, no place anywhere. Each of you, including George, will be assigned to an official who will work with you to help you find a place in society, and if you don't want to immigrate to the Miraluka Fleet then you will be dropped off at a nearby port with enough credits to be situated for a week. As of this moment you are free men."

The Stooges cheer and Koj bows, but anyone who knows him like me would see the difference in his silent gestures. This is a bow from the bottom of his heart.

I, on the other hand, ain't that big on celebrating. I have other things in mind. "In that case, I'm out of here." I spin to leave, but Visas grabs my shoulder with an iron grip.

"You're not free, not yet."

"But-" I start to whine.

"Meet the Mistress, then you're free."

I glare at her out of the corner of my eye. The corner of her lips quirk up. She's enjoying this. "Jerk..." I mutter, but return to standing beside her and motion for her to lead with a deep bow at the hip. "After you, Princess."

"I'm not a princess." She says offhandedly as she taps a button and the door opens. She leads me down the ramp and onto the hanger.


	9. Ep01 - Five Years Later Part 3

**Note: Sorry it took so long to release this chapter. University and getting sick has a way of keeping you from seeing the light of day for a long time.**

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* * *

**Episode 1 - Five Years Later Part 3/4**

* * *

The Miraluka flagship, _Fleet Mother,_ rested quietly amongst its children. Hundreds on hundreds of ships hovered around it like bees, and a few medium-sized vessels acting with other purposes. Resources were scarce, but they made do. Walls and flooring were removed to be melted down and expand room at the cost of integrity. Fresh water were carved from ice-planets in bulk, and sea water isn't hard to find from many systems. If they needed dirt, it was easy to find, as well. Between access to dirt, soil, fresh water, sea water, the fleet was able to run small farms on specially designed atmospheric ships.

It used to work, but the recent years have become worse. The Miraluka population has skyrocketed as if reproduction was the only source of entertainment left; and the scattered ships and colonies have merged together, thanks, in part, to the Revanchist's charitable assistance. The storage of crops was running dry. They needed to find a new home, or at least establish proper secure farming colonies.

And at the helm, the pressure was constantly on the mind of Sharif Rebhorn, captain of the _Fleet Mother_. He stared out with Miraluka senses to the 'bee's all around his ship. He tapped his fingers on the captain's chair nervously.

Visas was supposed to have called in by-

"Sir. We have confirmation! The target has been acquired!"

About time… Rebhorn nodded. "Send out a short-range signal to the fleet. Everyone is to go to Warp immediately to the rendezvous coordinates! No one jumps until the fleet is in position."

His crew relayed the message and immediately the fleet moved into position. Everyone cleared a fair distance from each other and the smallest ships flew into the safety of the larger ones with hangers. It was a tight fit, many would have to sit and hover in the small space without landing. Thankfully the ray-shielding would help with inertia. (Inertia is a crucial part of Warp flight.)

Over the course of minutes, the number of ships decreased as they moved into the various hangers available. The fleet of hundreds became the fleet of tens, but there was no confirmation still.

"Sir! Fleet appearing on distant radar in mid-warp! It's the Dominion!"

"Hold!" Rebhorn ordered.

The now-smaller fleet moved and set themselves in position. They needed to be safely away from each other to prevent damage in the explosion of a Warp-jump. "Shields?" Rebhorn wondered.

"Holding strong, captain."

He nodded and extended his senses back out to the space around him. A few ships were in position and sent back confirmation of readiness, but it wasn't all of them.

"Sir! The Dominion will be on us in moments!"

"Hold!" He yelled. The crew fidgeted nervously. They may have numbers on their side, but this wasn't a military fleet. It was a civilian fleet in every essence of the word. Less than five percent of the fleet was military grade and kept that way, and only because Visas and him pushed so hard against the Council.

"But sir!"

"HOLD!" He continued to order. He gripped his chair so hard his knuckles turned white.

One by one, the ships placed themselves in position. At last confirmation was sent and the fleet was ready. "Sir!"

"Go!" He didn't hesitate. "All ships go!"

Immediately his crew jumped into action relaying the message to the rest of the fleet and sending the _Fleet Mother_ into Warp. He didn't loosen his grip until he felt the hum of warp flight rippling through the hull and confirmation that the entire fleet was in motion.

"Good job, boys." He sighed and withdrew his hands from the sides of the chair. He fell into momentary meditation on the current situation. All ships were on the move, the Dominion were not far behind, the rendezvous point is in a neutral zone near the New Republic, and the target had been retrieved from slavery.

A part of him was completely ticked off. The Mistress was willing to put everyone in danger for one person. She hadn't asked for them to come, sure, but she knew they would. The people will never abandon her, just as they will never abandon the Keeper now that they finally had him.

He needed to see if this boy was worth two million lives come willing to throw their lives away.

He stood up and left the bridge. "Alert me if anything comes up. I'm going to see if this 'Keeper' was worth the risk."

* * *

Koj'Ineh rolled up the paper in his hands and stuffed it in his pocket. The 'agreement', such as it was, was the best option available to him right then. The Miraluka had indeed freed them from slavery, and personally judged their past crimes, up to a point, to be satisfied in the difficulty of life the slavery created (and probably due in majority to their relationship to Varus), but that hardly made them independent.

Independence implied the seven of them did not require outside assistance. Far from it, they had no money, no contacts, no housing, no clothes, no food, no water, and no job to obtain these things. The seven of them didn't even, technically, own the clothing on their backs. The clothing was provided by the Cartel in their slavery. The Miraluka didn't agree, but Koj'Ineh considered the clothing he wore to be 'borrowed' from his past slavers. He would happily return them in the endeavor to acquire proper clothing that covered his entire body. For years he has had to humiliation of revealing his head and bare hands to outsiders, but no more. First thing he was buying was a head covering, even if it went into his weapon funds and left him having to use his bare hands.

Koj'Ineh entered the small brig and stopped short of an official conversing with George in his cell. The discussion did not last much longer before the official walked up and left. Koj replaced the official's place. "George." Koj greeted.

George grunted in return from where he sat in the corner.

"How did the discussion go?" Koj wondered. Despite the childish rivalry between the two, George was as much a part of the group as Varus' gang, and therefore, a part of Koj's group until further notice.

"Well enough…" The lizard sighed. He was an unusual species. His features are less 'freakish' as far as aliens go. George's species was red-colored flesh, standing six and a half feet tall, with hunched shoulders and a head facing very far forwards and down. The species is remarkably bulky with legs and arms comparable to trunks and a wide flat head. Ontop his head, down the back of his neck, across the shoulders, down the back of his arms, and the back of his hand is a red flexible shell. The shell also extends around the torso and side of the legs, curving around to the top of his feet. He is an impressively strong creature covered in armor to begin with, and when he becomes angry, his shell hardens and expands, his bones extend out of his flesh in spikes, and his size doubles or triples. His tail also grows out.

It is unusual for a species to go through a kind of physical transformation where their mass jumps in quantity, but it always leaves him winded, hurting, and starving after. Perhaps the increase in mass comes from an alternate source, or the muscles inside the body, deep down, move to the outside and the skin stretches. Koj is not a scientist and cannot say, it is merely an educated guess.

Seeing that Koj was not going to respond, George continued, "They are not sure what to do with me. With my crime being first-degree murder, and Visas' little pissing contest, I look better rotting in here then walking out."

Koj nodded. "First degree murder is strong, yes, but my crime was 'terrorism', yet here I am, free. Just be patient. At worst you will be sent back to prison with a lighter sentence to finish."

The lizard snorted. "If you call that being optimistic, you must have a poor view of life."

"I'm a Ghorfa. We don't." Koj responded evenly with a hint of contained anger, then he remembered who he was talking to and calmed down. "Still, I believe things will improve. Have you read your offer yet?"

The lizard's eyes briefly glanced over a piece of paper in the basket just inside his cell. "No."

Koj nodded. "I suggest you read it. If it is identical to mine, it is a good opportunity."

George looked at him curiously before reaching out and taking it. He read it and the surprise on his face was telling. "Are they serious?"

"I believe so." Then again, Koj wasn't sure if the offer was different or identical to his.

George let out a loud laugh. "Oh! Puny Ghorfa! There is a Spirit, indeed!" George settled back and smiled openly, multiple rows of teeth showing. "As soon as I'm outta here, first thing we are doing is celebrating! I'm going to show you how to get yourself so drunk, Ghorfa, that you will think the Spirit of yours is giving you visions!"

"We have no money."

"Okay! Second thing!" The lizard's happiness would not be subdued. "A paltry thing. But, I ask you, Koj'Ineh, one prisoner to another… Will this journey of ours stop by my home? Even for a day?"

Koj tilted his head to the side curiously. "You have someone you wish to say 'hello' to?"

The lizard grinned evilly. "Something like that."

Shortly after, Koj'Ineh considered the talk over and departed with a 'goodbye'. He made his way to the three members of Varus' gang, otherwise known as the Three Stooges, and checked on them. They each had a similar piece of paper to him and were in the process of celebrating via wrestling and arguing like the brothers they were in all but blood.

Seeing as how the only one remaining without a contract was Varus, to his knowledge, he returned to his room and checked on his daughter. Crahjinawl, a name Varus refuses to try pronouncing properly, slept in his bed. His pillow was wet with her tears and she was shaking in disturbed, dark dreams. Koj patted her head and held her hand, but it had little effect on her fear. The only one who truly could take her fears away was Varus. Not that she didn't love her father, and Koj didn't try, but there was something about Varus that made her feel truly safe when he could not. Might be due to their history together.

Koj settled himself near her in a chair and read the paper.

It was a contract to hire the lot of them as mercenaries employed exclusively by the Nomadic Fleet, complete with a small ship and a starting number of credits to help them get situated. Koj suspected that a large portion of the credits would go towards Varus' surgery and some reasonable equipment.

But like any father, Koj's concern was more with what to do with Crahjinawl. Would she be on the ship with them? Would they leave her here? Would they take her to another home? And who would stay with her? She was not strong enough to be away from Koj or Varus yet, too much trauma in the last few years, and while Koj trusted the gang's intentions, he could not trust their ability to truly care for her when they could hardly care for themselves. Meanwhile, they were not close enough for him to trust like Varus, and he didn't trust the Miraluka.

He rolled up the paper and set it aside for the moment. He turned off the lamp and sat in darkness to think.

* * *

Visas leads me out into the hanger. The hanger is a hotbed of activity as ships are coming and going. No, wait, correction, they were coming and going. Now they've stopped. Instead, people are on the alert. "What's going on?" I ask.

"Now that we have rendezvoused with the Nomadic Fleet, we will be going to Warp to a safe location. It wasn't just me coming for you, Varus. The entire fleet was ready to come for you.

That really doesn't make me feel good. They are putting a lot of hopes on my value, whether that's good or bad intentions toward me. They really want me. If only I couldn't let them down. Unfortunately I know myself. "Sorry to have to tell you, but you all wasted your time. I'm not that trust worthy."

"Hmm." She mutters without emotional commitment.

The hanger door leading into the belly of the cruiser is actually a set of ten doors side by side with people entering in and out. The doors are wide open allowing people in and out freely. As we near, the people become more cluttered and before long we are walking in.

As we walk, I put my observational skills to the test. I am not the most observant person, but it keeps me from being bored. Visas and I are both Miraluka, and all Miraluka, with the exception of myself, are blind from some kind of Force ritual that is hereditary and passed down from birth. The ritual caused all Miraluka lines to have over ninety-nine percent rate of Force sensitives with an above-average power level. The only lines that don't is the Keeper line, of which I am the heir, and those considered crippled by Miraluka standards. The cripples are such because they are born blind, but no Force senses to compensate. The Miraluka see with the Force. I've become more in touch with it to a degree over my apprenticeship to Nihilus and Skywalker, but I've never had a real Miraluka teacher. I had to figure out how to "see" with my eyes closed in the dark.

One thing I've noticed of the Miraluka art is how it is like thread-weaving, but that's as much as I've figured out, and only by accident. My inherited blood lets me see it the way they do.

I'm rambling, but the point is that Miraluka is a race of blind Force sensetives that can see through walls. Personally I don't expect there to be walls as there is probably a lack of privacy. I mean, if I can see into my neighbor's apartment just as easily as my own, I don't think having a wall will do much.

Oh good heavens, I hope the showers are 'shielded' somehow from their sight. And the bedrooms. What do newlyweds have to do for some... privacy?

Before that train of thought sends me down an awkward impasse, I stop to gaze in amazement at the sight.

The inside of the ship is largely hollow. There are passages and rooms, sure, but not many. The majority of the ship is hollow and filled with people moving about. It's like... like... "A marketplace..." I say.

"A full city, actually. This is the mother ship of the fleet." Visas informs me, and with a gentle tug reminds me to follow her. "The other ships act as workers and soldiers in various ways. People live on the same ships they work, of course, but this, being the mother ship, is where we congregate the most. It is where our goods are stored and it's insides were largely removed to allow space for a centralized marketplace to be established. It may seem small, having the center of our "city" inside a single ship, but the ship has provided enough space to allow a real city to exist."

Wow, there are even road-side plants, situated buildings, sidewalks, everything. There's a fountain and pillars erected. In the distance I see a small playground filled with kids with trees and bushes and dirt to roll in.

The place is rather small, so everything is compacted. The buildings are squashed down to the minimal size and this looks like it's only a small corner's worth of a city. "Where's the rest of it?"

"There are multiple floors. It would be a massive waste of space to allow so much air over our heads." She explains, but has visible apprehension.

"And you don't agree with the idea?"

"No, not that. I agree with the Mistress' design. It has given us... a sense of home when we have none. But this floor is the most centralized to the hanger, and therefore the biggest security risk in an invasion. It's not as fortified as I would like."

I get the sense she is under exaggerating. It's not fortified at all inside. Still, it doesn't shake my amazement. I saw an armory inside a ship once, but I never would have imagined putting an entire city inside one! (Small that it is.) "Does this hold your entire population? This fleet?" I ask curiously.

She shakes her head. "We have established a few colonies, but nothing worth considering as a capital city or a centralized place to begin a true home. We ensure our colonies are hidden well... They act more as a last line than anything else." She sighs shallowly, and a great weight appears on her.

Right... We're an endangered species. "Sorry..." I mutter. I wish I cared, I really do. But I really have no attachment to them except guilt of my childhood and blood. I wish that would be enough to make me think of them as... more than strangers, but reality is they are not my 'home' if that makes any sense.

She nods, but tightens up like my pity is an insult. "'Sorry's won't do us any good. Only work."

"Whatever." Forget I said anything.

"We're almost there." She points to a set of stairs and we head up. "This is the Mistress's office just behind the bridge."

Now that I think of it... why are the lights on? Miraluka can't see light. They see as well in the dark as they do in the sun. I would say the trees need it, but artificial light? I don't know bu- HOLY CRAP THE ASSISTANT IS HOT!

I turn my eyes away immediately and feel myself redden. Okay... calm down. Not your fault you haven't been around a female in five years besides Skippy, Squirt, and Visas. Skippy hates my guts and is ugly. Squirt is my niece and... just no. Visas is... Okay, I don't know what she is. An annoyance? I don't know. I feel somewhat comfortable around her, but it's probably because I knew her as a kid. She isn't the same Visas.

Actually, now that I notice, Visas is hot.

Crap, focus Varus! Don't let the prison indoctrination get to your head!

"Are you okay?" The woman asks.

She's standing just in front of me and is a head smaller. She has brown-ish red hair shortly cut and a hood kept back. She has a thin cloth over her eyes that actually is classy instead of being scrappy rags dangling over her face. The cloth is black and perfectly folded, so she's kind of a neat freak or has attention to detail. Her facial features are about the most feminine I've seen in years and scream 'WOMAN!' Her posture is straight but relaxed and attentive. She's thin and vulnerable and... wavy or bumpy or something.

I really need to get out more...

"I-uh... I-I-I'm fine." I manage to force out.

"He hasn't seen a female in five years since you and me." Visas says flatly.

I feel myself pale in horror and hiss-whisper, "You don't count!"

"I'm not a female anymore?" Visas asks with some expression I can't make out. Haughty? Not sure what it's called. "Sure about that? Want to check?"

"I-I-I No, I…" I turn from Visas who is taunting the heck out of me and the innocent bystander who is trying really hard not to laugh at me. While biting her li-STOP THAT! "Shut up!"

I storm into the next room past two woman who howl in laughter. The door opens smoothly and I stand there glaring at the wall while Visas returns to my side. I am not going to look at her. Nope, not today.

The room is lightly lit by a fireplace centered in the room within an indented floor, beyond that the rest of the room is sparse of anything and barren of flavor or color or furniture except one thing.

On the other side of the room is a bed with an older woman on it. She looks about... fifty I'd say. She has tubes running out of her arms and a massive black scar from her face, down her neck, and into her body covered by loose clothing. She has no hair and she in some ways she looks over a hundred years old from how much she shakes and how she tenderly carries herself. She turns her head in my general direction.

"Hello… Galen." She greets with visible difficulty. Her voice is scratchy and damaged and leaves her out of breathe from just four syllables. Her hands shake so much she can barely lift them.

I just wave. So this is the Mistress? I expected better. She looks like an ad for death. She could keel over any second.

Visas bows herself down and motions to the woman. "Varus, meet the Mistress of the Miraluka, Victoria Marek." A faint chill goes into my spine that slowly builds up, and she finishes as if to explain why I have a chill in my spine, "Your mother."


	10. Ep01 - Five Years Later Part 4

**Note: The last chapter was shorter than I like. I usually aim for about 5000 words as a base-minimum, but I felt it ended on a good spot. So it was shorter, but had the impact I want. Now this chapter should be much longer and make up for it. :)**

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* * *

**Episode 1 - Five Years Later Part 4/4**

* * *

Mother…

For the last twenty years I have dreamed, mourned, wished, and even prayed to be able to claim that title again for myself. To have a mother, a female of authority over me, to hug me, to hold me, to sing to me. In the pale, cold life with Nihilus, I forgot what that was like. It became nothing more than a distant memory, an impression, left on my heart at most. It was something to hold dear and know exists in some form more than to actually remember what it was like.

"She is your mother, Varus."

Now as I hear it all that's left in me is the cold, empty knowledge that I do not know this woman. I don't know this female, this woman, in the bed who is crippled and in agonizing pain. She is a stranger to me as much as Visas is. Mother, stranger, pretender, whatever she is: I do not know her. I don't remember what it's like to be held, sung to, cradled, cared for, given gentle lectures without agony, or have someone be concerned for my wellbeing. As a Jedi I found lectures, people who cared, and who didn't even bring it up when I went through emotionally trying times and exposed my inner pain; but even then Mother Hen, despite the nickname, was never my mother. I cannot label Ahsoka, as I don't know what other female roles she can play in my life, but the one I truly know she is not, is my mother, as it is the only one that ever touched me.

But now, looking at my mother, or the woman claiming to me, what strikes me most is not the fact that she is alive, but the fact that a large part of me doesn't feel a thing.

What can I say? Should I be angry that she was ever alive and never rescued me from Nihilus? (Even though Nihilus probably hid the knowledge of other survivors besides Visas to keep me in self-loathing.) Should I be in agony as the scars on my heart are ripped open again? Or should my scars even be ripped open again to begin with? Should I be happy and joyful at this reunion? What should I feel? I need to feel something and say or do something, but I can't say what. A tension squeezes my chest, but it just sits there without moving toward any resolution or acknowledgement of any kind.

"Varus?" Visas asks.

My eyes drift to her and return to the woman on the bed. They are expecting an answer, but what should I do? Starkiller would be angry and lash out. Galen would be mourning and rush into her arms. Varus would think it's being made up, but at least make efforts to get to know her and remember everything. But I'm not any of them. I remember her as a child unlike Varus, I'm too cold deep down to be Galen anymore, and I am moving away from Starkiller. And Revan would embrace her, as his mother, but do it without overwhelming emotion like a child and rather like an adult.

But then, I don't know her. I may remember the feeling of a mother in distant dark memory, but I have forgotten it beyond that, as Varus did with life in general.

And who's to say this is even my mother? Starkiller would argue. Nihilus wiped out the homeland of the Miraluka and most of our population. While none of us in this head of mine can deny she is Miraluka, without being too cynical, there is also none of us that can confirm that this woman is my mother. She could very well be someone unrelated to me who thinks I am her son, and who is to say her son is even alive?

Visas turns and walks to the door just as a knock resounds. It startles me out of my thoughts. The door opens and the assistant woman (Turn away the eyes, Varus. Let's not make this anymore awkward than it already is.) walks in with an older man, also blinded like all Miraluka.

The man enters the room with permission from Visas and stands by my side. His head is not turned towards me, but I get the feeling that he is analyzing me and sizing me up anyway. He scoffs slightly, and if I knew for certain it was about me, I would be half-tempted to break his nose.

"Mistress Marek." The man bows. "We have departed the system. There were no problems, albeit by a small margin, and will be in Warp off and on for the next two days. We have begun the escape protocol."

"Very… good…" The 'Marek' woman breathes. She struggles to breathe after only two words.

"How goes the meeting with the 'Keeper'?" The man wonders. "This is him? Doesn't look like much." Okay, now I know his focus is on me, but he still won't give me the privilege of at least turning to face me.

Like an petulant ass, I walk right up to him. "My face is right here, Mister…"

"Rebhorn, captain of the _Fleet Mother_."

"Baby Back Rib, then." I come up with his nickname on the spot. I tried baby back ribs once as a slave, as a taste tester for poison. It was good. Poisoned, but good.

He turns himself to face me at last, and Visas and the assistant woman both cringes. The 'pretender' on the looks between us anxiously. The man has a powerful presence about him like a general and man of authority. His voice, at once neutral and factual, turns to threatening, slow, and calculated. "Excuse me?"

"What, you don't like the name, Baby Back?" I chuckle in his face. "Or do you before Baby Ribs?"

He frowns, and doesn't take the bait to lower himself to my level, but still is slightly angered. "I was expecting the renowned 'Keeper' to be… older. And more respectful. But then, wild things sometimes come in small packages."

Did he just call me small? Forget the fact that I'm a little shorter than him.

Time to pull out the big guns. Let's try something I picked up in prison. "It's not about the size, Baby Back. It's about how you use it and are confident. But you, you're the captain of a big ole ship with a couple thousand people living in it."

"You're point?" He asks flatly.

"Galen…" The 'pretender' whispers. The other two woman are giving me looks like 'don't do it!'.

"Oh." I shrug and ignore them. "It's nothing. It's just that big people like big missiles and big lasers and big ships make big explosions all in the name of overcompensation for something they find themselves… lacking." I grin knowingly as he flushes in anger.

"Wh-why I never!" He sputters and loses his composure.

"Bet you ain't never!" I agree adamantly. I'm not completely clear on it myself, but I'm pretty sure I just insulted his manhood. He gets so angry he starts to shake, but before he does something I know I will enjoy beating the heck out of him for starting, he storms out.

Good riddance. Didn't like him anyway.

"Galen…" The 'pretender' gasps in difficult breathe, but I put a hand up.

"Look…" I start genuinely sympathetic. "I appreciate everything, ma'am, rescue and all, but the fact is that Nihilus wiped out our population down to the last few scattered survivors. I sympathize with your pain. I saw the destruction first hand before living the rest of my life under the very person who destroyed my family, but the fact is that he did just that. He destroyed everyone. He killed my father, my mother, and everyone else he got his hands on. It wasn't until he was satisfied that he considered survivors, and even then I didn't know anyone besides me had survived but Visas until recently; and I never met Visas after that."

I sigh. "You're not my mother. I'm not your son. I'm sorry, but your son is dead. Even if by some freakish stroke of luck, which, granted, I tend to have, that I am your biological son, the Galen you knew is dead. Galen died when he believed himself to be the reason for his people's destruction and after his first murder. Starkiller, murderer and Sith, replaced him, and now I'm just trying to get rid of Starkiller after a temporary amnesia made me realize what I had become. I'm not Galen, I'm not Starkiller, I'm Varus."

The woman looks down in realization of my words. She has been expecting something all this time, and while I am being honest, it doesn't make it any easier on either of us. Her hopes are probably falling all around her, and it hurts to have to say it, but life sucks. She needs to get past this idea that I am the ghost of her son, whether it's true or not. Because… "Even if you are my biological mother… I don't know you and I'm a stranger to you."

And she doesn't say anything. Her head is down and the machine monitoring her heart goes nuts. She isn't going into shock, medically speaking, but it's a sign of her inner turmoil. As if the glares I was getting on my head from the two woman behind me wasn't clue enough. They don't even have eyes and the glares are obvious without looking. Funny thing about atmosphere, people can make it angry and hostile without a word, move, or action. It's like I can read their minds.

Another thought comes to me, and I try to be reasonable some more. "Listen, you bring me an impartial blood test to analyze us and confirm that we are related, and I'll listen, but don't try to give me hope. I'm past hope."

The moments pass by as I feel I have nothing more to say on the matter.

I turn to see Visas and the assistant woman are no longer infuriated with me, but sad and pitying. Normally I don't like or want pity, but this is real sadness in a sad moment. Nihilus took hope away from me. I see no reason restoring it without the shadow of a doubt and actual proof in my hands. The assistant woman is crying and Visas is subdued.

The 'pretender' is devastated and tears pour down her face. I turn away, not bearing to have to watch it.

"Thank… you." She manages to gasp out.

My mind goes blank in surprise. Of all the words I was expecting, that wasn't it. Even while a lot of her hopes and aspirations come crashing down, she stays strong. I give the physically crippled, heart-broken woman the most respectful bow I think I have ever given anyone and depart. Visas and the other woman don't follow me they are so stunned or subdued.

I don't blame them. I have a lot of thinking to do myself. I meant what I said. If there is absolute proof by an impartial group that verifies we are related, then I will want to get to know her and not have this woman be a stranger. But that still doesn't leave me all that detached. I haven't considered the possibility of thinking of trying to even come close to hoping for years. Nihilus ground that into me. The possibility, even as remote as it is, leaves me wanting to rip that scar off and let myself hope.

Because of all the things I've come to count on, it's my own rotten luck.

* * *

None of the woman were able to breathe or say anything without it feeling awkward until minutes after Varus left.

Ashley Marr looked to her sister. She remembered what Visas was like when the Revanchist finally rescued her. Visas had improved over the years since they were reunited, but she hadn't stopped to think that the Mistress' son would be worse off. "Was it that bad?" She wondered.

Visas didn't say anything at first, but finally said, "Nihilus has a way of sucking the life, energy, and goodness out of things around him just by existing. As bad as I was, it was only from brief exposure. Galen, Starkiller, Varus, whatever he wants to be called, he lived with the man day and night." She paused to let that sink in. "He might as well be the son of Nihilus rather than the son of Marek"

Ashley contemplated the man. He was in a situation like that, many times worse off than her sister had been, and Visas had been suicidal and dark when she was rescued. Visas had rarely spoken, and was almost a broken robot. It had taken her years to recover, but the scars were still evident. She remembered her sister being wild and fun-loving as a child, but now was one of the most emo people she ever knew.

Varus on the other hand came out of it able to crack jokes, be insulting in a funny way over his pride, and was oddly respectful to his mother despite denying the relationship; but then he was right. The son and mother were strangers now.

For Varus to be capable of that at all, Ashley could only marvel and wonder how strong he was deep down. He wasn't a broken man. He was a wounded giant who refused to give up.

Ashley felt down the bond she shared with the Miraluka network. It was weak, it was always weak without the Keeper, but the strongest part of the bond was with the Mistress. Ashley let her mind touch Victoria's, and they shared their feelings.

Varus' mother was hurt, badly, but she also acknowledged his point and found hope. Varus was willing to be reasonable, and despite the pain, that was more than what they had before. His mother also wondered just how strong Varus was to be able to live with Nihilus, the monster that killed his people, while he blamed himself, and come out of it remotely human. She felt pride for her son just as much as agony of knowing what her baby had to live with.

-Watch him.- The Mistress said in Ashely's mind. Ashely felt her worry. -This could be a shield he has over himself. He might be suicidal and hiding it. I don't want him hurt.-

-Yes, Ma'am.- Ashley sent a warm smile through the bond.

* * *

**(A few days ago. Somewhere on the Clan-Cartel border.)**

"And I'm telling you he has about as much of a chance of beating Charvez in seven rounds as I do of growing breasts." Izthark returned.

Rex Voda said in the com, "I'm sure Governor Zaalbar would love to see that. When are the two of you going to start dating?"

"DON'T DARE YOU DARE!" Izthark barked at the accusation. Despite the 'suggestion' he didn't move himself from where he was perched. He kept his gun facing forwards at all times and watched the built-in sniper-cam plugged into his visor. The terrorists were anxious, but not suspecting he had them in his sights. "Big freakin' overgrown rug is still pissed I took advantage of him while drunk."

"You did what?" The third one wondered. The third one was shorter than them, laying on the ground beside him with his head facing the clouds. Except he wasn't watching the clouds. His helmet had no visor. True, the fourteen year old was in full custom-made Mandalorian armor, without the 'Mando'a' signias, but his helmet still had no visor. His helmet was a blank-white canvas. He wore a black visor over his eyes when he didn't have the helmet on. His armor was white and silver and astatically rounded, while most Clan armor was more blocky. The kid also had a flair for white tassels or some crap some days. Between the white face of his helmet, the flowing tassels and ribbons and junk, and his growing reputation, he had earned the nickname 'ghost' or 'phantom'. Izthark just liked to call him Falon.

The last several years had been beyond anything Izthark had ever imagined. His people had restored themselves to a glorious nation rivaling the others, and had the greatest military thanks to the addition of clones. A couple of Jedi Sects had offered services in various capacities, or just asked for refuge, in return for the security they offered. Almost all of the clans had been against it, they didn't much like Force-Users at all, especially Mandalore, but the Duchess had a way over her husband that… made it work. Izthark had no idea how she did it, but Mandalore allowed the likes of Falon to join them.

If the Duchess was as good in his bed as rumor was, he could imagine how. Not that it was entirely appropriate to think like that, considering today. Some Sith had gone in, wiped out an entire sect of Force Users, and taken the Duchess hostage.

She had been instrumental in bringing the 'clones' into acceptance as the official 'Voda' clan. (Voda translated as 'brothers'. Fairly fitting in a group of brothers amongst each other, and being considered brother to the Mandalorians as a whole, in a sense.) And she had worked her lovely little finger around the most rock-hard, toughest bastard Izthark had ever knew, even married the guy (she must be stupid.), and was at the fore-front of the whole 'do we let the Jedi sects in' issue. And she had probably the most contacts, favors, friends, and general good will with the New Republic and United Systems Alliance out of everyone in the Clans. She was literally, and figuratively, the second most powerful individual in the most powerful nation in the Galaxy right now, beside the Cartel. Izthark wasn't going to bother looking at all the critics little reasons as to why the Cartel was 'tangibly' superior. The Clans were 'intangibly' superior as far as he was concerned.

Suffice to say this little Sith was going to be on the front page of the newspaper. If they had anything to say about it, the only picture would be of his decapitated head. Mandalore was a split-hair away from blowing the whole factory down to dust if it wasn't for the little atomic nuke in there and his wife being held hostage.

"Yeah, I took advantage of him while he was drunk…" Izthark admitted. "I had to even the score. He was a whole point ahead in arm wrestling! I can't just let that go!"

Rex turned his head ever so slightly. His voice came through the helmet comm, "And you weren't worried about the LACK of CONTROL a drunk WOOKIE has over his STRENGTH? He has difficulty not ripping your arm out while sober. I'm surprised he didn't take it clean off, use it to brush his teeth, then beat you to death with it."

"I'm sure the Governor wouldn't mind having a Mando'a arm hanging on his wall." Falon chimed in. The teenagers voice broke in that annoying age where he wasn't deep quite yet.

"Hardy-har-har!" Izthark mocked. "I still don't see how Chewy is going to beat Charvez."

"HE'S A WOOKIE!" Rex repeated his argument. "What part of that have we not confirmed yet?"

"I don't think he cares." Falon chimed in, again.

"Exactly why Charvez will win. Mandalorians are too stubborn, too caring, too-"

"Stupid?"

"To lose. Exactly. He will not be able to box again, but he'll win. It's that kind of resolve we have always had."

"And look where that got us." Rex wondered out loud.

Falon perked up and sat up while Rex and Izthark continued to argue. The two Mandalorians went on without noticing, but Falon said, "We're going in two minutes."

With that, the jokes were off the table. Izthark sighed. "Negotiations failed?"

"I don't know. Our mission is to go in, take the bomb, secure it, dismantle it."

"I haven't heard anything." Rex argued.

Falon turned his blind face to Rex and said, "You'll see."

A minute and a half later an official called in on their comm, "Squad R.I.F. the mission is to infiltrate the terrorists and take the bomb. Intel reports it in the basement. Find it and dismantle it. You will have no backup. Confirm?"

Falon said, "See?"

Rex gaped in his helmet. How did the teenager know?

"Confirm? Squad R.I.F.?"

Rex responded, "Yes, yes. We got it. Thank you command."

"Good luck, squad. Oh, and if you hear any explosions, that would be us. For the Clans!"

"For the Clans!" Izthark and Rex declared.

Izthark and Falon got on the move, and Izthark took command of the team. "Rex, your new to dealing with Falon, so trust me, he's the key to this." Falon slid down the ladder and returned an 'all clear'. "Falon is an unusual Jedi, and a genius."

"Yes, but-" Rex slid down the ladder and ran full throttle behind a large crate. He figured the distance to be twenty-five feet from here and the warehouse door. "Do you know how to dismantle bombs, Falon?"

"He doesn't have to. We'll call it in and get disposal to instruct us." He slid down as well and took up position beside them. "Okay, Falon. Do your stuff."

Falon nodded and perched himself against the metal crate. With the crate being twenty by ten by five, it was easy to hide. Izthark motioned for Rex to take up position on the opposite side while he peered around his side. Rex returned an 'all-clear'.

A few seconds later, Rex asked, "What's Falon doing?"

"Keeping us alive, now please be quiet." Falon said in Rex's ear mic.

Falon extended himself into the Force and produced a vision. In the vision he walked out into the open. He stood there a full minute running in circles. Finally he got shot in the chest.

Falon predicted where the shot was and found the sniper in his second vision.

In the third vision he found his way blindly to the door, and started to open it. A bullet from the same sniper stopped him.

By the seventh vision Falon found a position near the large warehouse door where the sniper wasn't watching, but couldn't get the door open.

In the eight vision he grabbed the other two to help him open the door from there, and together they managed to get it open, but were immediately shot.

The tenth vision found the next shooter from a car used as barricade. Next Falon decided to try having Izthark take out the sniper and car-hiding-shooter while Rex and him opened the door.

By the fifteenth vision Falon found their way in to the warehouse. Three more terrorists waited for him.

By the thirty-first vision Falon found the solution to the sniper, the care-hiding-shooter, and every other terrorist in the room. Next up was ensuring the room was secure.

By the seventy-sixth vision Falon found the solution to securing the first room, and found the basement entrance. He couldn't extend his visions any further and felt satisfied with the results.

"I'm ready." Falon said.

"For what?"

"There's a sniper to the right side as we come near the door. Izthark, hide in the corner next to a burst pipe and wait for him to appear. Rex, follow me." Falon jumped up and ran.

He was blind, but he had memorized the path. Izthark took up position near the wall by the burst pipe and aimed his sights toward a far window. Rex and Falon moved to the door they took the door handles. It was large and heavy, but they managed to open it slightly. The door made too much noise, and the sniper noticed. Thankfully, Izthark was waiting and took him out. He ran to the other two and took up position behind the barely-opened door.

"There is a man behind the car behind the door acting as a barricade, and three more on the ramps overhead, and another seven in the distance that come will when guns fire. Izthark, aim for the right corridor, Rex, the front one. I'll take care of the rest."

A few seconds later, as soon as soon as the door opened wider, Falon pushed the barricade-car back into the person hiding behind it and Force tossed it into the ramp above them, crushing the other three, and jammed it into the hall to the left.

Izthark and Rex ran across the room and took up positions aiming down the opposing halls. They took out the reinforcements, and Falon started securing the last two halls. He took hold of the ramps with the Force, bent them, and jammed them in like doors.

With the room secure, Izthark aimed down the stairs to the basement. "It's clear from here, Falon?"

"On it." Falon sat down behind cover and meditated.

Through his vision he walked down the stairs with his hands along the wall. He came to a branching turn in three directions.

With the next ten visions he explored them to the next several turns.

With the next thirty visions he explored them.

With each vision that found a new pathway through the labyrinth, he extended another separate vision down each turn.

Falon stopped to catch his breathe. It was draining, and it only took a minute to go this far. "It's massive down there. This warehouse is fully equipped so employees never have to leave."

"Hostiles?" Rex wondered.

"By the score, but none where the bomb is. I'll keep looking."

Falon continued on through another two hundred visions, every one branching out slowly further and further. He was blind in his visions as well, and could only rely on touch and hearing, but eventually he came across a guy holding a woman hostage threatening to blow a nuke.

"Found it," he confirmed. "Follow me. We will have to go through a number of defenders to get to it, but it will be nothing you can't handle."

Falon, Rex, and Izthark entered the basement. They followed Falon through the labyrinth making up the lower city beneath the warehouse. "Left, in the rafters" Falon alerted them with a point. Rex loomed around and took him out.

They came across a trap, but kept from tripping it, and after another two terrorists hiding in wait, they found it.

There was the nuke nestled on the far side of the room, and sitting on top of it was a man in a hood. They couldn't make him out. In the center of the room itself was a terrorist with a woman pinned against his chest and a gun to her head. He waved it at them, "COME ANY CLOSER AND SHE DIES! I mean it!"

Rex aimed, but said in his comm, "I can't risk it. His head is too close to her. He knows how to hide behind a hostage well."

"I can shook her in the leg and trip him in the process." Izthark offered.

"No!"

"Let me try." Falon offered.

Rex turned to him from where they hid behind cover. "You can't be serious. You think you can stop him from killing you and her with no weapon and no sight? Your far sight may have gotten us this far, but-"

"Trust me." Falon said reassuringly. "Everything will be fine. I've done this before."

Izthark trained his sight on the man in robes sitting on the nuke. "I don't like how this guy is sitting so casually. He has to be stupid or a Force User… Okay, Falon, get the first one to expose himself for Rex, and I'll take care the robed one."

"Understood." Falon said in the comm, then he changed the comm to go through external speakers with a voice command. He walked out in the open and the terrorist with the hostage immediately aimed at him, but no one fired.

"Get back! I'll shoot! I swear!"

Falon put his hands up, but took very slow, careful steps. "You don't want to do this."

The terrorist took a warning shot, and Falon stopped. Falon tried, "I have seen every possible ending to this scenario. Only one ends well for you." He noted the sudden whimper of the woman and realized he had only turtled up.

With his visions, Falon walked forward. The first one was shot in the head. With the next three visions he found the trajectory, and adapted. With the next four visions he evaded the first bullet and experimented with the second. With each passing vision he came closer and closer to the man and evaded one bullet after another. Falon's mind saw vision after vision in the blink of an eye, each one passing over the next so smoothly and in so many layers that it almost looked like he had cloned himself a hundred times.

Until Falon was standing directly in front of the man grabbing hold of his gun. The man had missed every shot and used all his ammo. "That wasn't it." Falon let him know.

The terrorist, whether in shock of how this person had so easily evaded his seven shots, or his words, or how he was holding his own gun by the front barrel, reached out with a grenade, and in so doing, took a defensive step back from Falon, lining himself up for Rex.

A pair of shots echoed through the room and the terrorist fell backwards. The man in robes was turned slightly as he had evaded Izthark's shot by simply tilting to the side.

The hostage fell into Falon's arms, and he escorted her to the side to get out of the way while Rex and Izthark rushed the room and surrounded the robed stranger. Falon had a bad feeling about him and pulled out his lightsaber. He withdrew into his visions and-

"NO!" Falon yelled. Just in time to keep Rex and Izthark from starting the fight.

The robed man turned his head ever so slightly to the blind vision-seeing Padawan, and Izthark realized the man's eyes were red. He couldn't see his face, but the shining eyes were evident.

Falon took the brief hesitation to analyze, document, and go through hundreds of visions. He tried different ways, he tried negotiation, he tried combat, he tried reasoning with the man, he tried escaping and running, but not one of them worked. So he tried another method in his visions, and found it was risky. He found a way to make it work, but the risk was based on the stranger's disposition. Falon did the same thing a hundred times, perfectly similar, but each one produced a very slightly different result, based entirely on the stranger. In half of them Falon died, in a fourth they all died, and in a remaining few, they all lived.

Falon hated gambling, but the more time he used to explore visions and decide on an avenue of destiny to take hold of, the number of destinies offering hope was thinning. Already he figured his odds to have dropped by ten percent just by hesitating just now.

Falon grabbed the grenade on the floor and turned it on. "I don't know who you are, but either you can run and hide and live, or you can fight and die with the rest of us." From how close Falon figured he was, setting off the grenade would blow the nuke. It was a bluff, but the warehouse was deep. The nuke was meant to be taken to the surface a few days from now, but they had come early to stop it. Even so, it would leave a lot of people dead.

To say Izthark and Rex were shocked was an understatement, but they kept it concealed by virtue of training alone. "Falon, what are you doing?" Izthark barked in the comm. "We can take him."

"No, we cannot." Falon denied. "Not without willing to risk everything."

Izthark briefly glanced at him before returning his sights down his rifle. Never before had he heard that come from Falon. In all of the missions they had done together in the last two years, not once did Falon find no hope like this. Falon always found a way. He always explored his little views of destiny and time-lines and what-not, and always found a way to produce maximum results with safety.

Izthark wondered just who this robed-man was to make even Falon find no hope outside of suicide.

For the robed-man's part, he merely chuckled. "Ballsy of you, kid." The man reached up, took hold of his hood, and threw it back. "I like that." Izthark and Rex immediately flinched. Izthark recognized him from the news and recalled the young man had helped on Dantooine years ago, and Rex recognized him as Ahsoka's old partner. The man was a few years older than they remembered, but it was definitely Varus Wynn.

Falon, being blind, had no idea, and Izthark didn't intend to say anything until they were out of this crap-fest. Falon had a grudge on his old friend. Falon believed, to which Izthark agreed, that if Varus knew of Nihilus, and didn't tell the Jedi about Nihilus' plot, then he played a part in their genocide just as much. Varus knew and chose to do nothing until the last day.

The most painful part of it was that Falon's friendship to his old friend in memory was now equal to his feelings of betrayal. It remained but fed his pain.

Varus laughed at their shock and stood to his feet. "It's all yours. I'm done here."

Rex and Izthark kept their guns on him as he walked by, but Rex couldn't just let it go without saying something. Ahsoka had talked about Varus all the time, even cried about him during her recovery phase following Coruscant, and he couldn't believe this was the same man. "Didn't what your team teach you mean anything to you, Varus?" Rex asked. "Are you just going to turn on everything you have been taught? Your own team you loved!? They were willing to DIE for you! How can this, in comparison to that, be of any value!? What do you get out of this?"

Varus stopped briefly. He looked confused for a moment, but his face became cynical again. He shrugged. "I just want to see the world spin. We will see each other again. The Aeterna is come."

Varus left and Falon immediately took to the bomb. Izthark and Rex were still concerned with the former-Jedi who just left, and didn't notice Falon was dismantling the bomb. "FALON!" Izthark barked.

Falon jumped with his hand around the wires. "DON'T DO THAT! You almost got us killed!"

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"

"Dismantling. What's it look like."

Rex looked up at Izthark in disbelief. "He's a bomb specialist now?"

"Nope. Falon, get away from the nuke! We have it secured and need to call in for instruct-"

"Done." Falon stepped away.

Again, Rex and Falon looked at each other in disbelief. The bomb had powered off. "What? How? You?"

"How did you do that? Was this another of your Force things?" Rex asked.

Falon sighed. After he had almost singlehandedly won this day, he would have thought Rex wouldn't be so disbelieving. "Funny thing about controlling visions by the thousands… It lets you practice trial and error, and genius is ninety-nine percent trial and error."

Izthark found himself chuckling weakly, even though his legs shook. It was slightly comical how Falon was calling himself a genius right now. Izthark was more along the lines of getting nauseous and collapsing under shaky legs after the sight of the blind teenager with his hands in the bomb. "Falon… You know I believe in you, but if you ever, ever, dismantle a bomb using your little 'trial-and-error' method, again, I will yell in your ear so loud you will lose."

"And kill us all?"

"Just to prove you wrong." Izthark cursed. "OHHHH! EGOTISTCAL KIDS! Keep this up and you will need a new head to hold your inflating brain!"

With the mission complete, all that was left was leaving safely. Distant gun fire alerted them to battles on the higher levels of the warehouse, but they paid it no mind. The elite of the elite was involved here. Odds are they wouldn't lose one causality.

As they left, each of their minds was left in what they had seen. Rex worried for Ahsoka and Skywalker, as Varus' change of heart would hurt them deeply. Ahsoka had never truly come to terms with his death. If it wasn't for her being a Jedi Padawan, with all of their distancing from relationships, he would have thought she loved him.

Izthark worried what this former Jedi's role in the terrorist cell was. The terrorists had appeared out of nowhere and were well funded and well organized. They took the Duchess out from under their nose so easily before, and he had no doubt Varus Wynn was involved. Yet for the Fallen Jedi to take her, set up a nuke, and just as quickly depart empty handed, and sparing them, spoke of behavior that he could hardly wrap his mind around. Either the Fallen Jedi was insane, bent on chaos and enjoying people suffer for the thrill of it, or had a larger plan in mind and used this merely as a first step.

Falon contemplated the identity of the Sith. The person's aura was dark, full of power and energy, but also had a chaotically fun feel to it that was all too familiar, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

They returned to headquarters and entered the tent. Mandalorians all worked, patrolled, and kept a solid perimeter on the camp site, while, in the dance, the battlefield played out. From what Falon was able to hear, it had gone well, and they had reclaimed the Duchess. He looked into visions periodically, but paid most events little mind. He checked to be sure that they were not in danger, and let other events play out in real time.

The three of them sat down out of the way, asked for some water, and sipped it while watching events play out. It wasn't long before the main group returned. Izthark laughed mockingly. Mandalore was keeping his wife in arm's reach the entire time. "Overprotective bear, much?!" Mandalore glared at him, but Izthark only laughed harder, resulting in a punch to the face.

Falon just shook his head in shame.

"The mission was a success, then?" Mandalore asked Rex. Rex nodded. "Good. You have brought honor to the Voda clan and Jedi, all of you. Was there anything I should know?"

"Yes, Mandalore. There was a Sith."

"A Sith." Mandalore repeated darkly.

"Yes, Mandalore…" Rex glanced at Falon and said, "I recognized him, as did Izthark Oda. I, or rather we, believe it was Varus Wynn."

Mandalore stood silent a long time, but the way Falon went completely rigged, stood at attention, and clenched his fists so tightly his gauntlet's squeaked from the pressure, was telling. Mandalore said, "Rex Voda."

"Sir!"

"If I recall, you have a mutual friend of Wynn's." He conveyed no emotion.

"Ahsoka Tano and Anakin Skywalker, sir."

Mandalore nodded, then ordered, "I will assign a small fleet to you, Izthark, Rex, and Falon. Find your Master and bring him as well. The four of you have a simple mission." Mandalore turned his head just enough to see his wife being attended to by some doctors. She had a number of bruises on her face. The terrorists had not treated her well, and they had been led by Wynn. But she was a strong woman. She was more embarrassed than actually hurt. "Bring me his head. It doesn't have to be attached."


	11. Ep02 - Freedom for a Price Part 1

**Note: **

**Okay, this episode is big on drama and character development. Some things need to be fleshed out properly before I am comfortable with moving on, such as Varus being told that a woman is his mother. He may have dealt with it well (and thanks for the reviews telling me it was perfect, I was a little skeptical about his reaction, even if it was fitting for his character) but it still has a profound impact on him. **

**I also want to flesh out some other characters in the whole Miraluka Nomadic Fleet and Varus Group a bit. While they are all side characters, I want them to have value of their own showing themselves to be more than faceless NPC's the main guy picks up random quests from and gets loot. They need story, they need character, they need development.**

**I haven't seen my beta readers lately, but no matter. They rarely have that much to add grammatically, mostly theoretical story plots. I'll continue pumping stuff out. I find them invaluable and want their help, but I can manage without them. **

**So let's get this show on the road!**

**Beta read by:**

**If anyone else wants to be a beta reader or help me with the story, feel free to PM me.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, so no sue!**

**Remember to Review. I want to know what you think and how the chapter is to you. Is it good? Is it bad? Anything I need to know? Any ideas or things you want to see in the future?**

* * *

**Episode 2 - Freedom for a Price Part 1/3**

* * *

**Summary:**

**Five years have passed. Varus was a slave for the Hutt Cartel with Koj'Ineh and his daughter, and had a small group of friends and rivals at this side. Visas, as part of the Miraluka Nomadic Fleet, rescued them, freed them, returned them to the Fleet. **

**A deal has been offered to them to be exlusive mercs to pay back what they owe, and Varus has found the true reason they went so far to get him. The Mistress, hierarchy steward of the Miraluka, is Victoria Marek, his mother.**

* * *

Igor threw a card into Rizzo's shoe, or, rather, tried to. It flew through the air, suddenly stopped, flittered side to side, and glided smoothly under a side table. With practiced ease, Igor sent the next card flying, then the next, then the next, then the next. He wasn't even paying attention to where the cards were landing anymore. Reeve slept with his head inches away from where Igor was aimlessly tossing cards, causing a fair number of the cards to land on his head.

On the other hand, Rizzo was busy snooping around. He crawled around inspecting every surface of everything from the walls, the windows, the door, the doorknob, the eye hole, the bed, under the bed, between the mattresses- "What are you doing?" Igor wondered lazily.

"Inspectin'"

"For what? Your socks?"

"Ha-Ha!" Rizzo mocked while crawling his entire big frame under the bed. "My implant has been buzzin' 'ike mad! There is somethin' e'etric here."

"It's a ship." Igor tossed another card with two fingers.

"Trust me, there is ship-e'etric and there are bu's-e'etric!"

"Say it in Basic!"

"Bughs! Bughs!"

"Bugs?" Igor stopped tossing cards.

Rizzo cursed in another language, then hollered "Yes!" in glorious victory. He crawled out of the bottom of the bed with a small device between his fingers. Igor jumped off the bed and asked in sign language what they should do, but Rizzo had no idea what he was saying.

Rizzo pinched it in his fingers and sighed in relief. "Much better. My implant is no lon'er bothering me."

Igor continued his sign language, but Rizzo muttered, "I's fine now! I's dead."

"Oh… What do you think we should do? Should we tell Boss?"

Rizzo considered it, but shook his head. "Boss won't listen. Cupcake hates us. Koj mi'ht thou'h… wait… where **are** my socks?"

* * *

I return to the ship with a lot on my mind.

Twenty-four hours ago I was a nobody in the middle of nowhere. I had a simple life. Get up in the morning, have a quick breakfast with Koj, take Squirt to work, make sure she doesn't hurt herself, have lunch, annoy Cupcake, get back to work, have dinner, go to sleep. If Squirt is having nightmares, then I let her sleep with me. If not, she sleeps with her father. Back then the only problem I had was Skippy, Cupcake, and the periodic cold shoulder from Koj when he gets jealous of how Squirt feels about me, but everything always worked out.

I made efforts to keep Skippy happy so I could stay with my family, I left Cupcake alone when our rivalry went a step too far, and I have always ensured Koj understands that I have no desire to replace him in Squirt's life. My role with Squirt is that of a guardian and uncle, I can't replace the fatherhood and love he has for her and I can't teach her how to become a proud woman.

May sound like a lot at once, but this was the only stuff I had to deal with for a couple years. It was monotonous, but peaceful. I said, admittedly, that there was no future in it, but then, that was what I secretly loved about it. There was no life, but there was no death. There was no one dying, no war, no murders, nothing.

Now, in the span of twenty-four hours, I am sold, with adoptive family and friends, to a new owner. The new owner buys us only to free us. Since this 'person' is Miraluka, the 'person' wants me, another Miraluka, home. This isn't too much to take in.

But this 'person' claims to be my mother.

Who died.

Because of me.

Twenty-years ago.

I… I can't. I can't believe it. This isn't a 'wow, I can't believe it!' can't believe it. This is a 'this is not possible' can't believe it. My mother DIED! I may not have seen her head roll at Nihilus's hands, but I saw the aftermath. I saw the skeletons and destroyed structures. The village we called home was filled with small wooden cottages. It was outside the main city, and we liked the down-to-earth feel of it. The village was in ruins.

I walked to the center of the devastation and found Nihilus holding my father's skeleton by the head. He stared into the skull of my father and contemplated life, or he was considering lottery numbers, I don't know. The sight is forever implanted into my nightmares and mind.

For years I pushed the memory back, but now… it's all I can see. Everywhere I look, everyone I see, I see skeletons. Every building around is me is on fire. Dark shadows fill the brightly lit streets. In my empty hands is a red lightsaber with a hilt caked in blood up to my wrist.

No matter what I do, no matter how hard I try to move past Starkiller, no matter how many years it has been since I finally escaped Nihilus, no matter how far down I push the horror and images that shattered my childhood, it only returns. The peace I had as a simple slave with no purpose, no meaning, no existance, is replaced once again by the simple horrifying knowledge that I sold my people out. I betrayed them all.

And they want me back.

My feet pick up speed as I near the hanger. I pass by the crowd of Miraluka coming into the city and leaving to return to their home-ships sitting in the hanger bay. (We haven't come out of Warp yet. It would be dangerous to leave the Mother Ship.)

Why do they not look at me while I run by?! Do they not notice? Do they not see?! My hands are stained with so much blood they are black and my existance and worthiness to be called Galen Marek is destroyed and replaced with an abyssal space Nihilus planted there on purpose! Are they so blind they cannot see this murderer in their midst!?

I run up the hanger bay and just keep going. My feet take me where they will. I run by Cupcake and Igor and Rizzo and Reeve and Koj and Squirt and about a million other nameless Miraluka acting as crew. I run to the place acting as my room and slam the door shut. I don't notice myself crawling into bed, but the darkness around me speaks to me of Nihilus and I see him. I see Nihilus in my minds-eye. So I turn on the lamp and will myself to sleep with my eyes open.

My rational mind tells me that it's just all my bottled up emotions for so long catching up to me centralized around my mother, but my emotional mind doesn't care. I'm scared. I'm horrified. I embraced the darkness and shadows to learn from Nihilus to kill him. I stopped be scared of it long ago.

I haven't been afraid of the dark in twenty years… But right now… I… I'll wait to be strong tomorrow. Right now I just need to sleep. My rational mind tells me the silent tears are logical, and my manly side tells me I'm being a coward, but my emotional side, the side of a son that hasn't been allowed to exist in so long, tells me it doesn't matter.

I pass out at some point and barely notice the feeling of something small and warm crawl into my arms against my chest. It reminds me of a teddy bear… funny. I haven't had once since… Mother gave me one that I left at home all those years ago.

* * *

Koj stood outside the door to Varus' room and watched Crahjinawl sleep in in his arms. Her nightmares had never lessened and she had been shaking so hard, but now she finally slept. Varus also looked like he had calmed down a bit. Whatever it was he came storming in with, it had upset him more than Koj had ever seen in years. Varus was like an emotional brick. Nothing, and absolutely nothing truly phased him except Koj and Crahjinawl's safety. Before they reunited he was even worse: emotionless like a broken man with nothing left to lose or gain in life, just waiting to die.

Varus knew that Crahjinawl needed him, but did he truly know how much he needed them?

Koj shut the door and left his adoptive brother and daughter to the evening. He'd pretend to be angry later to ensure his territory was kept intact.

Koj returned to the main lobby of the ship to find the Three Stooges wrestling and fighting. Koj glanced up at George, but the lizard just shrugged. Koj sighed and seperated what appeared to be the main instigators: Rizzo and Igor. The two of them were lifted up kicking and screaming.

"Enough!" Koj demanded. "You are adults, act like it!"

"He is greedy bastard!"

"YOU STO'E MY SOCKS YOU FASCIST!"

Igor and Rizzo came at each other with renewed vigor but Koj kept them apart easily. He may be angular, but he was still the strongest short of George. Seeing no other way to deal with it, he brought their heads together and let them fall to the ground with mild concussions.

Koj looked to George out of the corner of his eyes. "You could have stopped them."

"And ended the show? What kind of person do you take me for?" The plated lizard smiled wickedly.

Koj sighed. "You two said you had something important? Spit it out."

Rizzo rubbed his head for a moment before recollection returned to him. "Oh yeah!" He pulled out a small device with wiring. "I found this bu' in our room."

George tensed up in anger and Koj looked closely at the device. "That's not a bug."

"It's not?" Rizzo asked.

"No, it's a microphone of some kind."

"THAT'S WHAT A BUG IS!" Igor yelled.

Koj looked at them curiously. He had never seen one before, but he recognized the fact that the entire thing was just a miniature microphone. "What does this have to do with bugs?" He asked blankly.

George roared in laughter. "That went completely over your head, Ghorfa! That little device is called a 'bug' because its small and can fit in places only insects are thought to hide. It's meant to listen in on conversations."

"Oh." Koj's composure darkened in realization. "You mean someone was spying on you?" Rizzo nodded. "How did you find it?"

"Oh, we', this hearin' imp'ant above my ear," Rizzo touched his skull just above the left ear. "Is sensitive to some radio frequencies and gives this rea'y freakish'y, loud, high-pitched, annoyin'-as-a'-out static sound! I know when wifi devices are on around me and broadcastin'."

"Have you found any more?"

"No."

"Good." Koj looked at the small device in the palm of his hand darkly. "I don't trust these people, but now I know for certain someone doesn't have our best interest at heart. Be on your guard. With this device no longer broadcasting, and us not knowing who planted it, we are at a horrible disadvantage. We don't know who the enemy is, and they know we found it and will be watchful for more. "

"But then, wouldn't telling us to be 'on our guard' only be falling into their hands?" Igor wondered.

"Unfortunately it is the only move we have available to us. At least they don't know how we found it."

Rizzo paled visibly. George groaned. "Please tell me you didn't reveal anything WHILE YOU WERE SEARCHING!"

Rizzo shook his head furiously. Koj sighed in relief, but held back the verdict. If someone went out of their way to plant a spying tool in their midst, then that person was probably aware they knew about it when the device stopped broadcasting.

It left them with a horrible disadvantage. They knew someone out there was watching them, but they didn't know who, and that 'who' knew they knew, meaning, ultimately, that the 'who' would be more cautious than ever and fail to underestimate them a second time. Koj and the other's with Varus may have gained the knowledge of a spy or potential foe, but in order to make the knowledge worth it, they needed more information on this foe before revealing their hand.

It would have been better to be patient, let the bug be, and use it to their advantage, rather than set off red flags.

Still, Koj wasn't upset. The gang wasn't all that bright, but they meant well. They saw a problem and dealt with it, in a fashion.

The sound of steps interrupted his thoughts and Koj turned to find a young female Miraluka enter the room. He immediately took a step forward, between her and the others, to establish dominance. He didn't know her, he didn't trust her, and right now, he didn't trust anybody. What was to keep her from being the spy?

"Do you know where Galen… I mean Varus, is?" She asked. If she knew Koj was standing against her, she didn't show it.

The Ghorfa narrowed his eyes at her. The first thing she wanted was Varus? That did not bode well with him. "Varus is busy." Koj said evenly.

"Oh." She hesitated, clearly not expecting that for an answer. "I'm sorry if I'm intruding." So she did notice his posture? Good. "I have been instructed by the Mistress to join him and act as go-between. Can you at least tell me how he is?"

Koj found himself frowning, or as close to it as a Ghorfa can with a circular mouth frame. Who was this Mistress? Why does she want this female to be Varus' little guardian? Shouldn't the Miraluka be able to see through walls like Visas could? Many questions, but he didn't care enough about answers to voice them.

"He's fine." Koj said shortly with his arms wrapped together.

"I… see." She returned slowly. She motioned to the lounge. "Well, do you all mind if I join you and wait?"

"Hn." He grunted.

George patted the couch next to him. "Come park yourself down, little lady. The brat should be finished with his beauty sleep in a few hours." Koj glared at him for giving away information, and the lizard returned the gaze passively. Koj turned away in frustration and sat down with the Stooges.

The woman sat down by the lizard. She did not look small standing alone, but when directly next to George, her small size was clearly evident. Cupcake looked like he could swallow her entire frame in his chest if she went so far as to curl up on his lap.

The minutes went by in uncomfortable silence. Koj kept his attention on her, studying her, observing her, figuring her out. Something few understand is how what you don't show is just as loud as what you do show. She fidgeted under his gaze, but she did not appear impatient or aggravated. She did not take his watchfulness as a threat nor did she rush to stop him. She let him be.

Her fingers were soft and smooth, meaning she was not a female of difficult labor; and her posture was straight, meaning she either had good self-control, some military training, or both. It appeared to be less military training as she was observant, but not alert. If Koj was to jump her, she would see it, but fail to respond in time.

Her posture was open with her hands resting on her knees palm up and her head up high. Her clothes were straight, sharp, and practical in purpose. It was simple pants and tight shirt with a hooded robe, but despite the practicality in purpose, the design made him wonder. He had seen people of various positions with different clothes, but this was the first time he had seen someone… so vibrant. Her clothes were made out of so many colors it hurt his eyes. It was almost as though the designer used hundreds of differently colored threads interwoven, or the designer was colorblind. The only clothing that wasn't an eyesore was the red-hood resting on darkish-red-brown hair. Her hair was well kept and short, more practicality, but also long enough to look attractive and bring attention.

So… she was someone of importance. Koj had the inkling that she was high up in a business or politics, yet not that high. She lacked the aura of someone of great importance and charisma. Instead she was very average, just with more professionalism.

An assistant or accountant perhaps?

"How long have you all known Varus?" She broke his thoughts.

George scoffed. "Too long."

"Years." Igor said.

Koj stayed silent.

"Five years ago," George started with the grandeur of great battle. "This stick of a man comes in, and rumors claim he was the apprentice of Nihilus. He wasn't the first, so I thought to see if he had the balls of a Sith…"

"Cupcake got his ass kicked." Igor interrupted.

George growled while the female giggled. She put a hand up to hide her smile. Igor took that as his queue, "Varus immediately established dominance as an alpha in the prison, and some flocked to his side for the protection his position offered." Igor's countenance briefly fell, "Prison is a bad place to be…" Rizzo put his hand on Igor's shoulder to offer comfort, and Koj caught the subtle message to hold strong.

Did something happen? Koj wasn't aware of anything.

Igor forced a smile and said, "Varus didn't promise anything, but he did protect us from the other gangs, and he made it clear that we were never to be the aggressor. That's how the three of us met him." Igor motioned to the other two of his group. "The ship was attacked by pirates at some point, and even so Varus did nothing. We were captured and sold off as slaves to the Hutts, and we have been moving from master to master since."

George growled, "If Varus had helped me with the pirates, we would have been free. Coward."

Koj shook his head knowingly. "Varus may be a free spirit, but he doesn't want to be free. There is something in him that haunts him, and a cage is what he feels will keep it contained."

The woman didn't gasp or have shock on her face, but her body language did about as much. She became still and uncertain, then wore concern on her face. "Visas was the same way…" She whispered.

"You know Visas Marr?" Koj asked.

She nodded with a sad smile. "I'm Ashley Marr, her sister… Visas returned to us a shadow of who she once was. She used to be so care free and wild, but now she is silent and overly serious. Actually, today is the first time I've seen her smile in a long time. She was teasing Varus and laughing. For a moment, she was who she used to be." The cloth around her eyes became damp with tears. She moved it and wiped her wet, empty eyes with a sleeve. "Varus did for her in minutes what I couldn't do in years."

Koj found himself ashamed. This wasn't some random female, it was a sister of a broken person much like Varus, and she was thankful for whatever Varus did. There were no ulterior motives. Ashley, at most, wanted to thank Varus personally.

"I will tell him you appreciated it." Koj said apologetically. "It may be some time before he wakes."

"It's fine." She responded resolutely. "I'll wait. The Mistress wishes for me to join you for a purpose. I'll explain when I see him."

Koj nodded. He didn't trust her, but he also didn't believe her to be a foe. Whether she would be a friend, acquaintance, or ally would be decided later. He'll let her discuss it later.

* * *

Pain, darkness, and never ending beeping was all the Victoria Marek knew, all that she had known for so long. The pain was like a cancer, originating from the deep scar down her body and seeping out into her veins like an acid leaving half of her body numb and the other half on fire. Little things people took for granted such as holding a spoon was beyond her, but over the years, it wasn't as bad. She found she could get used to the pain. When something like a dark room, an inflamed and numb body, and a series of tubes running in her was a constant day in and day out, it became the standard. You can get used to the pain.

You just never get used to getting used to it.

Victoria felt liquid seep down her throat into her lunges and she coughed hoarsely. It drew the attention of Visas and she was by her side quickly. "Shall I call Ashley back?"

-No.- Victoria returned through the Miraluka Network. -I need her by my son's side. I need a conduit to him.-

"Understood, Mistress."

-Up the medication.- Victoria ordered suddenly, earning a deep frown from the other.

"You're already twice over the danger threshold, Mistress."

Victoria nudged her mind gently. -Yes, but if I am going to act as a conduit for a council meeting, I will need more.- Visas was never her attendant, it was always Ashley. Ashley understood her needs, Visas did not.

"Understood." Visas responded respectfully. He passed her hand over the bumps on the medication bottles to read the Braille text. "Which do you require?"

-Levoamphetamine and dextroamphetamine.-

"Uh." Visas hesitated. "Wow, I don't think I can spell that. Now I know for certain Sis is a nerd."

Victoria chuckled in her mind. -Was that a joke?-

"No."

Victoria laughed in the bond. -That makes it all the funnier. You are in a particularly good mood lately.-

Visas ignored her, but blushed slightly. She felt the woman smirking in her head. She wasn't about to say it out loud, but she did feel better. Something about getting Galen/Varus back had boosted her spirit just a bit. Maybe it was because she still remembered torturing him as a child after babysitting him, or maybe because she finally had someone in arm's reach she could talk to that would understand what she went through under Nihilus. Of course, Galen/Varus doesn't much like her right now, but she was fine with baby steps.

Victoria watched the woman take the drugs, siphon them into shots, and pour a measured dose into a tube leading into her arm. -I am going to quiver a lot, so don't be frightened.-

"Yes, ma'am."

Victoria felt the liquid boil in her artery all the way up into her brain, and then everything was set ablaze. Every cell sparked in activity and she knew for certain her brain was going into overdrive. The average human brain works at only about ten percent of it's maximum capacity, and twelve percent for Force user's. She didn't know how much she was using exactly, but it was definitely higher. She heard Visas scream briefly in shock as her body went completely rigged before relaxing again.

Then she entered the Network.

The Miraluka Network was the handiwork of hundreds of years of work experimenting with the Force bonds that existed between them. A bond between two was easy to craft, to the point of being natural. A between every member of a small group of four or five took some concentration. The Network was a web of bonds existing between every single Miraluka to have been formally accepted into it. Two million nodes connected together resulting in four trillion threads and bonds interwoven.

At the base level it offered little more than comfort and the knowledge that you were never alone, that you had a family out there. Every Miraluka felt the presence of others when nodes were close or in large clusters. When bonds were healthy and whole, they offered substantial emotional support, as other's felt your emotions and you felt theirs in turn. Acceptance was easy when other people understood you to your core. It wasn't so specific as to show your actions, but you could feel when others were scared or filled with resolve. When the bonds were strong and focused, they offered sensory sharing such as hearing each other's thoughts and sharing their Force-Sight.

The Network was both a hive mind and proof of individuality. It was the greatest achievement of their people, and the most treasured trait of their kind. No one outside the Miraluka blood has ever been accepted, short of a few marriages in history that could be counted off one's fingers, but even then those outsiders could never experience it the way a Miraluka could. It was built into their genetic makeup. It was a part of who they are.

Victoria remembered the Network for what it was, and felt it for what it was now. It was weak and frayed. The bonds were barely holding, and in a number of areas already falling apart. She was not a Keeper. She could not manipulate it or strengthen it. Even now, with her brain working at dangerous levels, she could barely strengthen the bond between her and the rest of the council enough for a group session.

She released a gasp and loosened her focus a bit as she felt the bonds strengthen just enough to do what was needed. In turn, she felt hundreds of minds touch her own, as well as each other; and she could pick each one of them out. She couldn't recall their names, necessarily, but each person felt different, yet they merged together smoothly.

The only way to explain to a non-Miraluka would be to compare it to a jar of sand, where very particle is a different color.

Every person on the council was a ship-master, and they recognized each other by the size of their crew and population. She, technically, held none. She was the Mistress, the late Keeper's widow, the steward queen. That position held her a special place where the only one who rivaled her was Rebhorn, Admiral of the fleet and Captain of the _Fleet Mother_.

A wave of thoughts swept around in greeting between them all. Expressions of concern was shared over the sudden meeting, fear of the chasing Dominion, and curiosity of the success of the mission. The whole fleet insisted on being present on the rescue of the Keeper. They had resolved to do what was necessary, but were relieved it didn't require it in the end.

As the one to call the meeting so suddenly, Victoria raised her presence and spoke clearly, -There are a number of issues to be brought before the council. This is not a session where we must decide on matters, but where everyone is to be brought up to date on what has transpired. The first is on the condition of my son.-

-The Keeper?- A number of them asked expectantly.

-Correct.-

A wave of excitement and emotion moved around them, and it didn't miss her attention that Rebhorn was withholding his opinion already on him. The Admiral's first encounter was probably less than appealing. Still, not wanting to tarnish the good mood, the Mistress expressed warm smiles with the collective and appreciation for their empathic pleasure.

-Galen Marek, going by the name Varus Wynn, is alive and well.- She allowed, barely withholding a motherly squeal. -He is a proud man of twenty-four. He has a number of friends with him. They were all slaves at the time, but what we do with them will ultimately be up to myself and Rebhorn.-

-If I may interject.- Rebhorn said.

-Go ahead.-

-I have already forwarded to them the deal the council is offering. I have received back word that all of them have accepted the deal to become private mercenaries until they pay back the cost of rescuing them or until we feel the combination of their community service, past slavery, and time in prison is equal to the crimes placed on them. With the exception of Varus. He has yet to accept.-

-That will be a substantial pay in the end.- A voice said.

-They will do substantial missions.- Rebhorn responded matter-of-factly. -Varus also once by the name Starkiller, who, as a Sith, has a revealed reputation of being able to accomplish missions alone that leaves the elite in the dust, usually via large explosions and making as much noise as possible while leaving no witnesses. If this council chooses the appropriate missions worthy of someone of such power, it will not take long to earn back in cost what we have paid.- Rebhorn's emotion was slightly prejudiced against Varus, being why he went so far as to insult him by referring to him as a Sith before a political council, but none doubted what he said. Murmurs rose.

-He may have once been a Sith.- Victoria said. -But that is the very crime he is paying. This council will do well to remember that.-

-Of course, my apologies, Mistress.- Rebhorn bowed in her mind. -I find myself biased against him. First impressions were not pleasant.-

Victoria knew better. -It's more than that. You doubt him.-

-I doubt his worth.- He allowed. -It is a matter of perspective if the life of a single Keeper, a single man, is worth the life of the entire fleet. I stand from the perspective of protecting us all and measuring the risk as cost versus the gain, while you stand as his mother and as one who remembers well what value a Keeper has toward the Network. I do not remember it, Mistress, and I am of the opinion that if we have lasted this long without it, we can live another day without it, while you are of the opinion that we will not be restored to what we are truly meant to be without a true Keeper. I am merely cautious of putting too much value on him so soon.-

Rarely hearing him say something like that out loud, Victoria settled. There was no doubt of who they were deep down, not in the Network. They both wanted what was best. He was not an enemy, nor was he a 'yes-man'; he was another perspective.

Still, it rubbed her the wrong way for him to go about and say that out loud to the council, even if she had called him out on it and pushed him. She would need to have a talk with him later, in private.

Victoria continued for everyone to hear her thoughts. -The mission was a success, ultimately, but Varus has shown… resistance to us. His time with The Destroyer left him emotionally scarred and beyond hope. The possibility of me being his mother has brought up old wounds and I am uncertain how he will respond. At the end of our meeting he has shown himself to be amazingly neutral to the situation, while expressing a desire to not hope, yet also being open minded if presented proof."

Rebhorn said privately, -More mature that I expected.-

-I think you rubbed off on him the wrong way was your problem.- She smirked.

He grunted in amused aggravation.

The news went well with the council, albeit with mixed results. Some found it curious he did not become an emotional fruitcake, others wondered whether or not he was even capable of emotion, and the rest were either pleased or hopeful. They recognized it as a step in the right direction, at the very least.

Rebhorn commented publicly, -His standing toward you is a personal matter, and shall be handled as such by the council. Whatever mother and son relationship there will be is not for us to delve into nor get involved with. Until Varus or Galen agrees to a deal, the matter cannot progress, and I say is put on hold for now.-

-Agreed.- Victoria said, -I will keep the Council informed as the matter develops.- She signaled to Rebhorn to move on to the next matter.

-The second dilemma is the Dominion. Right now, the Nomadic Fleet is in Warp to the Neutral Zone. We will cross the line in a few hours, but we are being chased by a Dominion fleet with a Dreadnaught, a battleship, two cruisers, and a hundred Corvettes, all loaded with fighters. With only our fleet being made up of five-percent military vessels, we do not stand a chance. They are minutes behind us. They will be on us as soon as we drop out of Warp.-

-How could you let this happen?!- A voice yelled.

-What kind of Admiral are you!-

-What are we going to do?!-

-WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!-

-ENOUGH!- Rebhorn roared. -We knew the risks, I laid it out for everyone plainly. You should have considered this already, so you can't lay blame, and if you didn't consider the risk, even after I explained it, then you're incompetent and unworthy of being on this council!-

Victoria felt him seethe in rage. He didn't mind looking like the bad guy, but he had little patience for what he saw as incompetence. For once, Victoria had to agree whole-heartedly with him. They knew the risks. Now it was time to accept them.

-Now which is it!?- Rebhorn demanded of them all. -Are you going to cry over something a decision each of you chose and voted on, or are you going to stand by them?-

The council quieted. Victoria spoke up, -We cannot engage them in combat. What are our options?-

-Warp travel is not a problem. Our fuel will not deplete anytime soon, but we will need to drop out of Warp in order to change direction, otherwise, we will run into the Clans territory tomorrow. But at the same time, dropping out of Warp will leave us open.-

Another voice said, -We will need to take time to reposition and initiate Warp again. Time enough for the Dominion to come in firing or releasing an anti-Warp field.-

-Exactly.- Rebhorn concluded. -Our options, as grim as they are, are these: Having a large ship come out of Warp early as bait, buying time for the rest of the Fleet to exit, change direction, and re-enter Warp. With our numbers, we can scatter and regroup and lose them in the process with minimal losses. The second option is to have an infiltration squad enter the Warp-dimension, enter the Dominion Fleet, and sabotage them.- Rebhorn allowed his grim composure to be felt openly. The odds of the second one working was staggeringly low, while the first meant losing a lot of lives and resources. Out of the whole Nomadic Fleet, the only ship that could possibly be bait enough to keep the rest of the Fleet form being chased, was the Mother Ship. -I am open to suggestions.-

A few captions spoke up, -We offer our ships as bait.-

-Even if the Dominion bites, you won't last long enough.-

-That's not the plan. We will evacuate everyone, load our ships in explosives, and sabotage them. Without shields, the Dominion will be unable to enter Warp again.-

Murmurs swept over them all, and Victoria's composure became downcast. Even this option did not sit well with her. Rebhorn, being the Admiral, was in charge of military affairs, and would ultimately be given emergency powers to decide what actions would be taken when battle breaks out, but she knew that he disliked even this option. However, Rebhorn was a calculating man.

-Thank you. I will take your suggestion into consideration, but it has not come to that. It will be several hours before we might have to take any drastic measures.- Rebhorn appeased them. -So this matter is ultimately on hold as well.-

Victoria looked out over the rest of them. -Is there anything of note to bring before the council?-

A number of individuals spoke up with a few concerns from materials for ship repairs, a need for more raw precious metals to make into currency with the rapidly growing population as well as a lack of banks to regulate the currency, and other concerns for diminishing supplies in all areas. Water could be recycled and cleaned only so many times before they would need to dump it and resupply with more ice pockets, and same with air, but most of all they needed ships. The population was growing too fast for how little space they had.

-We could establish another seed colony.- Victoria offered. That always helped keep their local population low enough to keep from overrunning them.

-Our population is already sixty-five percent below twenty years old.- An elder argued. -We can't establish a colony of children.-

-No, but of families we can.- Another returned.

Victoria spoke up, -Regardless of age, the least we can do is decide on a planet and put out the suggestion. If at least ten-thousand take it up, it can work. The more the better.-

Rebhorn argued, -These colonies require protection of troops we do not have. Most of the soldiers we already had were left behind on the last several colonies already. We have none left to spare. If we are going to do this, it will have to be a planet already having a native security force that can take them in.-

Victoria considered it a moment before agreeing. -Is there anything more?-

-Yes.- Someone said. She recognized the voice as belonging to one of her 'shadow' Seekers. -I picked up an transmission today being sent out. I do not know who it was from, or who it was sent to, nor its contents, but I will. It was sent from a public terminal. I will appraise you with my progress.-

-And this transmission is a concern of yours how?- Someone asked.

-It was encrypted heavily. Why hide something if you have nothing to hide?-

-Please keep us appraised on this.- Rebhorn said.

Victoria waited a moment before saying, -The rest of your concerns are noted and will be addressed in time.- With that, she released the Network bonds and returned her awareness to her own surroundings. Her face was covered in some liquid. She gasped briefly as she recognized the metal taste of her own blood pouring out of her nose.

"You're bleeding out of your nose, Mistress." Visas dabbed her face with a wet cloth and stuck wads of paper up her nose. "If you had not stopped what you were doing just now, I would have considered forcing you out of it."

She did feel weak. The brief blood loss, exhaustion of holding such a large meeting within the Network, and being a cripple was catching up to her all at once. She closed her eyes and felt like the artificial gravity alone was going to squash her into a pancake. Her fingers were too heavy to lift and she felt that she should turn her head, as even holding it in this position was too heavy. -Well… I'm not a… Keeper.- She whispered before passing out.


	12. Ep02 - Freedom for a Price Part 2

**Note: **

**Okay, the entirity of this part is Varus. I wanted to flesh out some of his relationships and perception more after so long. It's been five years. He has done some growing up, but he still has things to work out, esspecially after hearing 'your mother' last time.**

**So let's get this show on the road!**

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**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, so no sue!**

**Remember to Review. I want to know what you think and how the chapter is to you. Is it good? Is it bad? Anything I need to know? Any ideas or things you want to see in the future?**

* * *

**Episode 2 - Freedom for a Price Part 2/3**

* * *

I used to love dreaming. They would be weird things like bears on hovercrafts chasing me because I slept in their bed or snakes that worked in jazz bands. I was a kid at the time. After I met Nihilus, my dreams took a morbidly dark and bloody turn for years.

For the next twenty years the only dream I liked were the empty ones. I would lay down, dream of nothingness, and wake up as if I never laid down. The days became seamless. Those were the good dreams, when I had none. After I lost my memory the dreams returned. I dreamed of stupid and weird things or I would have visions of my past that I wasn't completely sure about at the time. After I remembered and found myself in prison, the empty dreams returned.

My nightmares were left to my days, except today.

_I walk down a street deep in the under-city of Coruscant. Nihilus is by my side. We are both wearing robes covering every feature of ourselves, so no one knows it's us. Nihilus is wearing a male host he picked up early on. There are no Jedi down here. This is the first time Nihilus has taken me off the Ravager. I wish I could say I found it… pleasant, but his ominous presence siphons what joy can take out of it._

_He murdered my father, my mother, my family! I'm going to kill him. I can't yet, but I am counting the days._

_"Look around you, Galen." Nihilus says with the man's voice. "Drug addicts. Gangs. Harlots. Slaves. Sex, slave, and drug traffickers. Murderers. Serial killers. Con artists. Thieves. Beggars. And the occasional cop."_

_"Good." I mutter._

_"Ah! But the cops are bought. They won't lift a finger. While the Senate lives in golden palaces they always look outward toward other planet's and their problems, never inward to the very heart of their own society. Would you like to know why?"_

_I say nothing. Nihilus likes to talk when he gets in the preaching mood. He was an intellectual in life and will admit that one of the few pleasures I offer for him is a listening ear._

_"Because the heart of all men is black." Nihilus answers his own question. "It is always about themselves. Love is about satisfying your own desire to be needed by addicting yourself to another. Hatred is a need to remove obstacles of all sorts and sizes, and revenge is obvious."_

_"Justice is selfless." I answer._

_"Ah, yes… Justice. A system of sitting in ignorance while you let other's clean up the streets for you provided you throw money at them."_

_"The greater good then." I am not about to let him win._

_"Who's greater good?" He asks. "Everyone's greater good is only a reflection of themselves. The only one who can decide greater good is someone who is both good and a deity. There are no good mortals, it is a paradox. We all sin at some point. Any man can try to craft a 'greater good' that is good, but it will always be flawed, because the mortals who make it will be flawed just as much."_

_"What is your point then?" I ask._

_"The difference between the politicians and the people down here they ignore is resolve. Politicians cannot and will not do what is necessary because it is political suicide, and down here, with people like this, resolve to do what you need to do is everything."_

_He turns on me and steps in my way. His full presence bears down on me through the man's eyes. "Do you have the resolve to do what you need to do?"_

_"I will enjoy making you suffer." I hiss defiantly. "When it's time."_

_"I don't feel pain." He answers matter-of-factly._

_"Of course you do." I answer. "You may not when you're a specter, but right now your flesh and blood like me. You have nerves and pain receptors."_

_He nods. "A very astute theory. But wrong." He takes a nail off the ground and slowly inserts it into his finger just under the finger nail. He doesn't flinch. After driving and twisting the nail all the way in, he takes a knife and drives it under his thumb nail._

_The blood pouring off his fingers sickens me. "Okay, I get it!"_

_He chuckles. "You're squeamish, Galen, you get sick at the sight of blood. For that, you will never have the resolve to kill me."_

_"Yes, I will!"_

_"You sure? This isn't about hurting me, Galen, it's about killing me. Do you have what it takes to end a life?"_

_"Yes!" I yell. I will kill him. It is what I have devoted my life to._

_He presents the bloody knife to me. "Then prove it."_

_What? He… right now? He can't be serious! We're in public and… I'm hesitating. This is Nihilus! But Nihilus is wearing the body of another man. He's hiding behind that face daring me to kill him. Can I really? No, no… It doesn't matter. These people here are criminals who should be on death row. He's probably a former gang member with plenty of blood on his hands, if the muscles and tattoos are any clue._

_Nihilus is flesh and blood right now. He can be killed!_

_I take the knife in my hands and he watches me closely. I feel his gaze on me. I feel other people watching me, even though no one is actually looking at me._

_"Galen, what are you waiting f-?" He stops as a knife cuts his jugular. _

_I wonder who's knife did that. I didn't see… My knife has blood running down it! Oh! I did it! Nihilus reaches up to grab his neck and I find myself savoring the expression on his face. Surprise. He underestimated me. He truly did not believe I could do it, that I would do it! _

_I exterminated the evil!_

_Nihilus falls to the floor and suddenly eyes fall on me. The knife in my hands shake and feel scouring hot, and I realize how compromising this looks._

_I run for it._

_Hours later I manage to steal my way into someone's home. The place is empty and no one will find me here. There's a holographic television to the side and a couch. I collapse on the couch._

_I did it. I killed Nihilus. I'm not sure why I thought it was such a big deal. It was easy, almost second nature. The flesh was soft and the knife was sharp. It wasn't any different from cutting butter. The feeling after having killed him isn't what I expected either. I was afraid of being caught, but I don't feel fear in general. I don't feel paranoia or hunger and I can't say I'm all the sleepy. It… it feels like it was just another part of the day._

_Really, all I feel is shame. Shame that I won't get to train anymore. Shame that I won't get to destroy more PROXY droids. It's a shame no one will ever know or acknowledge what I did. _

_It's a shame I'll never have his tacos again, Nihilus made good tacos. Probably one of his only redeeming qualities. Shame I also won't get my hair cut for a while until I find a barber. Nihilus was always obsessed about my hair length. _

_I lay on the owner's couch for a while staring at the ceiling. Suddenly my datapad rings and I recognize the voice on the other end. Nihilus. "You're still alive?!" I hiss. How can he be alive?! I saw the life leave his eyes! He was flesh and blood for the first time since I've known him! HE HAD A BEATING HEART!_

_"Turn on the news." He orders and tells me what channel._

_I growl and do it. I'm curious what's so importan- "Former Police Academy Instructor Huatt was found dead tonight on the streets of sector 3451." There's pictures of where I killed Nihilus. The man Nihilus wore appears on a picture standing in uniform. Bile rises in my throat, but the news lady continues on, "Huatt worked at the Acadamy in his early life and ran a bar offering ninety-percent discounts to security forces and soldiers after he retired."_

_I can only sit in shock and watch in dumb horror. My hand shakes over the datapad near my ear and I barely hear anything. On the holographic image appears the man being loaded into a body bag with a younger woman crying and screaming over him and a little girl wearing a little sports cap and cute hoody balling her eyes out. "Father was a great man." The woman barely manages to say between sobs. "Please, if anyone knows the man who… who…" She can't even say it._

_The little girl just simply screams, "Why kill my grandpa! I WANT GRANDPA BACK!" Tears run down her chin and her snot runs into her mouth, but she's too busy trying to mop up her tears with a soaking wet sleeve that is twice the size of her arm to notice the taste of snot. "Why did someone kill grandpa! Grandpa was a good man…"_

_I turn the device off just before my stomach contents decide to come up for a landing._

_After several minutes of dumbly staring in wide eyed shock at the gloopy mess that once made up my lunch, I realize the tears running down my face. My hands feel like they're on fire… My sense of touch is so extreme I just want to cut them off. These hands aren't worth having._

_Dumbly I barely remember the datapad. It's still on. Nihilus!_

_I pick it up and try to speak, but my voice is too shaky. I cough against the burning acid left in my esophagus. "H-he… wasn't a gang member?"_

_"Who told you he was?" Nihilus wonders. "Did you assume he was because of a tattoo? So everyone without tattoos are good now? Pity about the man. He was a bright star in this dark cesspool."_

_"YOU BASTARD!" I yell. I throw the datapad away. Coincidentally it lands on the couch._

_Distantly I hear his voice, "You did well, Galen. Much better than I expected of you. Now is a time to celebrate."_

_"I DON'T WANT A COMPLIMENT FROM YOU! I DON'T WANT ANYTHING FROM YOU!"_

_Silence sweeps over me loudly in direct contrast to all the yelling at the pounding of my own heartbeat. I feel something tight in my chest and I squeeze against it. I hear a distant scream of that girl from the news in my head._

_"You now have what it takes to kill me. You're a murderer, Starkiller."_

I had forgotten why he named me Starkiller. I refused to remember this. He named me Starkiller so I would never forget my first murder, my first kill, the time I found the resolve to know what it takes to kill Nihilus. Even then I fought him, I forced myself to forget the reason behind my name.

I never wanted to hear that little girls screams that once mimicked my own those many years ago.

"Varus!"

Huh?

"UNCY VARUS!" A voice screams into my chest.

I open my ears and suddenly find myself with a tight fist curled around my side squeezing a handful of skin and a little girl suffocating in my arms.

SQUIRT!

I release her and jump away like she's on fire. She gasps for breathe. I sit up and realize how badly I'm shaking. My heart is pounding so hard my ribs hurt, my body is covered in cold sweat to the point the air feels like it's forty degrees, yet my body feels like it's reaching the boiling point. I don't know if I just 'embarrassed' myself or if it's just my sweat, but every single layer of clothing feels wet and sticky and the bed isn't that much better.

"I'm so sorry, Squirt." Is all I can manage to get out while trying not to pass out from a panic attack.

She just nods and lays there enjoying the little gift that is breathing. "You okay?" I ask.

She nods again, but the fear is there. It's a reflection of what she sees. If just looking at me is making her this frightened, it's probably best she doesn't sleep with me like she usually does to feel safe. Right now, I can't offer that. Her uncle or not, I cannot offer safety. I can't shake her nightmares. I can't offer her comfort or be her little guardian.

Before, I always gave her courage while leaving none for myself. I never needed courage as a slave. I just didn't care. I just made sure she was brave and happy and secure, and that Koj was the same. I watched over them just as much as they did me.

Now, I can't do that. I can't be her guardian angel when I'm too busy needing one of those myself.

"W-why don't y-you go find y-your father, Squirt." I manage to say while shaking. The coldness of my sweat seeps into my skin and my body temperature is lowering. My teeth chatter and I huddle against myself in the darkness to buy some warmth. "Sorry, but I-I can't fight the monsters off tonight." I don't know if its normal or if it's just her, but she refers to her nightmares as monsters. Sometimes they actually do have monsters and there are times I find amusement in how incredibly ridicules the monsters are when she describes them. Her imagination is as scary to grasp as my own.

"Alright." She yawns. She gets up and straightens her slave rags. First thing we are doing is getting her out of those and into something a little girl SHOULD be wearing! With unicorns, girl pirates, dancing elves, and exploding robot chipmunks.

She walks away, but stops momentarily to look back at me. She may think her emotions are elusive, but she's a kid. The worry is on every inch of her face down to her four-toed feet. I wave her off and she closes the door.

Leaving me to my own monsters. Yeah… I'm not getting any sleep today. I get up and strip the sheets off the bed. I don't know if I soiled them or not, but might as well not take any chances. The physical exertion is appealing. I dump the pile of sheets by the door and take the pillow cases off the pillows to be done as well. Same material, can be done together. The pillow case Squirt was snuggling with in her arms while she was in mine has faint wetness, tears. She was crying again.

The last thing she remembers is the fight and dead person shot right in front of her. I remember my first exposure to death. It was the same day I met Nihilus. I know my exposure was probably darker than hers, but the experience I had still makes it feel personal. My heart clenches for her. No amount of sleeping with me will defend her from this monster in her imagination. No amount of being around Koj and I while we convince her there isn't a baddy under her bed will do anything. Her mind is stained red just as my hands are.

I sigh and enter the bathroom. There's no mirror and no light switch. I leave the door cracked to have some light from the lamp provided to me. I strip out of my old slave clothes. A part of me misses the old ragged Starkiller ensemble, but another part doesn't. on one hand, it was a second skin. On the other, it was Starkiller's skin. Now I'm in slave clothes (or was a second ago). I need a new wardrobe along with Squirt and the others.

Maybe that will help cheer her up. Back as slaves I could never dote on Squirt like I wanted to. I remember father and mother would when I was a child, things like dolls and balloons before I got into action figures and mock-lightsabers I tried (and failed) to beat Visas with. I smile at the faint recollection. Odds are I could hand her butt to her now. But still, I wonder what Squirt would like.

I turn on the shower and step in once I got the clammy-wet scraps off. The handles aren't color coded, but I don't mind a cold shower. Beats no shower at all.

Ah… this feels good.

I doubt even Squirt knows what she would like. She first has to be exposed to the idea of wanting things before she can start to explore it. Koj is a great father and isn't clingy nor detached, but he also lacks understanding of concepts most father's have in my limited experience.

I remember bring up the idea of a teddy bear for her once, just as a posing note, and he had looked at me like I was insane. "Why would I give her a ferocious beast of the 'teddy' species?"

Being a Ghorfa, he scraped and fought for every ounce of water he drank on the wonderful summer vacation spot otherwise known as the Tatooine desert. He probably wouldn't know what a teddy bear or doll is. Or a cheap glasses with a mustache, he would think I've lost my mind

Oh, I have gotta do that one day! Maybe even stick it on him while he's sleeping.

I feel chills go down my front as the water becomes particularly icy and I scramble for at least some heat. After it gets somewhat hot, I glance around for soap. Don't they know that all hotels are supposed to have those cheap little bars of soap in cheesy blue paper? Individuality wrapped and everything. Where's their hospitality!?

Instead I find a pump. It's actually hand-soap, but it'll do. I get a ton in my hand and rub myself down under the water. My hand brushes over my scars and memories pop in my mind over each one. They absently remind me of Starkiller and how red my hands are.

The day I killed that grandfather and was named Starkiller is one of the few encounters where I earned no scar, yet it's the one I need the most. Guess its more of a scar over my heart than a phsyical one. I have other ones, mostly from training exercise with Nihilus and a few PROXY droids the Ravager was able to produce. I think he took a bit of the Star Forge technology in the ship to allow for regenerative security or training droids for me. Might also explain why the ship could make food out of thin air, and why it tasted like crap.

Other scars I got from killing Jedi. Mostly Masters. I remember now… I may have thought little about it at the time, but I rarely killed Padawans. I thought it was because they were too weak to warrant my time, but then the same could be said for all those nameless soldiers and eyewitnesses who were removed from the witness equation in my path. No, I didn't kill Padawans because… I don't know. No, I do know.

I wanted them to remember. I wanted them to never forget. I wanted someone to know I was guilty, to gain strength, to find me, and to end the guilt.

Just like Maris Brood did.

I sigh again and turn off the water. Maris Brood… I can see the faces of so many other Padawans as well, but she stands out because she is the only one to have been given a name and identity. She represents the sins of my past, and how I still haven't atoned.

Perhaps there will be another Maris Brood, another sin of my past given form to catch up to me.

If there is, will I welcome this faceless avenger? Will I resist?

I find a towel and rub myself down. My instincts tell me to look in the mirror. Stupid little normalcy's like that are hard to get away from. I'm always used to have a mirror in the bathroom, even the stupid broken one I shared with the other slaves. But that doesn't change anything. I know what I will see in the mirror. There are times I see Maris in the mirror, but that's just my guilt playing tricks on me.

What I really see is Galen Marek. Starkiller. Varus Wynn.

All three would welcome this avenger, but I can't be any of them. I have Squirt and Koj and… I have a bunch of idiots who rely on me. Why, I don't want to know. The sheer fact that they rely on me of all people speaks volumes for their sanity and intelligence.

But I can't have this avenger to catch up. I can't afford these nightmares and dreams. I can't let these scars hold me down.

I need to figure out what's going on. I have a lot of years to catch up on.

I step out of the bathroom with a purpose, then feel the draft. "Right!" I shiver. "Clothes first!"

But all I got is the slave crap! I check the closet and conveniently there is a small wardrobe of various sizes. Nice suits and crap. Do they expect me to be president of a company or something? How do you even put this crap on?

It takes about half an hour, but I manage to get the black pants, white shirt, and tuxedo thing on. I can't be bothered buttoning the thing and I would stab myself in the foot if I put that tie on. "I can't believe this is all this thing has…" It's a size too small.

I find my shoes… and stop.

I've been wearing those same shoes for years, as a slave. It's more or less been reduced to chewed up pieces of leather full of holes.

The other option is a set of really fancy black shoes, also a size too small, and so shiny I can see my reflection.

Oh, this is agony. I stick the shoes on and walk out.

Ignoring the whistle calls from the Stooges and the 'Well don't you look spiffy!' mock from Cupcake, I find Koj. He's sitting at a table with Squirt laying her head down on his lap and IT'S THAT HOT LADY!

What's she doing here?!

Koj and her look up at my approach and she looks slightly miffed. "I'm here to thank you, but with an attitude like that, I don't feel entirely welcome." Of course, my mouth runneth over.

"Sorry…" I sigh, again. I collapse next to Koj and stick my head in my hands. "I couldn't sleep. I feel like crap."

"What is crap supposed to feel like?" Koj wonders. Knowing him, he literally means 'what is a pile of cow poop supposed to feel like?'

"This." I answer. "Koj, dear old adoptive brother of mine-"

"I'm not old."

"-It's a phrase- I would pay you a credit to take the nearest fork and stab my head with it, repeatedly."

"Your head is worth ten billion credits, not one. So no." He answers off-handedly.

I chuckle darkly. "And who told you that? Her?"

"Yes."

I briefly hesitate. "Okay, that's just weird. No, wait, actually I'm… I'm… whatever the opposite of offended is." Wow, I can't think straight. I glance at the woman. "You really think I'm worth ten billion? I'm… oh! Flattered! That's the word." Hooray, for little victories.

She blushes slightly, which shouldn't be this cute! You can't have small, fragile, cute woman smiling in my presence! That's going to cause a tear in the universe! "You're welcome?"

"I do not believe her proclaiming your monetary value is her way of buying you for a date." Koj says entirely too flatly.

Which leaves her turning red and me momentary stunned. "Koj! I-I-I-I wasn't going to assume that!" Dang it Koj! Don't tease me unknowingly in front of someone I am trying to not embarrass myself in front of! I have a hard enough time with woman!

"Why not?"

"Be-because!" I turn away from him.

"I would."

The lady groans to herself. "This can't be happening!"

"Koj." I turn back to him. "You would date me for ten billion credits? Another man. Your sworn brother?" The lady turns even brighter red.

"I'd kill for it. I've killed for a lot less." He returns my bewilderment with facts.

I just stare at him gaping before wildering into a glare. "I don't know you anymore…"

He glances at the woman, and back to me. "Okay."

"YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE OKAY WITH THAT!"

"What would you like me to say?"

"Oh!" I shrug. "I don't know. How about 'No! Varus, please don't go! I'll never let you go!'"

"You got that off a cheap holovid."

"Yes, I did, the movie made me yawn and want to stab myself in the eyes before finally walking out in the middle of it, but the point is-"

"Gentlemen!" She manages to force out and we stop arguing. "I don't know where that started or how it derailed completely, but Koj'Ineh was being truthful. You really are worth ten billion credits."

I just stare at her a second while my brain tries to catch up with what she just said. Finally I hear a screeching sound as the hamster on a wheel hits the breaks, and I'm still clueless. All I know is what Koj said about buying me for a date. "Look…" I start. "I'm flattered, but-"

"I'm not asking you on a date!" She blurts out. Her head is still cradled in her hands like she is trying to resist a migraine. "You're on the wanted 'dead or alive' list for ten billion!"

"Oh." I glance at Koj. He glances at me. "Okay."

"You're not supposed to be okay with that!" She yells.

"Is this what you call… Deja Whoo?" Koj asks me.

"Deja vue." I correct him. "And yes." I turn back to her. "And yes, I am okay with that, because compared to half the crap I've lived with my entire life, being on the top ten most wanted list in the galaxy isn't that big of a leap."

"Galen!" She tries to argue. "It was the Mandalorian Clans that put it up! Now the Cartel is after you just to show them up and get the reward, half the galaxies bounty hunters are after you, and let's not forget how you apparently also ticked off the Dominion, and both Republics!"

"Oh…" Oh! Oh crap… That's a lot of people suddenly wanting me dead.

"Yeah! 'Oh…'!" She stresses.

"What did you do?" Koj asks.

I chuckle knowingly. "You want a list?"

"No, not really." He shrugs. Knowing him, he doesn't care about that. "What are you going to do?"

"We need supplies." She says. "Weapons, a ship, and so on. You contract needs to be instated. You need to get moving."

"Right!" I stand, actually I'm completely ignoring her. "Food, clothes, more food, and getting a surprise for Squirt. Care to come, Koj?"

The lady is flabbergasted. "You need to do something!"

"We are doing something." I argue. "We're getting food, clothes, more food, and-"

"About the Dominion chasing us and all this crap surrounding your wanted list! And get you blood tested to prove you're your mother's son, and-"

I'm already walking out the door. "One step at a time!" I yell back. I hear her bonk her head down on the table and Koj falls into step beside me with Squirt in his arms. I stick my finger in my ear. It itches. I still have water in my ears. "I think brown would make an excellent color for you."

"Hm…" He agrees.

"Black is more my style." I continue.

He glances at me. "The suit is very… extravagant." He tries to agree.

"Not this crap!" I shift it around uncomfortably. "This is uncomfortable. How can people wear suits!" It's just a simple men's suit, but it still does feel too formal for me.

Suddenly he is smiling and I can't help but wonder why. Ghorfa never smile. We descend the ramp and enter the Miraluka city. "Why are you smiling?" I wonder.

"The woman." He nods his head back in the direction of the ship. " Her name is Ashley Marr." Ah, Visas sister. "She has been assigned to us by this 'Mistress' as a go-between, and wants to thank you personally for 'listening' before and how your presence has already had an impact on her sister."

If by impact she means giving Visas a target to mess with? She's welcome.

"Assigned to us…" I repeat in wonder, before grinning like a madman. "She isn't going to last long."

"Exactly my thoughts." He smirks even wider.

But… what am I supposed to do? I'm uncomfortable around her… Ever since I got a headful of Revan and his love-sessions with Bastilla, which I am trying really hard not to remember, I have suddenly realized there is actually some purpose to female attractions, and I got a lot of exposure to male mentality in prison. Suffice to say I have a very messed up picture of woman, albeit a lot of it involving attraction on some level now, and a lack of general exposure leaves me flabbergasted in the short sessions I have.

Just don't think of her as someone who is of the female persuasion. She isn't small and cute! She's ugly! She's an ugly old hag who wants to make out with a huge wart on her nose!

Okay, wait, that just makes me want to throw up. Scrap that.

Okay, new plan: Think of her like the sun. Limit exposure and use sunglasses when looking directly at her, and NEVER actually look at her. Right, this'll be easy.

Also, assume nothing. Don't assume anything is a flirt or attempt at me. If I let myself get confused and start wondering about every stupid little female signal, I'll go nuts. One blink does not mean 'go' and two blinks does not mean 'stop'. Although if she ends up blinking too much, it means her eyes hurt from looking at me. But basically assume nothing. Let her take charge of whatever form the partnership takes, because my own inexperience will turn it all into a nut farm of madness and insanity.

"I'm going to need some sunglasses." I let him know offhandedly. He shrugs.

"We're buying on the Miraluka's tab anyway."

* * *

Rebhorn watched the holographic monitor. The water moved and flowed with the changing of the image. While most of the galaxy relies on holographic projectors that employ light fixtures, the Miraluka cannot see light. Their holovids and monitors for computer terminals have to be made out of real material, and the material has to move, flow, and change itself as the way of showing imagery.

A line appeared in the water and a number of small ships flew past it, and the ships behind the first group followed as well.

They were now in the neutral zone and the Dominion had not ended its chase.

"This does not bode well." Rebhorn muttered mostly to himself.

They had options, but after calculating the odds and risks, none of them were any good.

In fact, there was only one option, and it relied on a completely unknown variable. The Mistress was pushing for him to send Galen Marek out to stop the Dominion, but not only was he an unknown variable in terms of loyalty, but in strength as well. How can one man accomplish it?

The Admiral knew of Starkiller's reputation. The man was powerful, lethal, and explosive, in more ways than one. But an entire fleet?

"I am going to see the Keeper. Keep the fleet ahead of the Dominion." He ordered the crew and left the premises.

At the very least he could ask the Keeper if he would do it, and if he was capable. They had time for him to continue shuffling ideas around in his head.

The Admiral found the transport housing Garen and entered in. Seeing Ashley, he said, "Do you know where the Keeper is?" Expecting him to be nearby, Rebhorn was surprised to hear the man was away. "Away? Doesn't he know how serious the situation is?"

"He does, somewhat, but he has a peculiar way of dealing with it." She smiled apologetically.

* * *

"Tell me the truth Koj, does this make me look fat?"

"Yes."

I gape at him and look down at my clothes. It's a black robe hoody thing. It is big and poofy, but its robes! It's supposed to be like that! "You're not supposed to tell me that!"

"Then why did you ask?" He glances at some clothes and leaves them behind.

"Because it's the first thing that popped in my head…" I take the outer robe off and leave it back on the rack. "For a man who has never had much of an idea around choosing, you are really picky about what you wear."

"It's a matter of survival. Not looks."

Ah yes… The brown robes blended in on Tatooine sand. It makes sense, and it's not like we are going to have much of a chance of getting anything nice here. I think when the Miraluka lost their sense of sight they lost their sense of coloration. Everything is a mishmash of color. Orange on black in white mixed with a dose of green and some pink thrown in, and that's just the collar. Whoever in the world designed this had no idea what color thread he was using.

The fact that there are any clothes at all with singular colors is unique. They must be traded or designed by non-Miraluka.

After going through the third rack, I look over to find Koj has found himself a set of camouflage pants, three layers of shirts, and a camouflage hoody. "Now you just need a mask there, Koj." He picks up some brown gloves and checks the boots, but none are his size. As it is already, he will have to modify the gloves for his hand. "Try cutting off the finger tips." I advise him.

He looks between the gloves and me, before stuffing them in the bag.

I go through the fourth rack and don't even bother picking anything up. It's all crap. I am NOT wearing pink! Or yellow or red or green or blue, and most certainly not at once. This brings me to the final spot in the shop, a large box of clothes for sale. They are all used and sold to the shop by some people looking to empty their apartments.

I go through the clothes and hold a few up to see. This one has holes, this one is full of patches, blah blah blah, one after another, but my hand lands on one and it sparks something in me. It interests me and I pull it out.

It's a pure black leather jacket. Slightly old quality like it's been rubbed down a lot. It has a high collar that wraps around and snaps to a silver button, and the wrist collars are the same way. It's missing metal plating that I am used to, but those I can sow on. I made my old clothes partially by hand anyway.

On the back is a red emblem of a pillar of fire. The Marek house symbol.

I don't have anything to wear under it yet, but I will. Probably something in grey. I find a shirt and take off my slave shirt to replace it. With the jacket over it… It's like I was I slip it on. It fits snuggly. It's just my size…

This has me written all over it.

I walk over to the kid area to find Squirt still looking between the clothes, but she still hasn't decided on anything. "Here, let me help." I reach over her and glance at them. They are all bland and mismatched like the rest, but a few stand out as being something more along the lines of what I would expect.

She looks up at me. "That looks cool."

"Thanks, Squirt." I smile. I think the black leather works with me.

I pull one out and glance it over. I wish I could say what girls her age are supposed to be wearing, but I really have no idea in hindsight. My expectations are twenty-years behind the times, but I figure some pajama's with ponies on them is still 'in', and something cute the rest of the time. Why do so many of them have stupid phrases on them like 'I'm just that cute'. I find a pink dress thing, a butterfly shirt and shorts, and some really shoes that make me want to cringe will work. "Here, go try these on."

She looks at them skeptically, but takes them anyway to try on. It says a lot when a seven-year old girl thinks slave clothes are the norm.

She walks out wearing the pink dress. It's not formal, but the uncle in me wants to hug her to death while the man inside wants to cringe at the sight of the girliness in it. It probably doesn't help that her natural skin color is green, that her eyes each have two pupils, and her mouth is oval-shaped with lips that are capable of being both horizontal and vertical depending on what she feels. "Koj!" I call. "Get over here and tell Squirt what you think."

He walks over. "I think it's attroci-." I grab him by the mouth and he glares at me.

"Repeat after me: 'It is adorable.'" I whisper harshly.

In the same quiet tone he says, "Why? It's massive and… poofy. Completely impractical and an eyesore and it makes her hips look huge."

"I don't know, that's what girls are into. And it's a dress. It's going to open up more on the way down."

He continues glaring at me, but looks at his daughter when she walks out. She is really nervous and touching it like it itches. Being new it probably does. "So?" She wonders.

He glances at me. "It has achieved what it set out to do."

"It looks beautiful." I translate. "What do you think, Squirt?"

She shrugs. I smile and punch Koj in the arm for not being any help. "We'll take 'em."

I take our clothes, that we aren't wearing, and stick them in a bag. We take them to the front. The lady is surprised we are wearing the clothes we intend to buy, but I pull out an example of our slave clothes. It has oil stains over most of it and huge gaping holes in the back and arm pits. She gets the idea.

"What about your old clothes?"

"Burn them." Koj says. He finds a mask in a pile of hoodies and shows me. It is camouflage as well, but has holes that remind me of a skeleton's face. Teeth between the holes, the cheeks behind the teeth, and eye sockets.

"That is definitely you." Out of curiosity I look through the hats and masks as well on the wall. Most of them are junk, funny masks, I snag one that has a big nose and mustache for the sake of it, and my eyes land on the sport caps. There's one in Squirt's size.

The girl from my nightmare… It looks similar. The girl who's grandfather I killed.

Whatever purpose I have in mind, whether it be a need for reminders and guilt, because it might look good on her, or even the lack of a reason in my empty head, I pick it up and plop it down on Squirt's head. She growls in aggravation and scratches her head under it, but she doesn't take it off. It looks cute on her.

"I think that's everything." I say. "This place doesn't have shoes."

"Okay…" The lady at the cash register says.

"Yep and he's paying." I point back at him.

"It's on the Mistress' tab." He corrects me.

"Okay, take it up with her then."

"I will…" She looks between us. "Give me a moment." And she picks up a phone.

A minute later she let's us know its bought and payed for.

"What's next?" I ask Koj as we leave. Squirt skips down the steps and onto the street. The place is very condensed for a city, but it has the taste of one. Dirt, sidewalks, buildings, lights and everything. It is built from the ground up to look like a city built on a planet, and outside of the small scale and ceiling over our heads as the inner hull of the ship, it achieves that well.

"You said you were hungry."

"I'm hungry!" Squirt volunteers with an upraised hand.

"That settles it." I pat her on the head and she giggles. "Pick one, Squirt."

She picks one, and half an hour later we are eating. I already ate, so I just nibble while Squirt eats her own food and mine as well. She's a growing girl, that's for sure.

I feel Koj beside me tensing up, and he looks around a lot. "What's wrong?" I ask.

"The people are fearful. Something is going on."

I frown and put down my fork. "They did say the Dominion was chasing us from the slave ship. Do you think they are still on us?"

"Judging from the people's reaction, they are gaining."

"Great…" I groan. This ship is hardly battle ready, and the Dominion are what's left of the military side of the old Confederacy. They may lack the economic backing they need to be up to par with their past, hence their relations with the Cartel, but they are still a force to be trifled with, and the Nomadic Fleet is hardly capable of dealing with even a single Dominion fleet.

The Miraluka will be wiped out unless they do something.

"It is convenient for them that they have chosen to hire us as permanent exclusive mercenaries just when they need us most."

I scoff. "You make it sound like a conspiracy."

"I doubt they lured the Dominion into a chase just to exploit us, but they did not immediately come up with this deal just because they felt like it."

I chuckle. "Only you, Koj… Only you." But then… it makes sense. I may tease him for seeing conspiracies, but I wasn't the apprentice to a Sith Lord for nothing. I feel something too. He may be right. "So, fifty-fifty we will be thrown at the Dominion giving chase, or do some mission related to it." I smirk. "Sounds like fun. We will need some things."

"A ship and a crew, weapons, basic provisions."

"Crew won't be hard. Three Stooges may be idiots, and make me want to kill them every few seconds, but they can fly circles around aces. Together they could even give Tree-Hugger a run for his money. Cupcake is good manual labor and a powerful asset, provided he hates me and sleeps and eats so much."

"Then there is Ashley."

"Who?" I ask.

"Ashley Marr. The female we met earlier. She has been donated to us by the Mistress as a 'thank you' and to be close to you."

"I like her, she's nice." Squirt adds.

Dang it… this Mistress is insistent. She loves making things difficult for me… "Okay, I am not sure what she can do, but I'll leave that to you to find out."

"I'll just ask." Koj'Ineh shrugs.

"Yeah… weapons and such shouldn't be hard either. Cupcake and I are living weapons in our own right, and all you need is a steady long-range blaster. A lightsaber for me would come in handy, but if I can access the Force again, I won't need it. Then pistols for the Stooges will suffice."

"Which leaves your surgery…" He says.

"I am not looking forward to it." I agree.

Early on in my imprisonment of the Republic, I had implanted into my neck a device originally supported by Nihilus that he intended to use on the Jedi before they moved against him a bit earlier than he must have anticipated. It numbed a part of my brain that Sith and Jedi use to access the Force.

What they didn't know is that after having it in your body for years on end, day after day, you eventually get used to the frequency. I was able to use the Force again and intended to use it to escape slavery.

Then Squirt showed up in my life. Winy, crying, clingy, afraid, and all around annoying. She grew on me against my desire, and one day she nearly died. She suffocated in a puncture leak on an outfit and her heart stopped.

I could have used the Force to escape, as I had finally grown strong enough in secret to be at my full strength and control again, but I chose to save her life. I use lightning to start her heart up again.

They took me and tweaked the frequency to something I wasn't used to, thereby cutting me off from the Force again. I also might have caused a massive blackout by accident at the time. But I saved Squirt, was reunited with Koj, and was made brother by oath.

I'd say it was worth it, but now I need this thing out of me, and then I'll need some time to warm my Force-muscles, flex my brain a bit.

"How did you meeting with the Mistress go?" He asks.

I grimace. "Uh…." I look at him, but he is watching me patiently and attentively. Sometimes I really hate how serious he is. "It could have gone better."

"Explain."

I sigh. "Okay… my birth name is Galen Marek, I was abducted into service of Darth Nihilus when I was five and sacrificed my people to do it, or so I believed until I was a bit wiser to know it was outside my hands to begin with."

"I'm aware. You told me. What does this have to do with it?"

I hesitate, not sure how to say it, but then again, Koj is a lot like me in some ways. He is straight forward and factual. He is trying to lighten up, but he comes from a culture where every word, every action, every thought had to be perfect and intentional and serious, because nothing could be wasted. "She claims to be Victoria Marek. My mother."

He goes quiet, which isn't that big of a difference from how he usually is, but with more serious, thoughtful undertones. He brings his hands up together. "You don't believe it?"

I… "I don't know…" I admit. This is frustrating. I want to be able to hope, I want to be able to give it a chance, but I have twenty-years of nightmares, dashed hopes, and blood on my hands holding me back. "I saw my family die, Koj. I saw Nihilus pick up my father's skull and peer into it in insatiable curiosity."

"But you never saw your mother die…"

I cringe. "I… no. Mother…" My heart goes into my throat. It's hard to admit, but I need to let it out. If not for Koj, then for myself. It takes all my willpower to not let myself cry in public and say it with a straight face. "Mother was away at the time. I remember being upset that she wouldn't be around for the holiday like she promised."

"Then there is a chance."

"No." I deny. "That's the thing, Koj! It can't be. I know it can make sense, I know I saw the desperation!" And the way she looked at me. It was like she saw a baby boy and she was remembering it again. "I saw the… the scars. She looks so much like my mother." except my mother was so full of youth, energy, fire. She was the scariest living thing I had ever seen. She could even compete with Nihilus. This… cripple is like a wilted flower in comparison to a person who used to have all the spark, determination, and presence of a volcano.

"It can't be…" I repeat.

"I sympathize with your dilemma." He pats me on the shoulder. One of the gestures I've taught him to use. He's a bit stiff at it, but the few gestures he makes mean more. "But here is the way I see it."

I nod.

"What you don't have is resolution. As much as you may wish that distancing yourself and thinking on it will resolve that -and I know you enough to know you are considering it-, it won't. You want resolution? Get to know her. Be around her. Compare this woman to the woman you knew and see for yourself who she is. Stay skeptical and wary, but give her a chance."

"But… what if she isn't my mother?"

"Am I your brother, Varus?" Koj asks.

"Yes?"

"No." he shakes his head. "Am I your blood brother, Varus?"

"No…" I admit.

Squirt, who is being really quiet, walks around to stand by us and looks at me sadly. Probably shouldn't have said such depressing stuff in front of her. I really need to learn she is in the room despite how quiet she is! She takes that up right from her father! I swear!

You would think being around me so much would make her louder.

"I am your…? Your…?" She squints her eyes in thought.

"Niece."

"Yeah, that thing."

"Of course your my niece, Squirt." I hug her to me and look up at Koj. "And your my brother. Blood or not."

He nods. "Then you may find this woman may become a mother figure, even if she isn't by blood. And if she is, then all the better. At the very least, an ally."

"Yeah…" I say softly while Squirt hugs me to death. I hug her back one-armed and look down at nothing. Koj makes sense. He always makes sense. He has a very realistic, unbiased view of the universe. But even as much sense as he makes, the problem comes down to me. Can my heart take it? Can I dare to hope? "I can't promise anything, Koj."

"I wouldn't ask you to." He growls lightly. "Never promise anything."

Right, totally unbiased, in everything except promises.

Okay, my chest is starting to hurt from Squirt hugging me too tightly. "That's enough." I peel her off and gasp for air. "Thanks, Squirt, but this is too much sappy. I can only take it in small doses or I'm going to go insane."

"Fair enough." Koj nods and he moves on just like that.

Squirt, not so much. She has tears built up in her eyes and she looks like she is going to jump me again. "Fine…" I give her another quick hug and ensure she stops after a moment. Her food is done and what's left of mine is cold.

"Let's go. I feel another nap coming on." I get up. Koj agrees and Squirt is already at the door waiting for us. Kids are born capable of instant teleportation, I swear.

Years of being a slave working manual labor takes its toll. I haven't slept this much, or in beds this comfortable, in ages. Feels like I'm playing catchup.

We grab our clothes and head out to return to the ship.


	13. Ep02 - Freedom for a Price Part 3

**Note: I just had an idea for an epic scene for a much later episode. It's truly epic. Just finished writing the whole scene, and wanted to give ya a bit of a teaser.**

**(Teaser)**

_**"My entire life… I've been a coward." Igor said weakly. "I've run. I've run. And I've kept running. But there is a time when a man will not run from a fight… That time when his friend's horrors, dreams, and traumas are mocked…" Igor coughed up blood, but kept going when the Sith stayed curiously silent. "Varus won't lose to you! I know that he'll find his redemption… and… AND I WON'T LET YOU LAUGH AT THAT!" While he yelled, he raised the pistol.**_

**(End Teaser) **

**I don't know about the rest of you, but the scene gave me chills when I had the images and voices in my head. (Part of the reason my story is so visual is because I see it like a tv series or movie in my mind rather than as words.)**

**this chapter is really short, but I felt it was necessary.  
**

**So let's get this show on the road!**

**Beta read by:**

**If anyone else wants to be a beta reader or help me with the story, feel free to PM me.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, so no sue!**

**Remember to Review. I want to know what you think and how the chapter is to you. Is it good? Is it bad? Anything I need to know? Any ideas or things you want to see in the future?**

* * *

**Episode 2 - Freedom for a Price Part 3/3**

* * *

We return to the ship we're currently staying at and Squirt runs off to go do whatever she does. Probably to play with the Stooges. Speaking of which.

"Hey!" Igor yelled gleefully. "What'd you get us?"

"Nothing." Koj answers flatly and I laugh at Igor's distraught expression.

"But-but-but!" He looks between me and the bag of what clothes we didn't feel like wearing out the door. "But!"

I sigh. "If you're so desperate for a change in wardrobe, go get some yourselves."

"Really?! We can?"

I scream inside my head, but say, "You idiots are perfectly semi-capable adults who can think for yourselves! You don't need my permission!"

Igor backs off fearfully at my rage, starts tearing up in gratitude, salutes me (DON'T SALUTE ME!), and runs off to grab his idiot friends. Swear to God I'm going to kill them!

"Can I go?" Squirt returns to ask.

"No! They're idiocy will rub off on you!"

"Aaaaww…"

"You can go." Koj usurps authority over her.

"Yeaaah!" She runs off.

Leaving me to glare at Koj. "You do realize we may wind up looking at Four Stooges one day because of you right?"

"It is not as bad as you presume."

"No… That's where your wrong." I see in my mind Rizzo, Igor, and Reeve standing there looking dumb, but now I see Squirt there too. The image sends a chill down my spine. "It's worse than anything you can ever imagine…"

We enter the lounge to find Cupcake was busy retailing Ashley with a tale of his youth when he was a strong and courageous little lizard. I don't know why she's smiling. The stories always make me yawn and think of ways to torment him. She also shouldn't be smiling… at him!

Wait a second… That doesn't even make sense. Okay, forget I said anything.

"Galen!" She sees me and jumps straight up, to the lizard's shocked disappointment as he was in midsentence. Ha! Serves him right! "Are you going to sit still long enough to let me speak this time?" She asks.

"Yeah, go ahead." I make sure to avoid eye-contact. She looks serious, and it looks attractive rather than just serious. Like she's chewing on a pencil or something in deep thought, and I don't even know where that comparison came from…

She's already messing with my head after seconds of exposure!

"Okay." She nods and starts going through a list in her head while counting off her fingers. "First off, there is a deal offered to you to employ you, and your friends, as private mercs for the Nomadic Fleet. You will answer directly to the council, and more specifically the Mistress or Fleet Admiral. This contract will stay while you complete missions until such time as you pay us back in full for what it is taking to rescue you. You will receive beginning pay to get you started off, as well as a ship and supplies, but it will only set your debt further back. Everyone has agreed, except you."

"Deal. Next." I say without second thought.

She taps her second finger, "I have lined up a doctor to give you a physical a week from now, and compare your D.N.A. with that of Victoria Marek's."

"Make it in the next two hours. I need surgery."

She stops in mid-thought. I can practically see the hamster wheel screeching to a halt and trying to change direction. Amazingly enough, she recovers in record speed. "For what?"

"I have a chip in the back of my neck. Really obvious and easy to find. I need it out before my first mission, which I get the feeling is today."

"You aren't far off from the truth." She presents the third finger. "Admiral Rebhorn hears good things of what you can do, despite your first impression with him-"

"BABY BACK RIB IS THE ADMIRAL?!" I blurt out. I thought he was just some measly old captain!

"And," she keeps going smoothly like I hadn't just interrupted her. "He wants you on standby in case you will be tasked with halting the Dominion's chase.

"Why do I have to answer to him?" I groan, mostly to myself. Gah! The man hates me! I may have caused it, but he still hates me! How do I end up in these positions?...

The fourth finger pops up. "The Mistress has requested that I be employed in your service as a secretary to the mercenary crew, and to act as a go-between for you and her. She and I have a strong Force Bond we have developed for years that will allow us to communicate and let her experience the world through my Force-Sight just as if she was here."

"Whoa…" Koj mutters. The first thing he said the whole time. I'm impressed, it takes a lot to put him in awe over anything. This guy can look into the center of a supernova and go 'meh'.

I kind of have to agree. Whoa. But still, a part of me is insulted and a part of me is… warmed. On one hand she is trying to worm her way into my life without my permission, AGAIN, and on the other hand, it does feel like a desperate mother who is trying to help, but she's still working her way into my life!

"Wait." I stop her from raising her fifth finger. "Hold up! I will take you on, but I don't want her spying on me through your eyes without my permission. I still don't know where I stand with her. Koj sucks at math, Squirt is a child, Cupcake can't be bothered, Nihilus wasn't big on teaching math, and don't even get me started on the Stooges. You may be the only one here with any mathematical skill, and… we kinda need that."

She hesitates in clear disbelief. "None of you can do mathematics?"

I shake my head.

"Reading?"

I wave my hand and shrug. "Meh… We can, except Koj. He only knows Basic verbally, and he still has time's its off."

"How have you all survived this long…?" She asks, almost afraid of the answer.

"We all were in prison and then slavery… I wouldn't say we managed a normal life." I frown apologetically. "So! Welcome, Cupcake is a romantic at heart who sees all males as rivals and females as sex objects-"

"Hey!" He barks loudly.

"Koj is a 'Spirit' zealot who doesn't like strangers and has a million cultural insults you can trip over, and don't mention swinging dead cats at them, he doesn't like that either."

"What?" Ashley blurts out in confusion. Yeah, she won't get it. Koj does a gesture he picked up from me. He rolls his eyes.

"Squirt is his daughter, and I'll be blunt and say: don't go near my niece until I know I can trust you."

"O…kay…" She says slowly.

"The Three stooges are idiots, best to be avoided lest it rub off. Then there's me. Haunted, reckless, sarcastic, and all around the formerly Sith Apprentice to Darth Nihilus, The Lord of Hunger."

She doesn't bother saying anything. She just looks at us in a way that leaves her inner thoughts wide open. It screams 'what has she gotten herself into!'

"Welcome to the group." Koj pats her on the shoulder and walks by to attend to his own business.

"Now what's the fifth thing?" I ask.

"Uh…." She just stares at me dumbly. I think her head turned off.

"The fifth thing?" I repeat slower.

"Right! I uh…" She gathers her thoughts again. "The ship is available but currently being supplied properly, and the armory has been informed of your imminent arrival. You have a limited loan, so you can't go crazy and get everything at once."

Dang, and I just know Cupcake will go for the biggest thing available. I would too if I could lift things like him. Of course, I have lightning and lightsabers, so ha! Sucks to be him!

"They expect you within the next twenty-four hours." She concludes.

"Okay…" I nod and think. "So you're my personal secretary?"

"Yes… sir."

"Don't call me 'sir'." I start off with. "Second, take the money loaned to us and figure out how much we should be spending on… various things."

"You mean a budget. That won't be hard… Galen."

"And call me Varus, not Galen. And good. I won't need much for weapons, just a pair of lightsabers and the surgery will be fine for me. The Stooges will need pistols, and Koj will want something for snipers and a pistol and… a nice sword. Whatever's left for weapons just leave for Cupcake. He'll go for the biggest thing his eyes land on."

"Alright."

I whisper. "Also, find a teddy bear."

She hesitates. "A… teddy bear."

"Yeah, but keep it as a surprise. No one is to know."

"Alright…" She says slowly. I think she is nearing the point where she can no longer take it. It's been less than five minutes from beginning to end of this conversation, and as much as we have covered, I'm surprised she hasn't collapsed yet. I'm just going along with it, it takes a lot to surprise me or get me worked up. She is just being bombarded with one surprise after another in various forms.

Five minutes as part of the group and she is already going to be contemplating suicide.

"Anything else?" I ask.

"Uh… sixth thing!" Dang, how many situations can she have in her head? "I've been tasked with teaching you of the Miraluka and eventually integrating you into the Network… When you feel ready." She says almost fearfully.

"When and IF I'm ever ready." I stress. "Which at this rate will be when Koj loses his faith in the Spirit or Squirt takes interest in boys AND I approve of them. Which… isn't going to happen. Anything else?"

She shakes her head. "Good. I'm going to take a nap." I walk by.

"Shall I let you know if anything comes up? Like that surgery?" She asks from behind.

"Let Koj know and he'll decide if it's worth interrupting my nightmares." I turn a corner and smirk as I hear a light groan release from her small body.

I think I should put up a betting pool on how long she is going to last. Surprisingly she has already lasted two sessions of a few minutes each of exposure without cracking. She's tougher than she looks.

Two hours later after restless sleep, remembering that first murder of mine, a cautious hand grips me and the next moment Koj and I are on the ground wrestling with my hand around his throat. He has his throat covered with his own hands, preventing me from choking him, so he isn't in danger, but the position still leaves me very scared and feeling awkward. I stand back up. "Koj?"

Dang it, I'm sweaty and shaking again, and my throat feels dry. I must have been yelling a lot.

"Your surgery has been lined up. It's been four hours." He says as though nothing happened just now.

Four?! "But… I said two hours." I say between deep breathes to calm my racing heart.

"We know, but considering it will be on your neck, even with the fleet council pushing you to the top of the list, the surgery-doctor-"

"Word is: surgeon."

"The surgeon," he corrects himself, "wanted to be sure everything was prepared. Are you prepared?"

I nod and take his hand to help him up. "Oh! Before I forget, make sure the doctor is prepared for lightning to be pulsing off of me as soon as I get in contact with the Force again, even while unconscious."

"I'll make sure he is aware." He says as we walk out. I grab my jacket on the way out.

The others are assembled and ready to leave as well. The stooges all went for a rogueish-pirate look, Cupcake couldn't be bothered buying clothes apparently, and the girls didn't need to at this point. Squirt is upset, holding back tears bravely, and the others are morbidly serious. Except Cupcake. He looks like this is about as serious as eating breakfast.

"Oh, lighten up! This isn't the first time I've had someone in my head!" Or neck. "You guys are going to make me think I'm going to my grave…" Koj smacks me over the back of the head and I growl lightly, but get the point. "Fine… I'm sorry… let's get this over with…"

Ashley shows us to the doctor and I am handed a datapad. It asks for personal information, and I take it back to sit down with the others. Most everyone chose to stay behind, except Koj, Igor, and Squirt. Of course, Ashley as well. So on second thought, most chose to come, but who's counting?

Koj is his normal calm self, Igor is offering unnecessarily loud support that makes me want to tell him to shut up, and Squirt is being unusually quiet. She is quiet to begin with, she gets it from her father, but she is very nervous. She grips her hands together and is avoiding looking at me. I glance from her to Koj, but he shrugs at my unspoken question. There could be a number of reasons why she is upset.

Of course, me going into surgery in general might be a scary proposition. I begin writing my information on the datapad and talk to Squirt in the meantime, "Squirt, listen, I'll be fine, okay? Surgery involves professionals in a clean room with very precise instruments. They have devoted years of their life, day and night, to doing things like this with as much chance of success as possible." She lowers her head away from me. "And let me tell you something, I lived my entire life under Nihilus. Almost every bone in my body has been broken, numerous times, because of him, and he was not even remotely careful. I've been electrocuted, had a dozen Jedi sticking their fat hands in my head and ripping it apart, been thrown around and cut on numerous occasions, almost suffocated on smoke more than few times, and been cut with lightsabers. Once, I had a ten foot butcher sword in my gut." She gasps. "Yet, I'm alive, Squirt. You really think a little butter knife is going to kill me?" I pat her on the head.

Oh great, now she's shaking and tearing up. Ashley glares at me, "You really have no idea how to reassure people, do you?"

"Hey! It makes sense! If a ten-foot butcher knife cleaving into my backbone through my stomach won't kill me, what are the odds of a two-millimeter butter knife being used by someone who WANTS me alive to kill me?"

"That's not the point…" She whispers harshly.

I groan and finish as much information as I can. I whisper back, "Fine, whatever. I tried. And no, 'reassurance' isn't that much my thing." I hand the datapad back to the nurse, and the words reform themselves on the screen into physical braille script he runs his finger over. That's neat.

Unfortunately I couldn't put much information down. I don't have an address, I don't know my allergies, and I am not yet ready to list down my parent's names. I know my father's name, but I am not yet comfortable listing 'Victoria'. And for my name… There are so many options they can take. Do I put down my birth name? The title of a Sith I am known by now? Or the name the Republic had me under? I figured Varus Wynn would do, if they can access my old records. It may be technically inaccurate on some things, but it will do until things are corrected.

"Varus Wynn?" The nurse returns. That was fast.

"Yes?"

"The doctor has been waiting for you. If you will follow me."

"Sure, gimme a second." I stand up and crouch in front of Squirt, who is still avoiding looking at me, and is shaking now. "Squirt, I'll be fine, okay? In a few hours, I'll be out causing all kinds of problems again. So chin up, okay?"

That doesn't seem to work, and I suppress the urge to sigh. Koj says from behind me, "For years, Varus has killed your demons. Now it is time he faces one of his. When he gets back, he will be stronger than ever."

"I wouldn't put it like that…" I mutter. Having this device in my neck isn't a nightmare of mine or anything that haunts me, it is just something that has kept me weak and suppressed. I actually don't really mind, since I got some family in return. But I don't say anything more, as Squirt seems somewhat reassured. Guess my trademark has always been the strength I give against her nightmares.

"Varus?"

"Yeah! I'm coming." I stand up and follow the nurse.

"GO GET 'EM, BOSS!" Igor yells. "KNOCK IT-"

"Will you shut up!" I yell back before the nurse closes the door behind us.

* * *

Ashley felt her eye twitch. For all of Galen's yelling to tell his friend to shut up, he was equally loud.

She had found Galen interesting, perhaps attractive, and it didn't hurt that she was very close to his family either; but then after his little nap he opened his mouth, and… yeah. Forget that. Now she wondered if these people were even sane.

She had originally speculated that Galen had some kind of inner strength that let him endure Nihilus so much longer than Visas and still be capable of jokes, but now it was obvious what he lost was his marbles. And pens. And maybe a bunch of erasers. He wasn't strong, he was broken, in lots of little pieces, each as loud and crazy as the next.

What had she gotten herself into…?

-You're son has a few screw's loose, my lady.- She whispered in her mind. In response the woman on the other end laughed.

-I can't wait to hear all about it.-

"Will Uncy Varus be alright?" The little girl wondered fearfully.

"Varus will be fine." Koj'Ineh repeated, for all the good that did. She still was nervous.

The tough part would come now. The surgery itself wouldn't start for another half-hour, due to final preparations and sending him under, and then the surgery and recovery would be another few hours. If the girl couldn't handle seeing Galen go through the doors already, she wouldn't be able to last the next several hours well.

Ash had seen a lot of things in her time, things she wanted to forget. She remembered sitting in a crowd of Miraluka wondering if her parents were alive, being in hospitals hearing the mourning and chaos as the people were coming to realize just how many of them were already dead or would never recover from the wounds Nihilus gave them. She hated being in hospitals, it felt like she was sitting in an almost… sacred ground. Here the border between life and death was at its thinnest, and something as small as a touch could give enough of a germ to push someone over the edge, or drag her down with them.

It was a respectful fear she developed from being around hospitals so much, and she saw the same signs in the little girl. This wasn't just a little girl fearing the unknown wondering if her uncle will come out with a second head, this was true, understanding, terror.

Wanting to be sure of what she thought she was seeing, Ash stood up and leaned against the wall near Koj. She whispered, "Squirt has seen death, hasn't she?"

Koj glanced at her out of the corner of his eye a moment before returning his wary gaze over the crowd. "Yes. How did you guess?"

"Call it a survivor's intuition."

"…"

"What happened?" Ash pressed gently.

"…" Koj gazed at her, measuring her, before coming to a conclusion and speaking, "When Varus originally met us, he opened my eyes to something. Our people were once highly developed and intelligent, and that we can be once again. I started a research expedition to help us learn from our forgotten ancestors."

"I don't see-"

"I'm getting to it." He interrupted patiently. "But the Hutt Cartel caught wind of it. For hundreds of generations, going as far back as our history can remember, we have been desert 'barbarians' and 'terrorists' struggling to survive with scraps in a home invaded by criminals and gangs. It has been a never ending guerrila war. Skirmishes all over the planet. The Cartel decided to finally stamp us out, completely."

Ash gasped quietly, but did not interrupt. She listened closely. She had never heard of Tatooine, nor could she imagine a life in a desert, but she understood the idea of a war of genocide.

"The Cartel came in droves and numbers never seen before, and in a matter of days accomplished what entire generations could not. They annihilated us down to the last man, woman, and child, sparing few. They claim it was because our children picked up guns to fight back, that they were part of the slaughter, but they refuse to acknowledge that even children have the understanding of survival when pushed back into a corner like we were. I have lived my entire life around death and survival in one form or another, and even I was barely prepared for what I witnessed that day."

His eyes turned on his daughter. "She had no experience to work from. I did not raise her to be a warrior, Outsider. I raised her to follow in my footsteps as a Far Seer. I hoped it would keep her from getting her hands stained like mine, but…" He sighed. "Her nightmares are of the death's she witnessed when she was only two or three. Varus and I almost managed to help her recover, but she saw someone else die in front of her as we were escaping slavery, and it seems to have not only reminded her of everything, but driven that particularly trauma further."

Ash looked to the girl and closed her watery eyes. His words drove home her own childhood. Twenty years ago the Miraluka had suffered the same thing. Whether one was worse or better, there was no contest, no need for comparison. They were both genocide. She realized that the little girl was just like where she was those years ago. It was like looking at herself.

Koj continued, "My crime is terrorism. That was why I was imprisoned and found guilty by the Cartel. What one may call terrorist, another calls rebel, and yet another calls hero. Such terms are little more than propaganda. I don't care if people see me as one, but I see it as cowardice to pin the same crime on a two-year old."

Ash opened her eyes in shock. "She was-?!" Koj nodded and Ash ground her teeth shut.

Her blood boiled within her veins and she felt the need to break something. Those slugs labeled a baby as a terrorist, and it's not like something like that can just be written off! Records are permanent. Even if Squirt finds a new life, that title, that 'crime' will follow her the rest of her life!

She was unaware of Koj's studying gaze on her, and his approval of what he saw. She was too busy seeing red, so to speak. Miraluka don't see color and something as precise as eye-color of the iris and cornea is beyond them.

"Can you see how Varus is doing?" Koj wondered an hour or so later. Ash shook her head. "Why not? The room laced in something your Spirit-sight cannot penetrate?"

"Spirit-sight… You mean Force sight?"

"hmm."

She chuckled. "Despite popular opinion we cannot see through dense material, such as walls or ray shielding."

Koj blinked in surprise as the information conflicted with what he knew. "But Visas-"

"-is an elite Seeker." She explained. "We are all born Force-Users, but comparing a simple citizen to an elite Seeker is like comparing a child with a water gun to a Mandalorian O.D.S.T. Visas has the focus, strength, and skill to be able to see through dense materials. Us simple people don't."

"Then how does a non-Miraluka fly?"

She winced at the thought for some reason and bit her lip apologetically. "I'm… sorry. That's classified."

He raised an eyebrow. "I… see. It is wise to be cautious. You do not need to answer."

"Thank you." She smiled.

Again, the minutes ticked by, and Igor took Squirt away to keep her occupied. In hindsight, he should have offered long ago, but their minds were elsewhere. Varus' surgery and the waiting was wearing down on them. It was all they could do to keep their mind from spiraling in a madness of what-if's and worry.

"I'm curious…" She posed a question. "How did you first meet Galen? I mean no offense, but you don't strike me as the desperate type to purposefully seek out… eccentric men for family."

"It was almost like he was a gift to us, from the Spirit. It was back on Tatooine. The Good Spirit lead me and my tribe to a crashed ship, and we pulled Galen and his team out. We set him up with our medicine man, and… I will admit that the first impression he gave us on waking has proven… accurate."

She laughed. "I can only imagine! Pity, I hadn't been there to see it. But… what made him different? You had to have met other aliens who you could have bonded with. I understand owing him for saving Cahjinawl," He blinked in surprise when she said the name correctly. "But… I don't know. You don't strike me as the shallow, desperate, giving-big-things-to-settle-a-debt type."

Koj didn't say anything for a while, and she left him to his thoughts. She didn't know Galen all that long, only long enough to get past the immediate attraction of having met a legend and realizing he's a loudmouth man with the maturity of a teenager. Koj'Ineh naturally knew the man better than she did. Making Galen either more shallow than she expected or deeper.

Finally, he said, "Because he is the first one I ever met who understood us. I tried to deny it, even said things with hurtful tones, but eventually I came to see it. He is alien to me. His character conflicts with mine more than he realizes. But he is more brother and kin than some of my own people. He understands people who have been pushed to the edge of their morality."

He turned to her with an insulted expression, "And I do settle my debts…"

"Heh… sure." She smirked, purposefully leaving his mind racing in confusion. Never let it be denied she picked up some of Visas's old quirks as a sibling should.

* * *

Meanwhile, somewhere in the galaxy…

"BUGSH! BUGSH!" The recording said in Rizzo's voice. The recording went on to have the rest of what the device heard up until the point the recorder on the other end was crushed.

The planet was dark with a never ending sandstorm blowing lightly. It did not obscure their vision, but the sand blew across their feet and dirtied them. In the immediate vicinity around the device, listening, was three people. The first sat on a rock with a knee up to his chest he leaned against. His red eyes stood out in the darkness, and his young, thin frame made him look like a spider. He swung his other leg around impatiently while he listened. The second figure was a male of similar stature, but lacking red eyes and was filled out a bit more. His most peculiar feature was the crisp uniform that was unfortunately being ruined by the gentle winds. He kept his hands behind his back and listened intently. The third figure was much larger and was female. She looked ancient while the other two were youthful. She had red clothes with shoulder pads that extended out for miles and red ribbons coming off of her back that flowed in direct contrast to the winds. Her skin was a sickly grey, yet was tattooed in white or black paint in reminisce of a skeleton across her entire body. Her green eyes stood out, not for being green, but for how they shined with sick power much as the Sith's red eyes shined of hateful power.

As soon as the recording was over, the Sith grabbed out and smashed it with the air. The second figure sighed wistfully, "I do wish you wouldn't do that..."

"This was a waste of time!" He ignored the second one. His anger came off him in electric waves down his skin. "We'll never find 'him' this way! This changes nothing!"

"It changes everything." The second one corrected.

"Oh? How so?"

"Because the prodigal son has returned." The woman said. Her voice was otherworldly, almost an echo through multiple dimensions. "There is a new player on the field, but whether he is a foe or ally is yet to be seen."

"Well, good luck finding out. They're going to be extra cautious now. It complicates things." The second one reminisced.

"Oh, my dear Leland, you must think outside your little box. This gives us a distinct advantage." She cackled. The Sith smirked, the wish for violence and blood clear in his eyes.

"I'm listening."

"Now now!" She wagged a finger at him. "Let's not rush things. It is only fair the prodigal son be given this day, after all, he has to have been dreaming of this for so long."

"I doubt it." the Sith said.

"Perhaps, perhaps not, but you owe it to the Miraluka to have this day. Let's let them have it. I'm sure there are other things we can do in the meantime."


	14. Interlude - An Old Obsession

**Note: I came up with this idea in my exploration of the relationship between Nihilus and Starkiller. While almost every moment of their mutual life is filled with pain, hatred, anger, power, and training, I realized that not EVERY moment of their life revolved around those things. Starkiller was a growing boy. He needed explanations of life and training in things beyond power. He needed to understand the human body, some psychology, and other things we take for granted in order to live and exist as people. Naturally Nihilus was not ABOUT to explain girls properly, hence one of Starkiller's biggest weak social points.**

**But there are moments.**

* * *

**Interlude - Cutting his hair  
**

* * *

Nihilus was no stranger to weaknesses of the flesh. He had many of them in his mortal life, and now had gone beyond them to something greater; but when he looked at Galen Marek, a six year-old, dripping in sweat, with a long mane of hair on his head, and blood coming from his lips from split lips, the ascended Sith Lord was reminded of an age old weakness: obsession.

"Clean yourself." He commanded.

Galen, being only a few months into his service at this point, was startled and jumped up from where he was exercising. The boy looked at him with raw hatred and loathing, but hid it well behind his fear. "W-what? M-m-m-my M-Master?"

"Clean yourself." Nihilus repeated. The boy straightened himself into perfect posture, for an exhausted child, and bowed with a respectful, but slightly haughty, 'yes, sir'. Seeing that to be the end of it, Nihilus went on his way.

Nihilus checked on other assets to his personal 'army'. Although 'army' was hardly the right term for it. He had a number of fallen Jedi and Force-Users under his control which he employed, the strongest, secret, and most ambitious of which was Galen. Visas Marr's report on a group of Jedi hiding on a nearby planet earned his approval. Her fear of him worked in his favor thus far, but soon he speculated she would become truly unruly once she became a teenager. A part of him calculated that she would turn on him at some point in the coming years, and so he made quick plans on how to deal with it. She could not kill him. Oh, she could try, but even pretending to die would get his enemies off his back, so her vengeance might very well prove in his favor one day.

Other assets failed to report in, and Nihilus sent agents to hunt them down. All the while from his throne room at the bridge of his personal flagship, the Ravager.

The Ravager, as a ship, was unusual. It was the first of his experiments in understanding the fusion of life and death, and it had ultimately failed in his opinion, but that didn't shake the knowledge that the ship was forever transformed into… something else. It wasn't alive. It wasn't dead. It wasn't even a fusion of the Force into a metallic embodiment as the experiment intended, and as he studied based on holocron design.

One of the unusual aspects of the ship was its 'tone' it portrayed from time to time. So when the ship felt 'amused', Nihilus's curiosity was peaked. He followed the ship's feelings to the source and… screeched to a halt.

Galen was even worse off than he was before. He had bathed and cleaned up the blood from his lip, but his hair was… was… it was an abomination. His hair was haphazardly cut and frayed in multiple layers all across his neckline, shoulder, ear, and back.

Nihilus was not a being of emotion, but that didn't take away the ghost, the very memory, of emotion. Right then he felt the panic attack coming on. "Galen." He said, "Have you ever cut your own hair?"

Galen dropped to a knee in subservience. "No, my master. It… it was always… M-m-mother." He couldn't say her without choking on emotion.

Nihilus internally raged, of course. This child was not yet self-sufficent in even the smallest of ways! The hair taunted the Sith with its frayed edges and eye-sore layers and... he was not going to live with this for an instant longer! Nihilus reached out with the Force and brought a crate over. He pointed. "Sit."

Galen looked up in fearful curiosity, and hesitated. Nihilus lashed out and touched his shoulder with a shadow. The brief contact ripped into his apprentices flesh and soul, sending him into agony. Galen fell. "Sit." Nihilus repeated, and this time, Galen did not hesitate. Galen crawled up onto the crate and sat his small butt on the edge.

"Stay." Nihilus commanded before departing. He returned soon after with a pair of knives.

Galen sat up perfectly straight in fear as his master walked up behind him. Sweat appeared on his brow as he wondered what he was going to do. He couldn't see the monster, so he couldn't… The metal came periously close to his head and swiped. Galen flinched, but Nihilus grabbed him by the shoulder with a gloved hand. The cloth preventing physical contact this time. "Stay. Don't move."

"Yes… M-m-master." He stuttered and straightened as much as possible. Chills went down the boy's spine with each feeling of cold metal on his head or neck. The pair of knives glided through the air together and… snipped his hair.

"M-master? Wh-wh-what are you d-doing?"

"Cutting your hair."

The fear Galen felt dissipated slightly with the knowledge of what Nihilus was doing. He forced himself to breathe despite the blades nipping his ears, but there was no blood and Nihilus did not nick him. He controlled the knives with the force as an improvised pair of scissors expertly. After a few minutes of silent cutting, Galen felt himself relax. The minutes ticked by in a moment of companianiable silence. No training, no lecture, no torture, no hatred, no memories, no guilt, no past, and no future. Just silence and manicuring.

"I'm done." Nihilus announced and cleaned the blades on Galen's robe. Galen glanced down at all the hair on the ground and turned his gaze to a mirror. The Sith Lord wasn't half bad.

Nihilus flowed out of the room, but stopped at the door. "If you ever tell anyone about this, I'll make you regret it."

Galen's fear returned and he nodded rapidly.

Nihilus would cut his hair every month to keep it from going out of control within his obsession. Fifteen years later, when Varus was a slave, yet free of the Sith, he would take a pair of knives, and still cut his hair the same way Nihilus had. A small part of him regretted it, because whether it be warm or sad, these moments would prove the be the only fatherly ones they would have as Sith Lord and Apprentice.


	15. Ep03 - Rise of the Ravager Part 1

**Note: This is going to be a super-long episode. I originally wanted to make one super-epic-freakishly-long episode to cover up to this point, but I had to split it up into multiple episodes and multiple parts to cover things properly. Now we get to the end of the beginning Arc and things start to truly gear into running into the storyline. The primary storyline won't actually begin until the next few episodes, but here we finish the "beginning" period.**

**This will be split into several chapters to cover the action properly.**

**Hands? HANDS!**

**Feet? FEET!**

**Butts? Right here!**

**OKAY! Hold on to your butts! This is going to be a bumpy ride!**

**Also, don't feel afraid to review and tell me your thoughts, guys. I enjoy hearing what people think, what ideas they have, what they want me to do in the future, and generally improving. I write for my enjoyment, but also for other people to enjoy as well. So if its bad, let me know so I can improve. If its good, let me know what you liked. I love hearing back from people. :)**

* * *

**Episode 3 - Rise of the Ravager Part 1/?**

* * *

**Summary:**

**Five years have passed. Varus was a slave for the Hutt Cartel with Koj'Ineh and his daughter, Crahjinawl'Ineh, and had a small group of friends and rivals at this side. Visas, as part of the Miraluka Nomadic Fleet, rescued them, freed them, returned them to the Fleet. **

**A deal has been offered to them to be exclusive mercs to pay back what they owe, and Varus has found the true reason they went so far to get him. The Mistress, hierarchy steward of the Miraluka, is Victoria Marek, his mother.**

**But the face of the galaxy has changed. What was once the Republic versus the Confederacy has become the Mandalorian Clans, United Systems Alliance, and New Republic versus the Hutt Cartel, Dominion, and Old Republic, and somehow Varus has landed smack dab in the middle as all six want him dead. Varus was witnessed to have been involved in a terrorist raid against the Duchess Satine, tried to assassinate Count Dookue, and has killed several isolated sects of Force-Users, yet Varus has been enslaved all this time. What's going on?**

**Regardless, Varus has landed a ten billion credit bounty and was chased by the Dominion. After agreeing to a Merc contract he underwent surgery to regain his Force powers.**

* * *

Admiral Rebhorn observed the water-projection as the computer generation 'statues' of ships moved. Two fleets, one ahead and one behind, and then two ships slowly moved out of the first fleet and drifted backwards. They were slowing down by the millionth of a unit, but going at Warp speed, that was perhaps too fast of a descelleratent. "Pull forwards slightly." He ordered.

Immediately the two ships drifting back out of the fleet sped up slightly, letting them drift back slower. The Dominion did not do anything about it. "Pull back." The ships descellerated faster. Within seconds they were just in front of the Dominion.

According to calculations the ships needs to be at a certain distance ahead, and were just a bit higher than that. Which was fine, it was more a minimum anyway. Rebhorn alerted for them to act, and moments later the two ships exploded. They were unmanned, but were filled with valuable resources to increase the blast.

The effect was immediate. Ships going at Warp cannot hit certain things without being torn apart in the collision, and exploding ships was one of them. A huge portion of the Dominion did not make it and exploded of their own accord or were torn apart.

Out of the enemy fleet, the dreadnaught was still intact. The rest either didn't make it or was negligable. Rebhorn cursed his luck. The dreadnaught was the key to all of this. They couldn't handle even of them, and it was still giving chase.

"How long until we reach the Clans border?"

"Twenty-three hours, admiral!"

Plenty of time. He had other options.

Rebhorn ran over options in his mind.

Crossing the border into the Mandalorian Clans was optional, albeit risky. After the stunt Varus pulled on the Duchess, and one that made him still wonder why the hell they were going out of their way for this brat, Mandalore wanted the man dead or alive. They could send Varus off on his own way with a portion of the fleet and have the Fleet Mother seek solitude with the Clans, but whether or not they would be accepted would be entirely up to Mandalore's mood and, by extension, the Duchess's mood. Mandalore wasn't a warmongerer like his predecessors, but he was very good at making his stance very clear on matters. The risk exceeded the gain.

They could turn around and fight, but they were just short of defenseless. the only damage the Nomadic Fleet could hope to do is precise suicide runs, or send a score of Keepers to infilitrate and sabatage the dreadnaught. Unfrtunately the Keepers were their only real line of defense, and that didn't warrant their use in an offensive manner. While the Keepers are off fighting, the Dominion would board the Fleet Mother and kill the Miraluka by the thousands, if not take the ship entirely. Stupidly risky idea.

The plan to exit Warp and split up in random locations before meeting up at a rendezvous point still sounded like the best option, but there was that time-gap to deal with where the Dominion would emit an anti-warp field. It was something dreadnaughts were notorious for, beyond their size.

But at the same time the range of the guns is limited... and can be blocked by objects. Like planets and moons and asteroids. They could buy time to sabotage the dreadnaught, and stay ahead of landing craft, by circling nearby planets and hiding behind moons. If they can shut off the anti-warp field or stop the dreadnaught entirely, they could make a clean escape.

The risk was how long it would take and how long they would be exposed to fire, and whether or not the Clans would send a fleet themselves with them being so close to the border... and the Keepers would be needed to defend the fleet.

Then there was Galen. The man had a reputation, and definitely earned. Just from what Rebhorn knew, Galen had killed dozens of Jedi Masters, thousands of soldiers, a space station, and that was just years ago. More recently he tried to kill Count Dooku, killed five Jedi Sects across the New Republic and United Systems Alliance, kidnapped the Clan Duchess while threatening to blow them up, and threatened the Old Republic. Rebhorn wasn't sure why Jabba the Hutt was joining the hunt for Galen, but knowing him, he insulted the slug at some point or the slug was after his substantial bounty. The man was worth ten billion credits, making his bounty the only one smaller than Nihilus with fifty-billion. You could buy an entire fleet for that.

They could sell Galen for the ten billion, but Rebhorn shivered at the thought of how furious his mother would be.

But still, how much of it was just reputation and how much of it was true? Because if it was true, then Galen's first mission to stop the Dreadnaught would be their best option. The only risk was one life. If Galen died, then all of their sacrifices would be for nothing. But if they lost the entire fleet to save him, Rebhorn would never be able to forgive the man. The risk was there and in balance. They had everything to lose and everything to gain. But this was the best calculated risk he could think of. It depended on the simple fact of whether or not Galen's reputation was true.

And if it was true, could he be trusted after everything he's done?

Rebhorn groaned into his hand. His head hurt from thinking.

Was it worth the risk to trust him?

This one time, yes, but he would have to watch the man closely and have pieces in position to move incase Galen showed himself to be as untrustworthy as he seemed. Visas and Ashley were already working their way in. Rebhorn would need to find a competent nurse to replace Ashley in Mrs. Marek's care, but that would be a simple order for his assistant to cover. Or Ashley would just find a replacement for herself.

Between Visas and Ashley, two pieces were in position, but he would need a lot more. More precautions would be needed for Galen, and his friends only made it worse. An ex-terrorist... mass murderer... hackers and smugglers... They were a dangerous bunch. The risk was already made in their rescue, but whether or not they could be trusted was another risk entirely.

He needed more data. This first mission would do nicely to test them.

* * *

I look up in the dark room and wonder what time it is. It feels like nighttime, but then again, we're in space. Why are the lights off?

Miraluka don't need light, right. That is mildly irritating.

I notice a faint stirring in a chair next to me and HOLY CRAP MY NECK HURTS! I suck in breathe painfully. Feels like I have whiplash, a stiff neck, and a knife all the way through to my bone all at the same time.

"You are awake." Koj says.

"No... I never noticed!" I bark. I groan painfully and ask, "How'd it go?"

"The surgeon says it was a complete success. You suffered a bit muscle damage and need to be taking it 'easy' for a while. Seems when you gained your power back, he had his tool in you and you mildly shocked him, causing him to flinch and nearly sever a neck muscle."

"I warned him that might happen."

"No number of warnings can keep people from being surprised when they're shocked, Varus."

Don't I know it? Lightning and fire are very reflexive powers to deal with. When your exposed to fire, you instinctively jump back. When your hit by electricity, your body straightens like a board. The fact that he didn't cut my neck muscles to begin with is a testament to the fact that he was prepared for something to happen.

The door opens and a person walks in. It's a man with a cloth over his eyes like a stereotypical Miraluka and his hands gliding over a braille datapad. "Hello, Varus. How are you feeling?"

"Like crap. How long until I can leave?"

"A few days."

I stare at him in disbelief without moving my head. "Days? We don't HAVE days! We're going to be either attacked or called to action soon."

"I'm sure it will be shortened. You were not supposed to have awoken for a long while, but your recovery is... unnatural as it is. You're mediclorian count is off the charts."

"And?" What does that have to do with anything?

"People with high levels of mediclorians heal unnaturally fast." He said simply. "Force-Users heal faster than they would otherwise, but even a Miraluka would take days to recover from a neck surgery. The device we removed was attached to a second device attached to your spinal cord. We had to remove them both."

That's a step further than I planned, but thanks. "So based on my own recovery rate, what are we talking?"

He blew air out of his mouth in a weird way of thinking, before scrunching his face and saying, "It would still take days, I'm sorry."

"I'm afraid we do not have days." Another voice said. I don't see them, but I can feel them. The one who speaks was deeply male, but the person with him feels familiar. It's a female, quiet, focused, alert, and with a touch of Nihilus. Visas.

But the voice I at least recognize, even if I don't see him. "Well if it isn't Ribs." I greet snarkily. "Come to rub in the fact that I can't look you in the eye from here?"

"Outside of your need to overcompensate your lack of subtlety and wanton rudeness," Did he just insult me? "There are pressing matters to be discussed."

"Oh?"

The man takes up a seat behind where I'm facing, but I can see from Koj's empty facial expression that he is watching them closely.

Visas, I don't mind. She annoys me, but it doesn't have dark undertones. Feels a bit like old times, outside of the clear effect Nihilus has had on our Force signatures. Her annoyance is purposeful and good natured.

This man is a bit snuffy, though.

"You're reputation as a Sith is staggering, Starkiller."

"Varus Wynn." Visas corrects him before I do. Point for her standing up for me.

"Apologies, Varus." He fixes it. "But the question that ultimately must be answered is whether or not you can meet the your inflated reputation. Can you?"

"Which part?" I ask heatedly. This guy is trying to tick me off. I don't have a political-law mind, and I don't have that big of a vocabulary, but something about his phrasing is ticking me off. "The part where I butchered forty Jedi-Masters, left a steady stream of bodies by the thousands, sent Republic and Confederate assault cruisers and dreadnaughts crashing down or colliding into each other or just simply exploding? How about the part where I was the secret apprentice assassin to Darth Nihilus?" A glass of water next to him implodes and water explodes. Electricity ripples on my skin, moves along the wires and pipes sticking out of me up to the machines. The machines emit a high pitch squeal before frying and exploding in smoke.

I manage to turn enough to see them. The room is dark due to no lights, but the lightning on my skin is enough to light up the room. Visas smirks and Ribs is mildly afraid. I can't see why. It's not like there's a ticked off former-Sith who can crush his skull like a tin can or electrocute everyone in the room, and all with his mind despite being in a hospital bed being pumped full of drugs.

Oh wait…

Visas wears a cheeky smile. "How about now?"

"I'm convinced." He concedes. "Varus-"

"Not another word." Koj finally says. "If you want to speak to us, it goes through the Marr sisters."

The man shuts his mouth and immediately grits it. My lips curl into a cheeky smile like Visas'. We could be identical twins right now. "What he said." I agree.

He has all the flair of a man of pride who has been slapped, but he takes it well. He nods. "Seeker Marr, I will be in touch."

"I'm sure." She returns.

He leaves, with his head high. As soon as the door shuts Koj says, "I don't like him." Yeah, I couldn't agree more. The man rubs me wrong.

"The amusement aside, he is one of the last people you two want to tick off." Visas warns us. "He is the second most powerful figure in the Miraluka, second only to the Keeper, and at the rate he is going, the Keeper will be dethroned."

Meaning me. "He's targeting me?" I ask. "I realize I have this thing for bad first-impressions, but-"

"No, no." She shakes her head. "He is the voice-piece of a growing group that think we no longer need a Keeper, that we are holding ourselves back to ancient history and need to move on."

"Wise." Koj says with grudging respect.

"He isn't out to kill you, Varus. Nor does he have an agenda on your mother. If anything, your mother and him respect each other. They have a respectful rivalry, but they also exist on very clear principles and beliefs. It's a political struggle between them over the future development of our reigning government."

"Struggles like that tend to cause bloodshed."

"No." She denies. "He may be gathering support to dethrone the Keeper line, but he truly wants what is best for the people. Victoria is too pacifist to spark a civil war if it came to that, and he goes out of his way to make sure she gets what she needs to live… I think they had an old passion, personally, but that's between them. But… my point is, don't make him feel threatened. He isn't going to lash out over an insult, but if he does not believe you are good for the Miraluka, he will remove you from us…" She hesitates and blushes slightly. "and I don't want that."

"Thanks." I smile. "But it's alright, Visas. I appreciate being relieved of slavery, and I want to pay you all back, but it won't be the end of the world for any of us if I have to walk away to keep from making trouble for… her." I can't say, mother. I just can't. "But where do you stand?"

"On?"

"The Keeper versus barbecue ribs issue. I realize 'our' situation hasn't been discussed." We were arranged for marriage as children. Too awkward to discuss, but still leaves me wondering where she stands. I have no intent to hold her to it, heck, I don't WANT to hold her to it, but if the memory leaves her feeling chained and resentful, that would be something else to weigh on my mind.

She snorts in amusement. "Sometimes, Varus…" She covers her mouth to hide the smile. Why does she do that? Afraid anyone is going to see she has emotion? "I'm a Seeker, Varus. I may have been your betrothed as a child-" Koj coughs in shock. "But that has no play in it. Your mother took care of my sister in my absence. Your father was a kind man, mistakes and all, and you somehow have endured exposure to Nihilus many times worse than me and walked away with your sanity intact." Really? She calls this sane? "I'm by your side, Varus. You're my Keeper."

"Thanks…" I smile. Feels nice having someone who knows the Miraluka-battleground having my back. With her, I won't have to tread as lightly. Not that I can tread lightly anyway. Things tend to explode when I'm around.

"Still…" The doctor spoke up. He has been standing to the side scared the entire time and worked up the nerve to speak again. "I cannot, in good conscious, release my patient until he is ready."

Visas turned on him, albeit patiently. "The council has a mission for Varus that will keep us all from dying and being destroyed."

"And he will lose all feeling below the neck, in the process. If he so much as trips he will sever his spine at the head, and lose the ability to expand his lungs or beat his heart!"

My eyes expand comically. I had never thought of that. "That doesn't sound good." I comment.

"What kind of mission are we talking about?" Koj asks.

I don't like his tone. He is too curious. He has something in mind.

Visas explains, "We are still in Warp and are running out of time, but we will stay in Warp as long as we can. There are infiltrator ships that, with the right touch, in theory, will allow you to stay in the same Warp lane when you leave the Fleet Mother. While in the same Lane, the mission is to fly into the enemy Dreadnaught and do one of two things. Either sabotage the shields so they are torn apart by the Warp winds, or stop their Warp drive. Destroying the shields also leaves risk of us dying before we can get off, while just disabling Warp leaves us the opportunity of escape and reuniting with the rest of the fleet."

"I prefer the second option." I add.

"If we use timed explosives, the first one will be more viable." Koj argues.

"Right, and droids aren't smart enough to see explosives and go 'hey… maybe we should remove this'?"

He shrugs. "There are explosives that are difficult to detect. If you recall, I am a Ghorfa."

"Yeah? And?"

"We did a fair share of sabotage on Cartel bases, Varus. I'm considered a terrorist remember?" He turns to Visas. "I'll do it."

"What?!" I blurt out. I struggle to lift myself, but the movement forces all the weight of my skull onto my neck, and I feel something snap. I collapse down again. Koj pats my shoulder while the doctor visibly pales in fright and anger, probably towards me. I just never learn.

"You sure you can manage? I will be joining you, but we were hoping Varus would do it." Visas asks him.

"I may not have Varus' gift of explosives, but he also lacks my ability for subtlety. I will be fine, so long as I get to lead the squad and pick its members."

She squeezes her lips together in a tight line, but nods. Koj pats me on the shoulder again, tells the doctor to take care of me, and walks out while I protest the whole time. I have never had nightmares like this before, where I lay in a bed useless while family goes to fight a battle that only I can do, but seeing it happen in front of my eyes is more horrifying and real than any nightmare I've had in a while.

"Visas!" I yell. She stops at the door. "If Koj dies…"

"He won't." She assures me and closes the door gently.

* * *

Koj analyzes the situation in his head while he walks back to the ship.

Varus is in bed. Varus may have the power to do things like this solo, but he needs to recover properly first. He will be fine in a few days.

Cahjinawl is a child and shouldn't be coming, so he needs someone he can trust to keep an eye on her while he's gone. Ashley Marr will make a good choice. She claimed to be 'less skilled' with the Spirit than her older sister, and… she struck him as someone he could trust. He had good instincts with people, and after learning a bit about her, he couldn't see her hurting his daughter. Also it would be good for Cahjinawl to have a mother figure of some kind since the real mother was dead. Whether or not he could trust Ashley for an extended period of time, he couldn't say. That's a question he would leave for another time.

Which left Visas, George, or Cracus as he preferred but was never actually called, and the Three Stooges.

Visas was a wild card. He couldn't say how strong she was, what her skill set was, or how trust worthy she was. She has clear loyalty toward Varus, but trust and loyalty are two separate things. You can be loyal but still not respect authority properly in practice. Still, there was a clear mission, and he could trust her to manage that much for the time being.

Cracus/George/Cupcake was less of a wild card and more of a monster. His desire to brawl and fight was one Koj could rely on in this instance, and Cracus didn't truly hate Varus. Dislike, sure, want to dethrone him as alpha, definitely, but not actually hate. If anything it was a kind of respected rivalry. Cracus' desire to defeat Varus was one born out of respect for Varus' strength. His need to beat Varus to death on a regular basis was just Varus getting on his nerves, and, if Koj was truly honest with himself, who didn't want to beat Varus?

Cracus would do well against the Confederacy. He would have to be the distraction, the rampaging bull that would otherwise be Varus. Between Cupcake and Varus, Koj wasn't sure who was louder and more capable of distractions.

The Three Stooges were the most predictable. They were fanatically loyal to Varus, and would jump on this mission without a second thought, even though they would spend half of it peeing themselves. The problem would be their skillsets. They had no ability to fight, and Koj couldn't trust them not to run at the first sign of danger. They reminded him of rabbits. The three were capable pilots and Rizzo was a hacker with the best of them.

While Koj, himself, was many things. He understood stealth, could fight with swords, sniper rifles, blasters, explosives, grenades, and many other forms of weaponry, and he was skilled at hand-to-hand combat if he had to. He may not have the power of Varus, but he would do fine.

"That's the ship there." Visas pointed to a sleek black vessel that reminded him of a bird of prey. He nodded and they split up.

Koj entered the ship they were residing in, and saw the others lounging around doing their own thing, mostly having visible hope for Cahjinawl's sake. "Put on your war point." Koj announced.

* * *

"I don't like this." Kota stated.

His Padawan grunted in acknowledgement, but otherwise said nothing. He didn't have to, Kota could read him like a book. Falon may be the first one to volunteer to go after Varus, but he didn't like it just as much as his master. Deny it all he wanted, there was still a connection between them, which made him all the more hurt and angry.

They sat in their personal meditation chamber of the Odo Scythe, a newly designed dreadnaught, the first of its kind. Kota was given a small escort fleet with the dreadnaught, a supply carrier, a assortment of flyers and assault ships, but in the end his attention was on his Padawan. Falon had always been focused, but now it was too focused. The boy was becoming close minded.

Kota sighed, "Calm yourself, Falon. You're coiled as much as a snake."

"I'm fine." The teenager responded.

"No… you're not. I realize Varus hurt you, but-"

"Stop talking to me like you know everything!" Falon yelled. If he still had his eyes, they would be angry. Instead his expressions came from his balled up hands and clenched jaw. "I know what happened! I was there! It was him!"

"Yes, it was." Kota admitted. Three witnesses was nothing to scoff at nor rebuke. Izthark was a prideful man of honor, and Rex was honest to a fault. "But think, Falon… does this sound like the Varus we know? Varus laughed, he cried, he helped people as best he could, he threw himself in to save his team, and in the end, he willingly went to prison for crimes he only just remembered."

Falon turned away from him, and lowered his head. "Then what do you think happened?"

The door opened and a Mandalorian trooper stood at attention just in the door. Kota waved for him to hold a minute. "I think… we should talk to Varus rather than take rash decisions."

The teenager scoffed. "What person would willingly admit to such things?"

"He would." Kota answered. "He revealed himself to you and your team. He strikes me as an honest person, even now. If he is the Varus we know, or if he has reverted back to what he was, we will know when we see him. Just don't lose faith, Falon. There is too much we don't know. Why is he doing this? Has he reverted back? Is he being forced against his will?"

"Is he an evil twin with an twisted mustache?" Falon supplied with a smirk.

Kota laughed. "Yes, yes. Does he has a mind-controlling evil mustache? You never know Falon. He may have a reason. But he also may not. Just be prepared for either possibility. We will capture him. Do what you have to do, just… don't lose faith."

Falon quieted himself. Kota figured he wouldn't respond. The Mandalorians were growing on the teenager. He was gaining their sense of pride, and being a teenager wasn't helping. He may have an inflated ego and pride, but he wasn't stupid, and he did revere his master like a father figure. Even if he doesn't say anything, Kota knew he was spinning the words in his head, considering them.

"Yes?" Kota asked of the Mandalorian.

"We are nearing the neutral zone, sir. Captain wants you on the bridge."

"We will be right up." Kota stood to his feet and Falon followed. Falon already had his white armor on and grabbed his helmet. "You just need a cape." Kota smirked, then frowned when Falon seemed to approve. "Oh, no. No, you don't!" Falon walked out anyway. "Falon! No cape!... Brat…"

Kota stormed out in an effort to catch up, but Falon was persistently annoying and kept ahead of him all the way to the bridge. Kota entered in, walked right by the Captain, and tapped Falon on the forehead repeatedly in timing with his words: "Absolutely. No. Capes."

"Are you ready, gentlemen?" Izthark wondered with barely contained amusement. "Want to continue discussing your wardrobe?"

"No, it's fine." Kota responded after giving his smiling Padawan a glare. It was the smile. Falon was going to ignore him and do whatever he wanted anyway. Teenagers… Kota was getting far too old for this crap.

"Excellent." The one-eyed Mandalorian laughed. He punched Falon in the shoulder and motioned to the screen. "We will be entering the Neutral Zone shortly."

* * *

_**Review please. I want to know how I'm doing! Every review makes my day. :) **_


	16. Ep03 - Rise of the Ravager Part 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, so no sue!**

**Remember to Review. I want to know what you think and how the chapter is to you. Is it good? Is it bad? Anything I need to know? Any ideas or things you want to see in the future?**

* * *

**Episode 3 - Rise of the Ravager Part 2/?**

* * *

Koj recorked his rifle. The laser clips was a new technology he was not familiar with. It had a much stronger kick than regular sniper rifles, but had heating problems. To make up for it, it was an irregular laser rifle in having clips. The clips collected the heat, and popped out to prevent overheating. Once the clips fell, they would expunge the collected heat. Koj tested it on the ray hanger shielding. Five rapid shots or twelve slow ones per clip. The clips took five minutes to lose all of their heat, during which the rifle took only one shot to overheat and jam for a total of fifteen minutes.

Koj jammed the rifle on purpose and slammed a clip in to test a theory. The clip did not fix the jamming issue, but it take collect heat anyway. The rifle unjammed after what felt like… twelve minutes. So sticking another clip in after the initial jamming did help, eventually.

"Are we ready yet?" He asked. The microphone device in his ear was uncomfortable and an oddity. If his people had access to such technology, or guns, they wouldn't have been slaughtered like they were.

Koj pictured the face of the murderers at the end of the scope and fired. The brightness of the Warp tunnel outside the ship was illuminating and beautiful to watch. He wondered if an ocean was like that. He had never seen an ocean before. It was a dream he had, his people had.

He promised his dead people he would find the oceans. It was the same promise he made every morning and every night, it was his dream now. It was customary in this Outsider-infested galaxy to build monuments and memorials. The Ghorfa would have their memorial by an ocean surrounded by trees and green grass.

But that was a dream to be achieved another day. For now, he needed to help Varus. He needed to help Varus' people. He needed to repay his debt to the Miraluka for pulling him out of slavery and Cahjinawl as well.

He also had a debt to repay to Ashely Marr, but he couldn't think of what she did or what he would do to equal it. The Outsiders were very… odd. So many phrases and concepts he had never heard of before. It was… overwhelming.

Koj fired again and aimed for a small nail imbedded in the wall. The shot landed just beside it, and it wouldn't be due to wind. Something was off, but he would have to calculate it slightly to the right off center. He aimed for a closer point, namely the floor, and checked again. The drift was significantly smaller. He would have to take distance into account with the shot-drift.

"Visas, here. We are green-lighted to go."

Koj frowned behind the mask. "What does green light portray?" Green was an odd color. Outsiders had a thing for green it seemed. The only thing green meant to Koj was the fungus back home they grew as water sponges, or their skin, neither of which emitted light naturally. If his green skin started glowing, wasn't that a bad sign?

"We're ready."

"Oh…" He muttered quietly. That's what the phrase means. He hopped down and entered the ship.

The plan was relatively simple. Igor, Rizzo, and the third one, whose name Koj couldn't recall immediately, would fly the ship into Warp while inside the Fleet Mother. If they did it at the correct angle from the correct position, they would go into the Warp tunnel without being torn apart or colliding with the inside of the hanger. Moving through the tunnel into the dreadnaught was nothing compared to that.

Everything would go downhill from there.

Everyone was in position. Cupcake sat by the door with a pair of massive Gatling guns. He spent practically every dime they had on those things. They were easily as large and wide as couches, but he was able to lift them one-handed.

Koj set his sniper-rifle clips on the ground to lose heat while he unsheathed and re-sheathed his blade. The blade was called a… 'katana'. It was sharp and worked well for his intent, but lacked the double-edge he expected. But it would do nicely. He was used to having his sword on his back, but the weapons-keeper informed him it went on his hip. Koj strapped it around his hip, but frowned when it made him unbalanced. This would be awkward to carry.

The Three Stooges were in the cockpit with Visas Marr working out how they were going to get into Warp.

Koj held his rifle in his hands and fell to one knee to pray to the Spirit.

"Nervous?" Cracus jested.

"No."

"This another Ghorfa thing?"

The ship hummed into action and lifted. Koj and Cracus both braced themselves.

"No. This is a warrior-priest 'thing'."

"Oh… I see. Like them Trandoshens." Cracus smacked his lips in distaste. "Some nice ones, but never the priests. Not sure what to make a religion where you earn eternal life by killing and skinning people tougher than you by the dozens. That's just a waste. When you already prove yourself greater, why go the extra mile? Just leave 'em and hope they return to test you again."

A sudden movement and cheering from the cockpit alerted them to the fact that something went right. The ship shook furiously. They were in Warp.

"This is not like that." Koj finished praying and felt the Spirit's hand on his shoulders. It was comforting.

Koj felt it odd for the huge lizard to be talkative. Cracus was into stories of grand battles, but rarely about other things. Perhaps it was his way of dealing with the waiting. Koj didn't mind, many of his own people were the same way. They talked to their animal-brothers more than they did each other at times.

"What you do to get eternal life then? Sacrifice goats?" Cracus wondered.

Koj frowned. Eternal life was a concept he was new to. It sounded like pure fantasy. Back home, living one day to the next was everything. If you survived to hit fifty, you were practically ancient and was seen as someone who had lived practically forever. Anyone who hit sixty went mad from simply living too long. Although that might be "living too long THERE" to be more specific, in hindsight.

But eternal life? Living more than sixty years, more than sixty years sixty times? The concept of eternity itself was something Koj had never heard of. Infinite, universal scope, everything, nothing, eternity, alpha and omega, beginning and end, these concepts were something he had never comprehended. Oh, sure he understood the concept of nothing in the sense of death and not having things, but nothing as in… an absence of everything.

"I… don't know." Koj answered honestly.

Cracus frowned. "Your religion makes no promise of eternal life?" Koj shook his head. Cracus made some kind of expression he couldn't place. "Alrighty, then. It's your Spirit, Ghorfa."

Distant explosions erupted, but the door stayed shut. They were still in Warp. After a minute or two, what felt like hours, Visas joined them at the door with her light saber at the ready. The shaking abruptly ended and was replaced with the distant sound of sirens and a softer hum of a large ship. A sudden jolt before complete calmness told Koj they landed.

"Trust me… the concept of living eternally in a galaxy like this doesn't sound pleasant…" Koj said tensely. He felt his adrenaline start to kick in and judging from the slight reddening of the lizard's skin, he was feeling the same way.

Visas flicked on her light saber and smirked. "So, who wants to do the honors?"

"Allow me." Cracus laughed gleefully. She stepped aside from the door, to which he graciously nodded. His eyes increasingly reddened and smoke came off his skin. He may have nodded graciously, but he didn't look gracious. He looked ready to tear things apart. With a roar he grabbed the huge Gatling guns, one in each hand, and exploded out of the ship, completely missing the door.

Koj glanced from the hole in the wall to the door and back. He sighed, reached out, opened the door, and allowed Visas out first. "Rizzo! You coming?"

"Comin'!" The man squeaked. He scrambled out of the cockpit with his pistol hand shaking. Koj kept a wary eye on it as it whizzed by his face more than a few times.

"If you accidentally shoot me I am going to break every bone in your body and leave you as an offering to whatever native animals the Miraluka have on their ships." Koj threatened. "Then kill you."

* * *

It was official, something was wrong with Cahjinawl. She hated ice cream.

Ashley Marr smiled as the little girl by her convulsed in disgust. "Didn't like it?" Cahjinawl shook her head 'no'. Ash asked for a sample of the next one, and handed the spoon of ice cream down to the girl. The little Ghorfa stick it in her mouth, chewed a bit, before sticking her tongue out in disgust. "Not that one either?"

"Bwah! No! It makes my mouf cold." The girl complained.

The lady behind the desk smiled and shook her head. "Honey, it's supposed to do that."

"How can you like it then?! That's disgusting!" Cahjinawl asked in amazement. She handed the spoon back like it might infect her or something.

"It's an acquired taste. Like... a fine wine."

"Ohh..." Ash liked that idea. "I wonder what wine ice cream would be like."

"You're always free to try grape. That's as close as we can offer."

"No, that's fine. Cahjinawl, honey, you sure you don't want anything?" Ash looked down on the little girl looking at the tubs of icecream with a hint of disdain.

"Yeah... I'm sure." She stepped away and Ash smiled apologetically. She asked for a cone for herself, paid, and took the girl out.

"I can't believe you don't like ice cream." Ashley said. That was like telling a kid to not like fun. "There is nothing better than sitting on a hot day with something cold in your mouth."

"Yeah... sure. And people enjoy suicide too." The kid mumbled under her breathe.

Something about the way Cahjinawl said that sent a cold chill up and down Ash's spine. She remembered her own experience twenty years ago. If Cahjinawl was anything like her, which she suspected, then she had seen people doing that very thing. When people get depressed, there is no saying what they will do. Sometimes they will find a way to end their mortal suffering, and others will show the strength to carry on. But did she really think it was a good thing? Ash would say not from the sarcastic tone, but for a kid to say something so dark so flippantly...

No kid should be even discussing it casually like it was an every day topic as casual as the weather.

Just how dark was the girl? Did she not see good in life? A reason or point to living? Fun?

"Honey..." Ash was almost afraid to ask. "Have you ever seen a playground?"

"What's a play ground?"

She had to ask...

Ash took the girl to one of the few playgrounds inside the Fleet Mother, and set the girl loose. At first she wanted to show her how to do things, but she wanted to first see how she would react and, to her horror, Cahjinawl reacted exactly like she expected.

Cahjinawl just stood there watching from a distance. She had no idea what the children were doing. The sounds of laughter seemed foreign, the activities were stupid and wild and crazy, and she looked completely uncomfortable being within ten feet of children her own age. She stood on the very edge by the fence minding her own business.

The girl was completely dysfunctional around her own age group and was forced to deal with adult situations at such a young age she was just as serious as her father. The innocence didn't exist. The fun wasn't looked for. The concept of 'desire' was unwanted even to the point of not having anything sugary or sweet. (A child who didn't like candy! Ash almost couldn't believe such a concept existed!)

Instead, Cahjinawl seemed thoughtful, reclusive, and lonely, but no desire for the others to join her nor ask her to join them. Ash felt her heart melt.

She called the young girl over. Cahjinawl's father was in a mission, her uncle was in the hospital, and both were in danger. That was enough pushing for now. The girl didn't want children as friends, she wanted her family.

"Come on, honey. Let's go see Varus."

She brightened up immediately and ran. Ashley laughed. She could barely keep up with the girl now. "You're going to the wrong way!"

Eventually they made it to the hospital and to Varus' room. They entered in to find various objects around the room floating in the air. The girl ignored it all, ducked under a floating chair, and jumped up to tackle Varus with an 'oof'. Everything clattered onto the ground.

It took them half an hour to calm the girls joyful crying while Varus panicked as though he didn't understand the tears.

* * *

Koj stayed perfectly still, listening, observing, waiting. The ventilation duct was cramped, but he fit in smoothly as a fish. His camouflaged armor and robed coverings blended in. He was completely unseen. He was one with the darkness.

If only the same could be said of Rizzo. The fat man was more jittery than a scared desert weazel on Outsider coffee, and his eyes were wide as plates. The man was afraid. As if the shaking wasn't clue enough, the consistent whimpering was. Koj doubted he even knew he was whimpering.

Droids by the hundred marched by on their way to the hanger. Cupcake and Visas were on a rampage. It was nearly an hour ago that they started and the explosions or shaking had yet to stop. He could set his clock by the booms.

Koj did not know how many droids the dreadnaught held, but judging from the hundreds on hundreds to pass by this one corridor alone, Cupcake and Visas had their hands full.

"I have to pee…" Rizzo muttered. The large man had his face on the cold metal siding, the position he finally managed to stop stirring in.

"Then do it."

"But…"

"I greatly doubt a ship of droids will have a bathroom. Welcome to the life of stealth." Koj congratulated him. It was something he was used to. When you laid out in the sands for hour to remain unseen, you couldn't afford the movement to find a rock to relieve yourself behind.

The whimpering increased two fold for a while before stopping. "This is humi'iatin'." Koj didn't bother responding. He would be used to it, or die. Those were really the only options available.

Finally the droids stopped coming and they were left in silence.

Koj peered out through the slits in the vent. He saw nothing. He heard nothing. "It's clear."

"Oh, thank 'od…"

They clambered, and fell, out of the vent. "How 'ong has it been?" Rizzo wondered.

Koj couldn't say. Time tended to flow fast at times and slow at times, but it had definitely been a few hours. "Long enough. We need to move fast." He pulled his rifle into his hands and they ran down the passage. He told Rizzo to lead the way, since the man was supposed to have memorized the blueprints.

The passage ways were now clear of droids all the way to the destination, short of stragglers Koj picked off without breaking sprint. The only thing holding them back was Rizzo's need to catch his breath every few minutes, but eventually they made it to the bridge. A pair of droids with lightning rods stood in their way. While they may have posed to a threat to anything in hand-to-hand range, the laser rifle pierced their weapons and bodies clear through to the wall.

Rizzo hacked in to the door terminal in seconds and opened it. Koj slid in, took cover behind the chair of the pilot, and initiated a simple cleanup of the room. The droids at the terminals were unarmed, there were only four guards, and the pilot was babbling for mercy without posing a threat.

Koj hesitated to hurt the alien, but when the pilot triggered an alarm he shot him between the eyes. "Oh, that is NOT 'ood! No, no, no!" Rizzo yelled in aggravation. He grabbed a terminal and plugged his data pad in directly.

"Can you stop it?"

"Uh…" Rizzo tapped his tablet a few times, and hesitated before getting back to it. "I' have to 'et back to you on that.

"Great…" Koj turned his earpiece back on. "Cracus, Visas. How are you holding up?"

If the whoops of glee, maniacal laughter, gunfire, and explosions was any clue: They were doing fine. "Having the time of our lives, Ghorfa!" Cracus yelled. "Did the idiot with you trigger that alarm? It's annoying!"

"Sorry, that would be me."

"Well, well. Who'd have thought!" The lizard laughed.

Distant clatter-clatter of marching droids grabbed Koj's attention. He kicked the pilot off his seat, perched himself in it backwards, and aimed his sights down the hall.

The droids were marching stupidly in large numbers straight for him, not even bothering to hide. He had three clips on him, but there were already sixty droids and one of them near the end was a large hulking droid with a flat face, flesh eyes, and a cape on it's hunched-back shoulders. This droid had a pair of lightsabers in its hands.

"Rizzo, you might want to hurry." Koj aimed his first shot and fired. The laser was powerful enough to blast five droids into obliteration before hitting the opposite end of the hall. Another two shoots in quick succession had similar results, cleaning up a fourth of the droids in the hall already, but more were coming. The special one with lightsabers growled angrily and took cover.

"I'm hurryin'! But the ship is fightin' back! The ship isn't just a ship, it has its own AI to prevent c'ose-ran'e ship-to-ship hackin'! It's 'ike playin' chess with somethin' that moves fa-"

"Less talking, more breaking things."

* * *

Cracus was having the time of his life.

He was angry, dealing with Varus on a daily basis gave him a short temper. He had armor plating due to the anger that shrugged off laser bolts and enough muscle to take tanks head on. He had two Gatling guns spraying a thousand bolts a second combined, two hours of battery life, and enough droids to make this the best turkey shoot ever.

What could possibly be better.

Cracus sprayed down fire on another line of droids taking shots at him. The hanger was full of dozens upon dozens of droids increasing by the hundreds. Unfortunately for them, and fortunate for him, they were grouped up tightly and he had a new set of toys.

Visas appeared at some point. He barely noticed her while all he saw was blood, red, and droids to fire at. She was a powerful force user. She wasn't as powerful as Varus by far, but she was still good. Her movements were like water. She moved from one person to the next constantly in motion as she turned and twisted and spun. All of her energy flowed into the next movement. She never stopped moving and she didn't look like she was tiring. If anything, she only moved faster and faster, gaining more and more focus as she evaded attacks, performed acrobatics, and left a trail of broken droids in her wake. Yet her 'water' met 'shadow' as she suddenly disappeared out of sight only to reappear elsewhere.

It was probably the most beautiful sight he had ever seen. She was like a dancing goddess warrior.

Chuckling to himself about being unfocused in battle, he took hold of a Dominion transport. While normally in his seven-foot tall form, it would be to heavy, it was no different than lifting a table chair in his angry one. He picked it up off the ground, bulldozed a line of droidekas with laughter rising from his lungs, and shoved it face-first into the hanger door from which the droids were spilling in from.

An explosion on his shoulder shook his attention and he momentarily saw stars. His shoulder burned and he was knocked to the ground.

To any other foe, it would have killed him. For Cracus, it just ticked him off. Cracus's light growl turned into a roar as he tackled the tank to fire on him, knocked it over on its side, grabbed it by the turret, spun, and threw it into another door.

Visas somehow appeared on his back. She sat on his shoulder dangling her feet by his head like a little girl. "Overcompensating much?" She asked with a smirk.

Cracus laughed loudly. Suddenly, a red light appeared in the room followed by a loud blaring noise. Cracus growled. The noise was annoying.

A voice appeared in his ear, "Cracus, Visas. How are you holding up?"

The ceiling opened up to reveal an inner-hanger turret. So they decided to bring out the big guns! With joyous glee, Cracus reached up, grabbed the turret, and yanked it right out of the ceiling. It refused to give at first, but he showed it who's boss.

"Having the time of our lives, Ghorfa!" Cracus yelled. "Did the idiot with you trigger that alarm? It's annoying!"

"Sorry, that would be me."

Cracus blinked in surprise. He certainly didn't expect that. He couldn't help teasing him. "Well, well. Who'd have thought!"

Visas lifted her legs up and dropped to the floor by him. "I'm going to go see if they need backup. You have everything covered here?"

"I'm good. More for me anyway." Visas nodded and ran in the direction that would hopefully be Koj'Ineh and Rizzo. Igor was hiding in a corner somewhere. Cracus glanced around. The vessel the Miraluka donated to them was torn up and full of holes. "Whoops…" He chuckled nervously. "We're going to have to pay for that, aren't we?... Better find us another way out of here." Unfortunately every single ship in the hanger was destroyed or on fire. "Better find us another hanger then… Igor!"

Cracus barely had the name out before Igor was scampering out of his little hole on his hands and knees scurrying across the ground to help him find a transport of some kind. Igor squeaked in fright and hid as more droids appeared, but not before letting loose a shot out of sheer terror. The shot hit the droid in the face and it fell leaving the lizard to clean them up. With his adrenaline waning down, his size, muscle mass, and armored hide dissipated, leaving a seven foot lizard that could still hold a Gatling gun in both hands. He stood on top the rubble and rained hell down on anything remaining that moved. Not that there was anything left. By his count, Cracus 2300, Visas 200, Igor 1, Varus 0. (Anything big counted more.) That made it a good day and they weren't through yet. The ship had to have more droids somewhere.

* * *

Rebhorn tapped irritably on his captains chair. Behind him, the holographic-water imaging showed multiple fleets and a system of planets. Their situation had drastically changed in the last few hours. They were nearing the border, the Dominion Dreadnaught was still on their tail, the border was coming near, and the Mandalorian fleet sitting on the other side of the border had just entered the neutral zone. In addition, the New Republic fleet, under command of Admiral Carth Onasi was sitting in the system waiting for them.

Rebhorn had a gut feeling that Warp mines were laid in his path. Not that Onasi wasn't an honorable strategist who had to fall to cheap tactics, but because it was becoming more and more standard strategy to have it on the border nations along the normal Warp roads.

If there were no mines, the Miraluka could come out of Warp on the other side of the New Republic, let the Dominion and Republic settle their differences, and hope the Mandalorian fleet was only interested in scaring them off. But if there were mines, the entire Nomadic Fleet would be torn asunder. The third option was coming out of warp in the system, and find themselves stuck in a battle between the Dominion, New Republic, and Mandalorians. It would inevitably be in the Clans and Republic favor, since the Dominion had only a single dreadnaught left with some escort ships, and the Miraluka had no weapons of any kind.

Sometimes he truly hated being in charge. This was big. Very big, and it came down to the minutes at this point.

Whether it was for old times' sake, or the need for a second opinion, he reached his mind out through the Network to Victoria Marek. Victoria responded with a gentle, yet curious touch, and he released his anxiety and fear. She became visibly worried, and strengthened the bond on her end enough to convey actual thought. Unfortunately it also caused some of her physical pain to pass through and he hissed. His body tensed. He hadn't prepared himself for the agony of feeling half of his body on fire like hers, and what he felt was only the afterimage drop that happened to pass through the bond. Just how much pain was she in daily?

-What is wrong?- Her voice said in his mind.

-We have a problem.- Rebhorn laid out the situation. The pros, the cons, the facts, the risks, the problems, everything.

She quieted herself for a good while. The bond weakened slightly while she focused elsewhere, and strengthened again after some moments. -The people have followed us this far, my little plarican, they will continue to. Do your best. We can expect no more or less than that.-

Rebhorn smiled to himself, despite the situation. He hadn't been called 'my little plarican' in years. He had almost forgotten about it. As children up through adult-hood, he was always competing with the late-Keeper in everything from fighting, to politics, to woman. Victoria called him after the plarican birds, that were overprotective of multiple nests to the point of causing the other males to be seen as insufficient. He personally didn't much like the birds, far too annoying. They had huge territorial boundaries.

Seeing her be betrothed to the late-Keeper had been tough, seeing the brat grow up hadn't help that much either, he was just like his mother on the outside. Even now, he was so much like her it was crazy. She too rubbed off on him horribly the first time they met, now that he thought about it. He didn't seem anything like his father, who was incredibly strong and protective on the outside but soft and squishy on the inside. No, the only thing Rebhorn had seen so far of Galen was crazy and stupid, which only compounded the fact that he couldn't truly be trusted as a Miraluka citizen or a Keeper.

-Thanks, Miss Marek.- He replied and turned his mind back to the situation. He felt her smile for him and release the connection.

He steeled himself before allowing himself a brief moment to breathe in and out. The Dominion were still on them. Varus' friends hadn't managed to stop the Dominion in time. Rebhorn spoke, and the aura in the room moved from patient and depressingly hopeful, to energetic and focused. "Send a message to the fleet. We're coming out of Warp. Prepare for evasive maneuvers. The Fleet Mother will act as bait, go in close, and maneuver around the planet. The rest of the ships are to scatter and go back into Warp as soon as they can get past the anti-Warp field that will inevitably appear. Should take some time, but if they move at maximum speeds, they should be able to get outside the field radius safely."

He allowed them half a minute to relay all that he had said to the fleet. The crew moved into action with all the energy and expertise expected of them. Everyone was instantly wired like they had a triple crapochino shot. "On my count."

* * *

Koj slammed the third clip into his rifle after it finished releasing its heat and took quick successive shots of the incoming droids. The regular run-of-the-mill droids had stopped coming, but now it left him with some jumpy-aerobatic ones and rolling ones coming in. The quick shots missed half the time due to the droids wild movements, but he got lucky and finished them off. The rolling droid stopped just inside the door to the bridge and Koj fired the last shot he had at it, but the shot failed to penetrate it's shield.

The Ghorfa hid behind cover in the pilots seat as the rolling-droid opened fire on his position. The large one with the cape snickered in diablocal laughter and moved in closer. Something about that droid gave him a very bad feeling.

The rolling droid walked around the pilot seat on legs the size of pins. It's shield smoothly allowed the corpses of its fallen comradeds through as it stepped over them, and Koj noticed. He kept the back of the chair between him and the droid. "Rizzo, your pistol!"

Rizzo squeaked in fright at the sudden attention, drawing the droid's notice. He threw his pistol in the air from where he hid while working. Koj caught it, ran around, and brought it's nuzzle inside the droid's shielding next to its head while it was distracted. A single shot fried it's skull.

Another aerobatic-droid leaped in jumping off of walls, spinning, and crawling on the ceiling. Koj side stepped its obvious aim and cut it cleanly in half. He scowled. The droid was practically insulting him firing from so close. And droids like these kept the Republic at war for so long? what kind of stupid droid fires a medium range weapon from close range?

Idiots...

"Uh... we have a prob'em!" Rizzo yelled.

At the same time a hoarse cough just behind Koj made him drop. Four light sabers whizzed by where his head was, and he jumped away from the hulking droid-man with four arms. The thing cackled in well-practiced evil laughter from coughing it's lungs out. Koj raised his blade up defensively and stepped back from him.

"I have to say, I have never met someone quite like you before!" It mocked him. "What species are you? Bah, no matter! I will enjoy adding your blade to my collection!" It waved its light sabers menacingly.

"Uh-huh..." Koj drolled. His eyes glanced to the side for a brief moment. He raised his right hand and put it up. The enemy watched it carefully as he slowly, achingly slowly, raised the hand over to the side of the door...

and hit the door switch.

The four-armed thing roared in aggravation from the other side of the door. Koj punched keys at random, looking for the right ones, and succeeded when multiple layers of door shut as well. He sheathed his blade and fired the pistol at the door switch. "Stupid thing talks too much."

"I'm not jokin'! We have a prob'em!"

"I took care of it." Koj returned to his sniper rifle and checked the magazines. One was ready to be clipped back in, and he did the proper maintenance to prepare himself.

"Not that! 'ook!" Rizzo insisted worriedly. His tone worried Koj heavily and he glanced up at where Rizzo was pointing.

Just in front of he Miraluka fleet ahead of them was a kind of... window opening revealing black stars and a planet.

"They're pu'ing out of Warp!" Rizzo monologue'd. While normally stating the obvious might be unnecessary, Koj had no idea what it meant till now.

Koj shared a glance with him, with the same fear on his face. "We're too late, aren't we?"

"I'm... sorry. It was 'ike playin' chess with somethin' twice as fast as me."

"It's fine, Rizzo. But what do we do?"

Rizzo jumped into the pilots seat. "If we don't drop out as we', we will be torn apart in the ripp'e! We're going in."

Koj cursed their luck. Disabling the Warp drive or anti-Warp field didn't work. They would have to do something else. "Can you disable the guns or engines?"

"I... should be able to. Provided the ship's A.I. hasn't blocked a' access out from the brid'e." He squealed as four light sabers jammed their way into the door. "T-T-Technica'y, 'uns and en'ines require manua' contro' so..." Rizzo thought as fast as he could while under a blind panic and following the Miraluka into the Warp window. "If we disab'e the termina's, it should work as we'. Hang on!"

Koj turned to look at the window as they entered in behind Miraluka. However, while the Miraluka stalled to a halt, they kept going. Rizzo had no control due to having his access blocked, and the ship's AI didn't react until they nearly collided with a very very large Republic vessel.

When they finally came to a halt, they were inches away from the window of the opposing vessel. Koj could reach out and touch the glass as he and the Admiral in the other dreadnaught looked at each other. The man was pale as a ghost, obviously having expected the Dominion ship's bridge to collide with his own. Another few inches and they would have. (Such closeness could only be considered to be mechanical precision via the ship's AI.) Next to the Admiral was an older Jedi with a mustache. Koj felt his blood boil at the sight of the jedi.

Rizzo was staring out the window in frozen terror before slowly raising his hand and waving. "We'... I don't have to worry about using the bathroom anymore."

The sound of light saber cutting through the door like a welding torch reminded them of the situation and Koj glanced back to see the droid-man had almost cut an improvised door. He returned his attention to Rizzo. "Please tell me there is a way out of here without going past that... thing?"

"Yeah, mo-most brid'es have an escape route with access to hangers."

The light sabers inched closer to finishing. "Then find it!" Koj rushed him and Rizzo jumped his large body into gear. After several tense seconds he found it. It was an access panel that didn't require computer access. Rizzo opened it and jumped in first at the Ghorfa's insistence. Koj stood at the rim and turned to see the droid-man finally enter in with a ticked off look in it's eye. Koj shot every terminal in sight quickly, saluted the droid, and dropped down. A roar of indignation followed him. Koj fired at the walls as he passed to make sure they weren't followed.

* * *

**Note: Just got back after a trip visiting my sister, heard a friend had a little baby girl named Rose, and dropped my Accounting class today because I can't handle a class that difficult without a teacher. (Its an online class because the teacher couldn't be bothered otherwise. And it boils down to "read this, do this, bye" approach from her.)**

**So yeah… after being on the road for 8 hours… I'm a little wiped.**

**But yeah, the reviews are excited to be seeing HK, and we will but NOT YET. Hold your horses. HK will be returning soon, as is the Ravager, but let's take this a step at a time. This will be an episode with many parts.**

_**Review please. I want to know how I'm doing! Every review makes my day. :)**_


	17. Ep03 - Rise of the Ravager Part 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, so no sue!**

**Remember to Review. I want to know what you think and how the chapter is to you. Is it good? Is it bad? Anything I need to know? Any ideas or things you want to see in the future?**

* * *

**Episode 3 - Rise of the Ravager Part 3/?**

* * *

The moment we came out of Warp was fairly obvious. The shaking, the sudden stillness, the silencing hum of the ship. The orderly panic might have been a clue too. Maybe.

Doctors and nurses run by the door in a frenzy to prepare for what they fear may be the worst, and the Force is sending the hairs on the back of my neck up more than when I found out I have a natural at electricity. Things are about to get very bad. And… something familiar is calling for me. It sounds like a faint whimper, but I can't place it.

Regardless, I can't just sit there! My brother is out there fighting! Even the Stooges and Cupcake are fighting! (And Visas.) and what am I doing? Nothing! I gently push Squirt away and bring the wheelchair over to me with the Force. "Help me up." I start to swing my legs over, but it's difficult to move when your head is in a neck-brace.

"Varus, what are you doing?" Ashley protests worriedly.

"My friends and family are out there fighting for me, Ashley, I can't just do nothing." I answer. She doesn't move to help me, so I do it myself. I never would have thought moving from a bed to a wheelchair would be so difficult. I take a moment to rest once I'm situated. I'm already drenched in sweat and feeling like I've run a marathon. I'm really bad off…

A distant feeling tells me Koj is in danger. Call it intuition, call it instinct, call it the Force, but I don't need it pushing me! I'm already motivated!

I look in her direction. Raising my head is too much effort. "Are you going to push me?"

"N-No! Varus! It's too dangerous!" She protests.

She tries to push me back over to the bed, but I grab hold of the chair with the Force firmly. She isn't going to budge me. "Ashley, here are your options." I growl. Sorry, but I'm not in a good mood and I'm hurting. It takes all of my self-control not to send sparks flying all over the room.

She looks at me slightly scared. Good.

I say, "I'm hurting, I don't have much energy, and I'm sorry if I come across as COMPLETELY pissed off, but I will not just sit here and wait for the Force Bond I have with Koj to snap without having done something! So either you push me, hold Squirt's hand and keep her close, or get out of my way. It's you're choice."

She gulps, and I give her a few seconds to make up her mind. This is probably the closest to my Sith persona she has ever seen me, and more than a few have passed out just from the aura I give off. If she passes out, it's her problem.

Instead, her face hardens, and she says, "Cahjinawl, honey, would you be outside a moment?"

The little girl looks between us, and scampers out obediently. She looks like she knows what's about to happen. Not sure what that is but… oh well.

The woman snarls at me. Her anger is very much near the surface and she looks livid. "The only reason I haven't slapped you is because it would cause permanent injury."

"Noted."

"But, how dare you throw your life away! Try looking at your niece sometime. She is completely isolated from her peers, has mental traumas that she is hiding amazingly well, and I doubt has any education at all. You and her father are everything to her, and you most of all!" She jams a finger in my chest hard enough to hurt. I wince slightly. "I can't stop you from being stupid, but if you throw your life away over something as useless as sentiment, I will spit on your grave. You know nothing about what she has suffered. You know nothing of death."

A part of me snaps under the accusation, and I feel Starkiller come dangerously close to the surface. The room goes dark, darker than it was even without light, and all the warmth in the air disappears until Ashley is visibly shivering. My eyes are red, but that isn't what a Miraluka would see. A Miraluka would see the darkness coming off of my skin in a mist consuming everything it touches. The Force inhabits everything including the air to a small degree, so a person who sees through the Force, would notice nothing but darkness and void being consumed around me. The Force practically pulses off of me in waves of void, lightning, and power.

In the back of my mind I see Nihilus. I feel his taint, his teachings, his torture, and his face. I see every person I've killed, from the man who's murder earned me the name Starkiller, to the revengeful Maris.

"I know exactly what death is." I respond. My voice is darker than I've heard in years. She takes a fearful step back as though she had just angered a great beast.

I close my eyes and push down my anger. She wasn't accusing me out of spite, she was trying to prove a point. I don't know how, but she has become unnaturally attached to my niece despite my order not to without my permission. Well, if she is going to stand up for Squirt enough to take on the Destroyer's Apprentice, that is a lot of guts. It's worth something.

I open my eyes again and the dark aura I gave off disappears, but while I feel refreshed she looks like she can barely stand. I inwardly sigh. "Sorry if I'm not what you expected in a Keeper's son, but reality is I am more Nihilus' apprentice than a Marek. Next time you want to figure out if I know what death is or not, try asking Victoria who the survivors of the initial genocide was."

"You were…" She whispers.

Of course, she already knew that, but it is something that needs to be refreshed in her mind. "I appreciate your concern for Squirt. I love Squirt. She's the daughter I've never had, but reality is, I am not her father. She needs her father more than me, even if she personifies me as her guardian angel right now. The reason I am willing to push myself to offer Koj even the slightest support, even if it comes down to being nothing, in the end, is because I know myself of how easily people can die… And even me pushing myself a tiny bit can help that, then I'll sleep happy."

She nods numbly.

"Great. Are you going to pass out?" I chuckle.

She slowly shakes her head, but that doesn't help. She looks like she needs the wheelchair more than me. I open the door with my mind. "No, I'm fine… Um… What exactly are you going to do?" She asks hesitantly. She leans back on a railing to keep from collapsing under the pressure of the sheer amount of power I showed off.

I shrug. "I don't know. I think I'll head to the bridge and see where I'm needed."

I open the door with my mind and push myself out, but my chair jolts as she takes it. "I'm sorry. I-I forgot for a moment… everything you and Visas went through. I don't agree with the risks you're taking… but just don't kill yourself and leave your niece behind. Please."

I glance over to see a bunch of the Miraluka around my room had passed out from the Force pressure I had sent out, and amongst them was Squirt. My heart clenches at the sight. I failed to repress my darker side completely, and hurt her, yet again. As if she hasn't been traumatized enough by life.

I carefully lift her body off the ground and onto my lap with the Force. "I don't plan to."

* * *

Rebhorn stops in mid-sentence during his orders to look towards where the powerful Force signature came from. Whatever it was, it was dark, it was massive, it was close, and it was loud. But then, just as quickly as it appeared, it disappeared.

The entire crew had stopped moving. Fear had come over them. Two of them actually pass out at their stations and collapse.

"Wha-what was that?" Someone asked.

"I don't know…" Someone responds. Terror begins to plague the crew, but Rebhorn firmly barks out the order to regain their focus.

"Get us into the asteroid field! Use the rocks as cover!"

* * *

Koj glides down the chute. An opening appears. Rizzo falls out, but Koj pulls out his blade and shoves it into the floor as he nears the opening. His legs and waist dangle out, but he has a firm grip and the blade pierced the wall well. He glances around, but thankfully, the fall is short.

A wave of empty darkness blows over him like wind and the Spirit disappears from his side for a brief moment. Cold sweat covers him from the brief exposure. He doesn't even feel his grip loosen in shock until he falls on top of Rizzo, who immediately screams in both shock, pain, and terror from something falling on him in the darkness.

"Where are we?" Koj asks after collecting himself.

Never before had he felt anything so dark, empty, cold, and powerful before. The room was pitch black, and the aura he sensed was still darker.

"I don't know." Rizzo rubbed his sore shoulders. He reached a door and opened it just enough to look out. "We're in a hidden compartment… It's the hanger!"

"Is it safe?"

"Uh… I think so."

"Good. Without a bridge, weapons and engines would have to be controlled manually. Let's find the others and get out of here."

* * *

Carth Onasi's right eye twitches at the sight. It was a simple plan. Stand in the way of the Miraluka's escape with a mass murderer/terrorist, and wait for them to pop out. Well, it went fine. What he hadn't expected was a giant Dominion dreadnaught to come barreling in and screeching to a halt inches away from his bridge window. He could reach out and touch the other ship if he wanted to.

And there were was a weird alien, a very fat man, and General Grevious on the bridge fighting. Looks like there was a on-board ship struggle.

"How long until the Mandalorians are here?" He asked.

A soldier responded, "Minutes sir!"

"Good." He nodded. "Give them the coordinates of the Miraluka fleet and… request for a pincer move. They're going into the asteroid field."

"Yes sir… they are in agreement! The Mandalorian fleet will take up perimeter in accordance with us."

The Admiral nodded.

"Isn't going into the asteroids suicide?" Someone asked.

"Not really." Obi-Wan shrugged. He stood by Onasi and actually found the whole scene amusing. "Small craft would be crushed by asteroids, but if they put enough power to the shields, the large craft will be shrugging the rocks off like…. well rocks, actually. It's perfect cover. Keeps us from hitting them, and we can't send fighters in ourselves."

"But it does leave few ways of escape." Onasi thought out loud. "So… naturally, we trap them. Have the fleet take positions here, here, and here."

"And us?" Obi-Wan smirked. He motioned to the scene in front of them of the alien shooting bridge terminals and General Grevious getting ticked off all the more. "Ships appear to be down."

Onasi felt his eye twitch return. He needed a drink… "Back full. Blow it up."

"What about the aliens who appear to be wreaking havoc on the-" The Jedi suddenly gasps for air and grabs hold of the desk near him to hold steady. Onasi stands over him protectively to make sure he is alright. He didn't see anyone fire!

"He's here…" The Jedi gasps.

"Who?" Onasi wonders.

"Him! I haven't felt this since Coruscant! It's not strong enough to be Nihilus… but! It is! But it's not!" Obi-Wan cringes in pain. "I don't know!"

"Someone take him to the medical bay." Onasi orders and directs his focused gaze toward where the only signs of life was nearby. "Destroy the dreadnaught and get to the asteroid field! The Sith is not getting out of here!"

* * *

Meanwhile on a ship drifting in space…

Click. Click. Creak.

A pair of lights flared to life. The lights were eyes to a metal face. "At long last…"

The drifting ship around it continue to make metal-on-metal scratching noises, creaking sounds, and deep murmurs of wind passing through its halls. Lights flared to life in the form of very tiny flying droids almost identical to pixies. The pixies looked at each other in glee and flew around excitedly. More and more lights turned on down the halls and in the rooms. Power systems flared to life. The swarm of pixie droids flew through the dark halls before coming to the droid lying dormant on the floor. It looked at the swarm in understanding of the bizarre language of horrifying sounds.

"The Master has come! The Master has come! The Master has come!" The swarm squealed in Basic.

The pixie droids emitted white light beams from their face on the larger droid, and wherever their light touched, repairs were made almost like it was being sown together. The larger droid flexed its hands and feet to test the unit's systems. Piece by piece, the droid's hardware was returned to prime condition. The light around the droid churned and was replaced with a slightly new droid, one of silver-gold tint, a flat face, and the normal arms and legs it has come to associate with its 'birth-unit'. The droid stood on shaky legs, concluded there was a gravity well nearby, and adjusted accordingly. The pixie droids danced around it while one of them presented to it a pair of lightsabers, a sniper rifle, and a blaster.

"Did you feel it? Did you feel it? Did you feel it?" The swarm asked it. On the front of each pixie's face was a ':D' symbol.

The larger droid adjusted each of its weapons and gear for prime efficiency and stepped over the bodies of its many live-simulation-tests, or undesirables as they would be referenced.

"Did you feel the Master? The Master is in trouble! There are two fleets around where we felt the Master!" The swarm continued to ask as it flew ahead of the walking droid.

"Answer: I did not, but my importing of facts is irrelevant. What does matter is the statistical relevance of us having been proven right, which, I always am. It is time we liquidated some undesirables."

* * *

"Additional contacts incoming! Six ships of cruiser class and up, with one dreadnaught!" As the crew member said it, the information on the water-projector showed the fleet hovering in range. The New Republic was positioning themselves on the opposite end of the asteroid field the Miraluka hid behind, but this new fleet dropped out of Warp and were immediately on the move to flank them.

Clearly hostile.

Rebhorn would need to change things. They had avoided entering the asteroid field, rather flying close to it and positioning themselves in orbit of the planet instead. But now…

"Damnit... This changes everything. Put the ship on emergency lockdown. I want the civilians out of the inner-city and in the bunker-armory. Doran, get weapons online! Target the asteroids. Clear us a path inside. Miles, tell the cruisers to stop running and return to the Fleet Mother. They have one minute before we head inside." Rebhorn's mind went into overdrive. Having the Fleet Mother act as decoy would have worked so long as only one fleet was here, but two? Splitting themselves in two would only spell their end.

The Fleet Mother wasn't capable of fighting in battle, but it did have enough guns left to fend of small-time pirates and asteroids. If the Nomadic Fleet took up a tight formation, the few guns they had would fend off the asteroids while the asteroids would provide proper cover.

While he considered the situation, the crew around him moved in action with the efficiency expected of them. The Miraluka had learned much of space travel in their twenty-year exile, and this crew was the cream of the crop. It was the dream of every Miraluka crew to earn a position here, and this allowed him to be very selective.

Rebhorn actually allowed the cruisers two minutes, the first to allow Miles to send the message and receive a response. "Doran, status report."

"Weapons are now online, shields are at 95% and climbing, we are in position and the rest is all green. The fleet is on rendezvous. Shall I send them the formation map?"

The Admiral tapped his fingers together in thought. "Good. Do so. Someone establish contact with the New Republic and the Clans and-"

The door in the far back opened and Varus, Ashley, and the little girl with him entered. "Do you have a reason for being on my bridge?" Rebhorn demanded without turning around.

"I'm here to help." The man in the wheelchair said.

"And how exactly is that? You are not fit to be out of bed."

"And I'm still a stronger Force user than everyone in this room combined." Varus returned. "I know I need to recuperate, and I may rub off on the wrong way with you, purposefully, but until this battle is over, I intend to be on station." Varus motioned to the corner, and the woman pushed him over.

"Captain, we have the admirals standing by."

Rebhorn barked. "Fine, Marek! Stay! But stay hidden!" The three newcomers hid.

* * *

The screen on the Oda Scythe showed a blind man. Kota saw in his broad shoulders, straight back, and clothes, to be someone special. The black cloth around his eyes was unusual, reminding him of Falon. Except Falon had black skin around his cloth.

On another part of the screen was the New Republic Admiral, Carth Onasi.

"Can your force senses tell if he is lying from here?" Kota heard Izthark ask in his ear through the mic. Kota subtlety shook his head. "Okay."

Izthark stepped forward. Kota and him were the ranking officers on this mission, but Mandalore had put his fellow clan member in charge. Kota glanced at the holographic map. They were in position, as were the New Republic. The Miraluka were slowly entering the asteroids and the Dominion dreadnaught was on the verge of being destroyed. It wasn't resisting at all.

As if confirmation of his thoughts, the map signaled escape pods fleeing the dreadnaught, with life signs.

"Greetings, I am Sharif Rebhorn of the Miraluka flagship, the Fleet Mother." The blind man said. "May I offer my thanks for dealing with the Dominion giving us chase, and our assurances that we have no intentions of trespassing in Miraluka territory. We have only come this close because we were being pushed."

So, they were starting off with trying to make it all sound like a big misunderstanding. Playing ignorant, saving face, and giving them the option of going along with the story to look like the good guys. If they went along with it, they would look like they were being good Samaritans, but if they went against it, it would make them look like bullies.

The first move was made, and Kota tried not to smile. It was a good move.

"You're welcome." Carth Onasi nodded. "However, I regret to inform you the Dominion were on your tail for a reason. Among the 'cargo' you picked up, you have a stowaway. A terrorist, to be specific, who has run rampant for the last few months."

And the counter move. Kota let himself smile. This was fun.

"What the hell?" Izthark muttered quietly. He looked lost.

Great, Mandalorians are so blunt and honest about their intentions that they tend to miss out on nuances and political talk.

"Stay quiet, Onasi knows what he is doing." Kota whispered.

"Uh-oh…" Falon shifted. That single phrase caught Kota's attention, and he motioned for Falon to escort him to the side of the room while the others talked.

"What is it?" Kota asked.

"Something is about to happen. Shift all attention to the asteroid field."

Kota patted him on the shoulder and glanced back up to the talking. Onasi had experience in politics as a high admiral of the former unified Republic, and the blind man clearly had experience on his end. The two were still doing moves and counter moves with their words. The end result was the Miraluka denied Varus while Onasi was trying to corner them into giving him up or admitting to rescuing him, and being punished for it. And Izthark was lost in all of it. Rex looked like he understood what was going on, but couldn't think of a way to insert himself without fumbling over his own tongue.

Kota motioned for Rex to come over and join them at the holographic map. "What's going on? We're in the middle of something here."

Falon motioned to the map. "Something is about to happen, something big. You need to get the ships to get ready to move in. A new ship is going to appear."

That got Rex's attention. "Okay, where?"

"Uh… I can't see?" Falon reminded him. "I don't know where in the asteroid field."

"Then can you at least tell me what to look for."

"Movement. Ten seconds."

"Right…" Rex muttered. He pointed to a soldier and signaled for him to get in contact with the rest of the fleet.

"Oh… this is not good!" Falon blurted out. "We need to cut transmission and get to the Miraluka NOW!"

"What? Why?!"

"Just do it! Two seconds."

Rex looked to Kota, and Kota looked at Falon. Falon was visibly tense. Something was going on in his head. Something they were all missing.

"Captain! We have movement in the asteroid field! And unknown ship has appeared!" Someone called out.

"Do it." Kota said to Rex.

"What? Get me a visual." Izthark ordered. "How could a ship just appear in the asteroid field?"

"I… think it was already there, sir."

Rex and Kota returned to the top of the bridge just as the transmission ended. Judging from the faces on everyone, it hadn't gone where people wanted, and this new arrival was stirring things up. Rex said, "We need to get to the Miraluka immediately, Falon sees something."

Izthark looked at him skeptically. "Okay, how long?"

"Minute, thirty." Falon said.

"Not long enough to get close nor a proper firing lock."

"It's not that, we need to save them."

The crewman said, "Sir! We have an incoming transmission from the new ship!"

* * *

"Sir! An unknown ship has appeared in the asteroid field!"

Carth Onasi glanced at the crewmate. "I'm sorry, Admiral, but it seems other matters require my attention, but don't worry, I will get back to you in a minute." In other words, don't move. We'll continue this in a moment. He cut off the transmission. "Get me a visual!"

The visual was one that he could never forget. "WHAT IS THAT THING DOING HERE?!" He barked.

"Sir… I think… it was part of the asteroid field."

Another one said, "Admiral, we have an incoming transmission."

"Let's see it."

* * *

"Admiral Rebhorn, a ship has appeared in close vicinity! Oh… It's coming at us!"

"Weapons?" Rebhorn asks.

"Negative. No shields either, but it's huge. It's a full dreadnaught!"

"On the projector." The water-projector shifts and closes in. Inside of the asteroid field heading straight for us a ship twice our size. That's big. Wait… I know that ship! It's the Ravager! What's the Ravager doing here?

"Admiral, incoming transmission from the unknown ship."

"It's the Ravager." I correct him.

Rebhorn straightens. "What?"

"It's the Ravager." I repeat. A smile slowly comes over my lips. I haven't seen the ship in years. I miss her… That might explain the slight tingle in my ear. The ship is calling for me.

Rebhorn was silent a long time, but finally he said, "Friendly?"

"Definitely!"

"How long until the ship is on top of us?"

"Thirty-seconds." Someone answers.

Rebhorn sighed. "Alright. Disperse the ships, but keep the Fleet Mother here. Let's see what the Ravager does. I'm gambling on you, Keeper, don't prove me wrong."

"I won't." I assure him.

Suddenly, the ship splits in five pieces and surrounds the Fleet Mother on all sides. I hear the faint hum of the Ravager increase in pitch almost enough that I can feel it's mind touching my own. It's been lonely. "Varus?" Rebhorn asks worriedly.

"It's fine! Don't do anything."

Rebhorn doesn't say anything, but the crew is worried and he fidgets. The Mandalorian fleet positions itself to aim at us, and the New Republic hasn't moved. I feel myself sweat a bit. I trust my ship, but what is she thinking? I reach back to the Ravager and mentally stroke it. It reacts to my touch like a drowning man, grabbing onto me and wanting me to return home.

But where is home now? With the Miraluka who are going out of their way for me? Or is it my ship? Or is it off with Tree-Hugger, wherever he is. Or Mother Hen? I know my home is Koj and Squirt, but they will follow me because I'm as much their home as they are mine.

"Sir, the transmission?"

"Right, pull it up." The Admiral responds.

The water-projector changes and… That's me! Squirt looks between me and the projector and me and the projector and says, "Uncy Varus?"

"Yeah… I'm right here." I assure her.

The 'me' on the transmission from the Ravager is wearing clothes like what I used to wear. How is this possible? I'm right here. 'Me' smirks and says, "It has come to my attention that you are after me. Let us all put the matter to rest and conclude that unless you all cease and depart I will crush this ship like a soda can. You have one minute, meat bags."

Meat bags?! It's HK! Oh, I love that droid!

The transmission cut, and the next thing I know I am being dragged across the ground by the Force and lifted into the air in front of a very VERY angry Admiral. "What did you just do?!" Rebhorn yells.

"UNCY VARUS!" Squirt squeals behind me, but Ashley grabs her and holds her back.

"You said for me to trust the ship, as your profile discusses it as being yours, but now we are sitting here while a… a CLONE of yours has us by the neck!" He blinks in surprise when he sees I'm struggling to breathe. "Sorry. Forgot about your neck."

He puts me down on his chair gently and I sit here gasping for breath. I gasp out. "The Ravager… is MY ship… She knows I'm here… She will never harm us… and that impersonator is a droid." I take a deep breathe. "Damn my neck hurts…"

"Sorry…" He mutters, but continues glaring at me.

"And the droid… is mine. His designation HK-47, protocol assassination droid. Specializes in killing, assassination, and murder in more ways than even I know."

"Why does that doesn't make me feel any better!"

Right, it won't. "Listen…" I say slowly. "You have no reason to trust me and every justified reason to shoot me out of the nearest airlock, regardless of what my mother wants, but if you are ever going to trust me, it's now. I am connected with my ship in ways no one else can be, and I am the droid's master. I hear you are a calculating man. Risk versus reward. Well, now we stand to lose everything and gain everything. Because if there is one thing I know about HK… it doesn't bluff."

"It will destroy us." He concluded.

"HK has no morals or conscious beyond its function and orders from its Master and neither does my ship, yet I know they won't do something to jeopardize me. The two must have a plan in mind. Get me to the Ravager and I'll order him to not crush this ship-city…"

"Why can't you just tell the ship from here not to?"

"The face… the fact that HK impersonated me, it is drawing the enemies attention from you. If your transmission gets caught by the others, its blown. Get me to the ship. Prove HK's plan right in that I am not here. Make yourselves look innocent."

Rebhorn holds me by the scruff of the neck for a good solid minute as I see the wheels churning in his brain. He is clearly the intellectual type, Nihilus was the same way. "Well... The good news is that the minute is up, and HK hasn't crushed us. The enemy is backing off."

"The Clans don't negotiate with hostage situations… They will return."

"Then we, meaning both the Fleet Mother and Ravager need to get out of here ASAP and find somewhere they won't find us, but first I need to get to my ship."

Rebhorn releases me. "I'm not a gambling man, Keeper. I don't do 'all in's… But this is the second time in a matter of minutes you have forced me to. Don't make me regret it."

I nod. "Can I have my wheelchair back?"

Rebhorn nods in Ashley's direction and they bring the wheelchair back to me. We get me situated. Rebhorn says, "I'll play the hostage, Keeper. Get your ship and droid pacified."

"I will." I say as Ashley turns me around.

We leave. The Ravager pokes around inside my head, and I return the gesture warmly. I tell her I'm on my way, and the ship practically dances in joy. Hopefully HK and the Ravager communicate enough for HK to know I'm on my way as well, and it won't do anything stupid until I arrive.

Or it will wait on that until as soon as I do.

"I'm proud of you." Ashley says.

"What for?"

"You actually admitted she is your mother."

* * *

**Note: **

**EGADS! I just realized something.**

**This story is in Movies Star Wars**

**Ok fine. No problem. I wanted that.**

**BUT! WAIT FOR IT!**

**There are a ton of Galen Marek stories in:**

**Games Star Wars**

**I ORIGINALLY LOOKED THERE! I looked for "The Force Unleashed" under the game category when I originally started my In the Path of Series, but noooo, I had to be an idiot and forget it belonged under GameStarWars. **

**Now I'm depressed… I write to have fun and give people a few minutes of pleasure in reading something epic, and therefore I want maximum exposure! More people having fun requires more people! Logical. But no, I had to stick my story in the wrong section!**

**I'm such an idiot…**

**Anyway. Someone reviewed that my story is boring. As depressed as that has made me, considering I hold myself to a very high standard, I also greatly appreciate it. It's a kick in the pants to get things back up to where it needs to be.**

**But there are a few things I want to be clear about.**

**Path of Revan and Path of Ravager are two completely different stories. Do not compare them. Path of Revan was the best written story I have ever done, I doubt I could meet the same standard of quality and epicness even if I truly tried, and with Ravager, I'm not. I want Path of Ravager to have its own unique feel, flavor, pace, and story plot. Path of Revan had a ton of subplots due to Nihilus bringing down Coruscant, and there was a lot of worry about Varus regaining his memory and feeling betrayed. Path of Ravager lacks both of those things. There will be subplots, really epic ones in my opinion, but different ones, and that is the key: They are different. It will feel different.**

**I also am making the pace a lot slower because I want there to be plenty of character interaction, drama, and development. There will be entire episodes that are completely STUPID and pointless and lack action solely because I want them to be fun, relaxed, and enjoyable breaks from the insanity. While at the same time having lots of episodes that will hopefully leave people crying and on the edge of their seat. (they have been for me just from thinking them up.)**

**With that said, I also want to hear when things are bad, boring, or not enjoyable to read. If I didn't want it to be enjoyable, I wouldn't bother writing. I would leave the plots inside my head and sit around laughing and crying at the internal movie theatre I have in my brain.**

**So PLEASE, tell me what you think. I want to know everything you enjoyed, and everything you did not. Because if people actually tell me it's bad, and what is bad, then I can actually go back and fix things. While if I know what works, I can know to keep it going.**

_**Review please. I want to know how I'm doing! Every review makes my day. :)**_


	18. Ep03 - Rise of the Ravager Part 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, so no sue!**

**Remember to Review. I want to know what you think and how the chapter is to you. Is it good? Is it bad? Anything I need to know? Any ideas or things you want to see in the future?**

* * *

**Episode 3 - Rise of the Ravager Part 4/?**

* * *

"Any change?"

"None." Falon replied. He sat in silent meditation behind the other's on the bridge. They had immediately pulled back after Varus threatened to kill those people. Suffice to say, they were not happy.

Falon thought he knew Varus. The teenager had been crazy, fun, and unlike any other Jedi he had ever met. If only he had known back then how right he was. They thought Varus had been taken by the Miraluka, but he wasn't. He had been hiding out in this system on his ship, waiting for more victims to claim. Yet again, Varus had proven himself above Falon's thoughts. Falon squeezed his hands tightly. Again, he had been proven wrong and been outplayed by the Sith.

"Now?" Master Kota asked after a few seconds.

Falon reached into the Force and saw the dimensions of time laid out before him. The Force-Falon asked for scouts to be sent out for him to observe, and at the end of his visions, every dimension ended much the same way.

"Still no change. The hostages are unharmed, although establishing a call will be successful, and any maneuvers you make to go around the Ravager will end in us being caught."

"That's something at least." Izthark muttered darkly. He inwardly fumed, and Falon felt it mirror his own aggravation.

This situation reminded him of how useless he was, and the Jedi Padawan felt the cage of his own expectations squeeze around him. He was better than this. He had to do something.

Falon remembered the battle of Coruscant, standing there observing while all around him people died. Because of him, he had failed to see Varus' participation. Because he was too close to the Sith, he failed to see. Again, Falon was useless. The thought entered his limbs and made them ache in need for action, to move, to do something, to take control of the situation and send it down the proper path. Paths that only he could see.

Kota was a powerful Jedi, but he lacked the foresight to see all possibilities and comprehend hundreds of destinies at once. His Master was human, after all, and mistakes happen. Mistakes Kota cannot see until it is too late.

Mistakes Falon could.

Izthark was a strong Mandalorian, and Rex was an honorable captain of men, but they too were capable of so many mistakes simply because they too could not comprehend alternatives and see paths laid out for them to choose from. They depended on him to see things before they do, and then to actually take the time to explain to them how to fix it. But the problem with that is it would only take away several valuable seconds to explain properly.

Explanations Falon comprehended immediately.

Falon sighed. If only he wasn't blind…

Again, he looked into the future through his foresight, and saw many paths that could be taken. Most were the exact same, and all ended with there being no change to the current situation.

But there was one path that struck him. It stuck out, at first just like a sock in the laundry, but then as he pulled it out and looked it over and explored it's path, the possibilities it offered were… convenient.

But no, Kota would be displeased.

But it could fix the situation too…

Falon returned his thoughts to those around him and listened as they discussed the situation. They were truly lost, scrambling around trying to find a way to deal with this without causing everything to blow up, when the solution was so obvious.

Every second, every possibility they went over, every mistake they could make only brought this alternate path more vividly to his mind.

The alternate path would be on him in seconds, and the closer the moment came, the better it looked. It was the solution. Falon had to choose between an infinite number of paths that lead ultimately to nothing, and one that lead to fixing everything.

The choice wasn't as hard to make as he thought.

"I'm going to use the bathroom." Falon stood.

"Alright, be back soon." Kota said offhandedly.

Falon bowed in the direction of his Master's voice and walked away. Rex escorted him down the hall. They turned down the bend and walked by the bathroom. "Falon, the bathroom is here."

"I know." Falon turned around, and brought his hand up. "Sorry about this." and used the Force to knock him out. Rex collapsed in a heap and Falon dragged him into the bathroom. He stuck him in a stall and locked the door.

It was time he did something about this.

Falon knew he had precious minutes before anyone wondered where he was or where Rex was, and so hurried to the hanger. Every few seconds he looked into the Force to see if he was caught, and breathed in relief when he wasn't. He would have a lot of explaining to do when he got back, but he would do so proudly. This was bigger than him and a single lecture.

"You." Falon pointed to a pilot's general direction. "Fly me."

"Uh, yes sir!" The pilot responded.

"You're going on quick scouting to probe the Ravager's detection."

"Understood, this way."

They made their way to the pilot's craft and entered in. The pilot asked for confirmation to proceed, and didn't think to mention Falon was with him. They left the Oda Scythe and flew towards the distant planet. "Turn off your comms." Falon ordered. "The Ravager is tracking that."

"But, won't that cut us off from the Scythe?"

"That's why I'm here." Falon sat back in the seat and contemplated the many futures before him. In his mind he saw a chess board. Each destiny had different moves and counter moves. But unknown for both players, he decided what they could do and not do.

Despite the pilot's ignorance, Falon truly was there to help him keep from being tracked. Every time he concluded they were tracked with his Force foresight, he had the pilot try something different. For him it took hours, while in reality it was merely minutes before they came upon the Ravager, somehow completely undetected.

"Wow… lucky." The pilot murmured.

"Hmm…" Falon commented. "Take us near the bridge."

"Sir?"

"Do it."

"Aye… sir." The pilot said with clear hesitance.

He brought them in to the hanger and Falon climbed out. "If you get caught, depart immediately. Don't endanger yourself. I'm going to see what I can do."

"Right… I'll just… sit here. In the spooky ship." The pilot looked around fearfully. "Alone."

Falon rolled his dead-eyes and entered the Force. Dozens of himself walked around exploring the room. Upon finding the wall, he looked for the door. Upon finding the door, he looked for a way to open it. Upon finding how to open the door, he explored it's depths down dozens of passage ways. To anyone else he looked hesitant. To himself, he was a one-man army.

* * *

Carth Onasi was, again, thrown for a loop.

His career as an admiral was simple. Protect the innocent. Then Nihilus and his accursed Ravager appeared and all efforts to hold him back was like telling Death itself to give them another second of time. All of his efforts were wasted. Planet after planet, entire civitlizations, all were lost on his watch and nothing he did could stop it. Participating in the destruction of the Ravager had been a bitter-sweet day. Even though it included a promotion, despite the equal participation of the Revanchist and Mandalorian Clans.

Only to find the Ravager return. It suddenly appeared over Coruscant, broken and damaged, and attacked. Sending it crashing down had not been his doing, but just hearing about it made his skin crawl and his blood boil. It was like fighting a ghost or demon.

Only, again, to find the Ravager somehow put itself back together on Coruscant's surface the day they lost the planet, and pull off a Warp jump while still in the atmosphere.

Only, AGAIN, to find it occupied by a few Jedi in a nearby system. The ship was broken in pieces and dead. It had next to no power anymore, and was sent to a scrap yard.

Now here it was standing in his way, doing things he could barely raise his hand to stop. If he tried to destroy it or separate it from the hostages, it would destroy them.

The ship was a living nightmare, the single most annoying thing he had ever seen, his greatest failure, and a demon that haunted him everywhere he went. The only part of him it had yet to defeat and humiliate was his dreams, no, it reserved that for the time he was awake.

"I'm sorry, Admiral," Onasi said. "There is not much we can do."

"I understand." The Miraluka responded.

"If it's any consolation, we will be destroying the Dominion soon. It's crippled as it is." The ship was in flames and on the verge of exploding.

"Thank you, Admiral. What of my sabeutors? I sent a squad over to stop the Dominion."

That might explain the fight Onasi saw on the bridge. Interesting squad they sent. "Escape pods were released not long ago. Life signs. We'll pick them up."

"Thank you."

Fascinating how quickly the tides turned. One moment Onasi thought, based on facts he had received, that Varus Wynn was on the Miraluka, only to find them trapped by the same person. Perhaps this whole situation was a trap from the beginning. Perhaps Varus was the source of that information through a subtle leak in order to draw them here.

It was hard to say anymore what that brat could do. He was as good at putting the Admiral to shame as his old master had been.

"Not at all. It's the least we can do." Onasi sighed. "I apologize for before. We have been fooled."

"If I were in your position, I would probably have been even rougher."

Onasi frowned. "Yeah… well. We're not out of this yet. Has there been any moves from the Ravager?"

"No. We're safe, all things considered. We can't move. The ship is hugging our hull." Truly. If Onasi looked at it another way, it was almost like the Ravager was acting as some kind of exo-skeleton around the Fleet Mother. If it squeezed at all, the ship would be crushed.

The Mandalorian's had backed off completely, but Onasi was hesitant to follow. He would need to call Command and get orders. They may refuse to deal with terrorists, but this was different from any hostage situation he had ever seen. Most of the time you could use a sniper or insertion squad, but this was a whole ship. It could very likely go into Warp on its own and drag the Fleet Mother with it, and it's sensors were everywhere. Sabotage was out of the question.

* * *

What amounts to the streets of the city-ship is empty of pedestrians. A siren goes off at regular intervals. It's a rather spooky place to see after having been in it while it was occupied. Feels like a ghost town. Every minute we spend walking, or in my case, being pushed, earns more unease on my part. I can't turn my head to look down various passage ways or alleys, not with this neck brace. (Thank God, I only have to wear it a few days… My neck itches.)

Before long our quaint walk entered the central hanger. To me it's a hanger, but to them, it's probably their version of a highway or bus departure. Conveniently, it's also where the Ravager parked its open door.

Every step we take closer to the ship, the more I feel her in my mind. I've never had a pet, but I'd like to think she is like a dog/cat/dragon thing that is sitting at the front door wagging its tail. The feeling is sure there. The ship is patient, ever so patiently waiting obediently, but she feels me drawing closer and is only getting more anxious, and its rubbing off on me.

I spent practically every moment of my life as a Sith in her belly, learning her secrets, being protected, and being kept safe; or as safe can be when your master is a Sith Lord. Every secret in my life is known by my ship. Every nightmare, every mournful cry, every desire, every rant. Every whisper I've hid from my master has been in its corners. The ship has never been able to hold me like a mother or sit in my lap like a cat, but it's always been there.

Not even Ahsoka and Skywalker know me like the ship does.

It's like the ship knew the hanger was here, because she put one of her open ports right up to the hanger ray shielding.

Ashley mutters, "Uh-oh. We can't turn off the ray shielding to get through without turning it off… and suffocating us all in the process."

The Ravager has to know that… So why would she…

Unless that doesn't matter.

"I think… that I can." I muse outloud.

"What? You can't be serious."

I roll my wheelchair without her up to the ray shield. It stands out in a massive red color, and the door to the Ravager is just on the other side. I could put my hand out and touch her if I wanted to.

I put my hand out and release a wave of lightning into the shield. It ripples, but little more than that. A stronger wave of lightning causes stronger ripples, and I slowly turn up the power more and more and- a bolt goes completely through the shield and hits the inside of the next room. Ashley gasps.

Perhaps I can.

"Squirt." I say.

"Yea?" Her little voice says behind me.

"Stay with Ashley, I'm going to go on a bit of a walk. I promise I'll be back, and we'll go make sure Koj is back for dinner. Can you do that?"

She hesitates, but quietly says she will.

Her attachment to me is unnatural. I realize she has spent every waking moment of her life either next to me or Koj, for safety reasons, but Ashley is right. It sounds wrong for her to sound so hesitant and fearful all the time.

Anyway, those are thoughts for another time. I have a droid to say hi to. I'll see how he's doing, ask casually if he's been going around killing any Sith Lords and Mandalorian Duchess's over a side of tea, and while I'm at it I might see if he could be so kind as to not completely pulverize my people. What could go wrong?

"Ashley, I'll be back. Don't follow me. I think I'm the only one who can enter through here, and the Ravager knows it."

"Alright, be careful."

"Yeah…" I look the ray shield over without moving my neck. If I didn't have the wheelchair or neckbrace, this would be a lot easier. But as it is, I'm going to need to improvise.

I release my lightning back onto myself. I've gotten the hang of holding back on my natural electricity, but now I need it back. I feel the air warm up around my skin and Squirt squeals in surprise as a spark hits near them. Ashley takes her away and in a few seconds its just me and my ship.

"Hey, Ravager. It's been a while, girl." I chuckle. The ship practically purrs in my mind, but it's still scratching at the door. The Ravager moves slightly and nudges the ray shield. "It's okay, I'm coming." I laugh. "Just give me a moment. Haven't been using my power for an hour yet and already I have to do something I've never thought of before." I glance along the ray shield. I doubt I will be able to perfectly create a hole in it, but if I can cover my body and wheelchair in enough electricity, it should work.

Provided I move fast. The slightest lapse in concentration will end up with me… uh…

Let's not think about that.

"Okay…" I breathe in through my nose and out through my mouth. "Here we go." I close my eyes and feel down into my center. For as long as I remember, my center has been dark and a combination of void and lightning. An ironic thing I've learned about lightning is that it travels most easily through nothingness, and can possibly be contained by that nothingness. At least that is always how my center has felt to me. My sins, my loneliness, my regrets all twisted and churned into true nothingness that, ironically, fuels and contains my inner spark and desire to be free of the very containment that fuels it.

Now it feels different. The void and lightning are still there, and there are dark corners, but there is also something that wasn't there six years ago. Now I see faces. Tree-Hugger, Mother Hen, Squirt, Koj… even the woman I am considering to call mother. I see Visas smirking and having a dark sense of humor. I see Cupcake trying to kill me after I mess with him, yet again, or challenging me to a duel over who is alpha male. I see the Three Stooges worship the very ground I walk on, and me being annoyed by it every step of the way.

And I see Nihilus. Like a shadow hidden just behind everything, he is there. Every good memory, every smile, every joke is all foreshadowed by his presence. I don't claim to be an artist nor a piece of art, but he once compared who I am to the result of his teachings and my reaction to said teachings.

I see inside me so many people I know now, people I want to share with the Ravager and help make the ship less lonely than it was, both literally and figuratively. I see many versions of myself. I also see Revan.

Revan was a true champion of both Sith and Jedi alike. He only became stronger afterwards when he came to acknowledge both sides. He kept his dark side tamed and his light side sharpened and used them both in tandem like a perfect spiral. His power, at the end of the memory, was anything beyond anyone I have ever known. Nihilus, Skywalker, myself. We're all nothing compared to what he became. (Although he never tried consuming planets with his mind alone, and never grew from it like Nihilus did.)

There is so much more inside me than the nothingness and lightning that was everything to me before. I've been gone for five years. For so long while in prison, I thought I could run away from Starkiller, and so I fell into being lethargic and uncaring, because I incidentally ran away from myself. I'm not Starkiller, but I emotionally ran away from every other one of my sides as well.

I can't be Starkiller, but I also can't be Varus. Varus was just an empty side of me that fell into a dream world where I had a team and a place amongst monks, such as it was. Varus was a lie. But Starkiller was wrong. And Galen…

Unlike what I tell people, Galen isn't dead. He never died. I just gave him a candy bar, tied him up, shoved him in a closet at the bottom of a dark cellar, pointed a gun at his face, and told him to shut up. He never died. Technically. Just probably on the verge of starving to death.

The only one who knows that is the Ravager. Even Nihilus doesn't know that. Perhaps… it's time I let him out for some air. Varus can exist, in how I am to Jedi. Starkiller can exist, inside a very thick cage. Galen can exist, for I am a Miraluka and am with them.

Besides. I can't exactly expect my mother to call me Starkiller now can I? Maybe Light's Bane, I've always thought that sounded cooler.

Like a band aid being ripped off, I rip away the nothingness and feel the lightning loses its containment. It courses through every cell in my body. It's so bright I have to close my eyes, and odds are I am glowing like the sun to a Miraluka.

I pour everything I have into it, fueling my lightning, my electricity, my energy through every muscle fiber in my body and into the metal of my wheelchair. The seat becomes scorching hot and I refrain from touching the bars as it might very well be red hot.

I push myself into the ray shield with the Force and keep myself focused on this for several seconds.

The sound of one ship is replaced by the sound of another ship. I count to three and open my eyes. And… … Arms, legs, head. Yeah, I'm not incinerated by the ray shield. That's nice. Not that I was worried, nope, not at all. I knew I had this.

I just need to stop for a breather and settle my raging heart. My neck hurts again. I feel the Ravager sweep over me like a tidal wave of hugs.

A metal plate falls off the nails and hits the ground. The sudden echoing sound scares the crap out of me, yet despite the pain and exhaustion and hysteria I had, and the last couple years of frustration from infuriating slave bosses, I laugh, truly laugh at myself. I must have jumped a foot in the chair.

It's nice to be home.

* * *

**Note: A bit short, but that's to be expected for these long extended episodes. :P**

**I'm also having a bit of a hard time writing while dealing with other concerns in RL.**

_**Review please. I want to know how I'm doing! Every review makes my day. :)**_


	19. Ep03 - Rise of the Ravager Part 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, so no sue!**

**I don't get it people.**

**Is it bad?**

**Is it good?**

**I've been told it's bad, but no reason why.**

**I've been told it's good, but people just disappear.**

**What's going on? Is it bad? Is it good? I'm trying to not be upset at my own writing, but it's difficult to know what people think anymore when they suddenly all go silent on me. I like talking to people about my story. I like being able to talk to people about something with the same interest.**

**Now it's like… I'm all alone…**

**All I know is that I love writing this story. So I'll press on anyway. I'm not changing it until you tell me why it's bad. Even if you people hate it.**

**Your loss.**

* * *

**Episode 3 - Rise of the Ravager Part 5/5**

* * *

"HK?"

The other me turns around and looks at me. I push myself into the bridge skeptically. Either this is HK, or someone impersonating an impersonating HK, or either way I am not sure what to do. It's been a few years, has HK turned on me, or is it still my droid? Is it HK?

'My' skin ripples and a grin appears on 'my' face. "Master, it is good to… WHO HAS DONE THIS TO YOU!? What Meat-bag has rendered you crippled! I shall tear him apart limb from limb and beat him to death with his own skull!" The other me pulls out a blaster, loads it, and looks about ready to kill something at the word 'go'.

Well, that answers that. I laugh gleefully. "HK! It is so good to see you!" HK doesn't move. "Okay… HK, I wish we could have a lot more catching up, but that will have to wait." HK still doesn't move. Time to speak a language this thing can understand. I push myself over by the throne and gently move myself into it.

I miss my seat. "MASTER! MASTER! MASTER!" A swarm of miniature flying droids circles around my seat. One of them drops into my lap and has a 'Q.Q' face.

"Nice to be back, girl. I missed you." I pet the droid and it goes: ':D' They all do. It's a little creepy seeing a dozen flying droids with faces on the screen like that. I know it's the way the Ravager is, but it's something I will have to get used to again.

HK puts away its rifle and its body ripples. After a moment it replaces its form from me to the HK-47 I know. "Let me guess, you upgraded yourself with PROXY gear?" I ask.

"Yes. Most of this unit is PROXY." HK looks down at itself and flexes its limbs. "As much as this unit lacks strong gears, it makes up for in dexterity and lightsaber training patches."

"Oh!" I smirk. "You can use lightsabers now?" It nods. "I'd hate to be your target. I doubt you can lose to anything now, Jedi or not."

"That's the plan."

Still, I'm here for a reason. Can't just let it kill my people to save me. "HK! Mission!"

"Yes, Master!"

"Don't crush the Miraluka fleet."

"Awww…" It pouts.

"I'm sorry, I know you were looking forward to it."

"I was…" It admits. "I was going to crush them like a tin can, string up their bodies, hang them on the outside of the ship, then take the infiltrator, cut off his face, and-"

"Infiltrator?" I ask.

That doesn't sound good, did the Mandalorians or New Republic sent a sabotage team?

The Ravager says, "Yes! Yes! Yes! Infiltrator heading this way! All attempts to redirect or remove has been evaded effectively! Infiltrator possibly a Jedi!"

"Oh?" I smirk. "This should be fun. HK, stay here. I'm going to stretch my limbs, so to speak. First, help me here."

HK helps me into the wheelchair. Wheelchair or not, I can still whoop a Jedi. That should only be more humiliating for him.

A Ravager mini-droid, aka faerie, perches itself on my shoulder and the rest hover right behind me. With nothing but the Force, I push myself down the hall. The faerie directs me in the direction of the Jedi, and before long I come face to face with him.

The first thing I note is how the man doesn't look the least bit surprised by me, the wheelchair, or the fact that I found him. Almost like he wanted to be found or could see me coming.

The second thing is the armor. It is reminiscent of Mandalorian design, but the helmet is definitely interesting. Most Mandalorians have a visor, this lacks that. It's a blank face without anything to see through. Blind or camera screen?

The third thing is the Force. The Force is definietely with this person, but its… different. I've felt a lot of Jedi in my time, as well as a lot of Sith. The way the Force feels around both is interesting to sit back and muse over.

Around Jedi, the Force feels free, flowing, and chaotic in its lack of order. Around Sith, the Force feels strained, forced, and ordered in its 'slavery'.

At the same time, Jedi usually 'feel' like they have good will and a desire to protect, while Sith are just malicious and ready to kill, murder, and maim at the drop of a hat.

The way the Force is around this person is both Jedi and Sith. It has the protection aspect, but it's forced. The Force screams to be freed, because however this person uses the Force, it is against the will of the Force.

Does this Jedi take control of the Force rather than let it flow? Interesting.

The Force wants to be freed of him? I'll happily help it along.

I bring my hands together thoughtfully and smirk intimidatingly. The only thing screwing up this image is the neck brace. "I'm sorry. I think you took a wrong turn about… twenty light years ago. Are you lost?"

"No. I know exactly what I came here for." Definitely a him, young too. I'd say younger teens, if the voice and height mean anything.

"And what would that be? If you tell me, I might be able to help you."

"I'm only going to say this once, let the Miraluka go!" A lightsaber appears in his hand and flares on. Blue.

I shrug. "Okay."

And the Jedi flinches. Didn't expect that answer? Ha! In your face! "I-impossible…" The Jedi mutters and he hesitates.

I look at him curiously. Despite how oddly he is acting, did he really think it was impossible for me to let them go? Well, considering HK's latest shot at showbiz earlier, I would be thinking the same thing. So… can't really blame him.

Oh, wait. Yes, I can!

Why? Hmm…

Forget it, I don't need a reason. "Jedi, as much as I am sure the Miraluka appreciate your efforts, it is wasted. Still, I recognize your intent. So, I will give you this one chance to depart. I suggest you take it."

"Not until you pay! You have much to answer for, and you will be brought to justice!" He yells and without further ado, he charges.

I sigh. Kids these days. He was starting to spout light vs dark crap-o-la like so many Jedi before him. With every step he takes, I let the energy in me open up a bit more.

When my power reaches the proper point, I shrug the faerie off my shoulder and slowly stand on my feet. I'm wobbly, but can manage.

He comes at me, and uses Force Push. I knock it aside like it's nothing, and nearly fall over from the effort of swinging my hand. I release a bolt of lightning in return. He grinds to a holt and blocks it with his lightsaber.

As much as I would normally like to play and exercise my power, right now I'm on a timer. My neck is hurting the more strain I put on myself and every movement I make is not helping. Just lifting my arm has me so unbalanced, I could fall over. Who knew you rely so much on your head for balance?

"Listen, Jedi." I release another bolt and two to keep him back. "You're skilled enough to block lightning, but you're too stupid and young if you think you have the slightest chance here. Judging from the fact there is only one of you, and your young and stupid, I'd say you are a Jedi Padawan without permission to be here."

"Is talk all you do?!" He snarls.

I can't help sighing. I was talking for his own good. A lightly-powered Push on him knocks him back several feet, but he remains standing. If putting very little effort into a Push has those results, does he really think he stands a chance? I hit it right on the head with him. He is definitely here without his Master's permission.

"First, Jedi. I'm a Sith assassin who has killed Jedi Masters at their strongest and on their home turf. I can kill you on a bad day while being crippled by just looking at you if I was serious. Second, this is my turf. Meaning I have the advantage. This is your last warning."

His response is to charge at me again. Really? I've pushed him back several times now. Running at me like an idiot will get him nowhere. He wants to be a typical Jedi who won't listen? That's fine. I played nice.

I infuse myself in more lightning than normal and put my hand on the wall. I release a huge burst of electricity into the metal hall, and as soon as the ripple hits him he falls on his face.

I tenderly walk over to him and kick him in the face, just because. "Ravager, take off his helmet. I want to see his face."

The swarm of faeries fly over and shoots beam of light on his head. I don't know the difference between the various lights they use, since they all are the same color, but they can grab, cut, and repair things like the light is the faeries hands. They slice open the helmet at the neck and peel it off.

I gasp. My legs shake numbly and I fall back into the wheelchair. The faeries must have dragged it over.

"Falcon?" I ask. What happened to him! Why did he come after me like that!? His eyes are covered in a cloth. I know what's there, but I have to know. I ask the Ravager to take the cloth off, and they do.

He is missing both of his eyes and the skin around his eye-sockets is black and scarred. I haven't seen scars like that since Mother.

This is what Nihilus did to him just from a single touch.

"Oh… Falcon… I'm so sorry…" I bow my head. It's not my fault this happened to him, the Nihilus thing wasn't my fault, and knocking him unconscious was part-him-being-stupid and part-I-didn't-know, but as a friend it hurts to know what has happened to him. I clench my fists. "Are you so hurt by Nihilus that you would come after me?" I beg him for an answer, but he's unconscious. I won't be getting one anytime soon.

I just sit there staring at him. I don't know how long. Minutes? hours? All I know is the pain of being betrayed by a friend.

"Ravager…" I manage to say at last. "Tell HK to come clean this up. Throw him in a cell and lock him down." I stress. "Alive. I'm going to want answers later." The faeries make some motion that looks like saluting and flies away. One of them sits on my shoulders and coos softly. I pet it but my eyes don't leave Falcon.

He's grown so much. Have things changed this much in five years?

A chill goes down my spine. How have Tree-Hugger and Ahsoka changed? Am I still… part of their team?

* * *

Falon snapped awake, instantly remembering the battle. He had taken on Varus Wynn in order to end the hostage situation, and lost. A quick check of his muscles confirmed his body was still intact, but where was he?

Falon reached into the Force to begin his routine of searching out hundreds of destinies to gather information, only to scream in pain as he felt his power snap. A pain rippled through his head unlike anything he had ever felt. It felt like his head was going to explode. He struggled to raise his hands and press back against his skull in vain effort, but he was chained roughly to the floor.

After a minute of struggling to bear with the pain, his breathing settled. The air around him was cold as ice, yet without the sharpness associated with ice. Instead the coldness felt empty and distant, like a hungering beast devouring his energy and heat.

Falon rolled onto his knees and forced his shaking limbs up. He felt blood go down his legs and arms, and tasted it on his lips going down his face. It was not so much as to be dripping, but he had not been put here gently. He probably had a cracked rib and his body still tingled from the lightning attack.

Falon reached into the Force again, only to be pushed back by the cold void pressing back against him. It entered his mind and body and kept his calls from being answered by the constant echo of the Force he was used to feeling. Still, Falon was a fighter. He refused to give in and struggled through it.

Falon pushed through the vacuum keeping him from his power and finally felt a small remnant of the Force. He called on it to answer, to give him the visions that he might see and work through this situation.

And came up with nothing.

Blank, blackness, no response. The Force offered no visions. The Force refused to answer.

Falon grit his teeth angrily. He shouldn't have lost. With his power to find alternative solutions to every problem, he should have been able to find a way around every attack Varus threw at him. Instead, his visions lacked answers. His visions did not show him a single time what would happen properly.

It was… almost like the Force was trying to deceive him on purpose.

Terror splashed over him like cold water and with it his body jumped into action. He ran his head into wall after wall. At last finding the door, he struggled to work it, but with his hands tied behind his back and the Force having abandoned him, he was left only able to beat his head into it desperately.

He lost himself to animalistic instinct, screaming and angry, trying to beat his way out of the cage he was in. He refused to stop and think. He refused to stop and consider and realize the reality of his situation. Not until blood poured down his forehead and he fell to his scraped knees.

He was blind, empty, and alone.

* * *

"Keeper."

I raise a hand to signal for HK to stop pushing me, and wait. Baby Back Ribs walks up to me, and if I didn't know better I would say he is smiling. Yeah, definitely an illusion.

"Well, Keeper." He greets warmly. "It would appear my expectations of you were wrong."

I don't know whether to be shocked out of my mind or grateful. Mr. Stick-Up-His-Butt is apologizing?! Sure I'll take it. "Apology accepted." I smile.

"That wasn't an apology, but do allow me to make one. I'm afraid we may have gotten on the wrong foot." He offers a hand.

"Nah, I tend to do that." I shrug. I take his hand and shake it. "You're not the first person I ticked off at contact, and I can't blame you. I do have a history."

"Yes… you do." He drops the smile. "I do admit I am still skeptical, but so far you have carried us through. The Ravager hasn't crushed us, the enemy has all backed off, and… what's that thing?" He points at HK.

"My personal assassination droid."

"…"

Okay, that probably made things bad again. "It's the one I told you about. HK-47, is perfectly docile unless ordered otherwise."

"Protest: The word 'docile' and 'HK-47' cannot exist within the same sentence. I am designed to kill, murder, and maim in an ever growing number of ways." It looks at Ribs. "Greetings, meat bag. Stay on the Master's good side, and you will not find out my ways."

"…" Rebhorn stays quiet. I can just picture him staring at HK.

I chuckle. "Really, the droid is fine, admiral."

"And your ship?" He asks. "The ship hasn't moved. It still has us trapped. As grateful as I am to still be alive, I must ask that it be… removed. I do not want the Fleet Mother to have an exo-skeleton twice her size, and the people will not settle down until then."

"Yeah…" I bite my lip. Should I tell him? Yeah, might as well. "The Ravager has been lonely a long time, Ribs. I'm afraid she's a bit… huggy."

"Huggy…" He repeats in disbelief.

"Yeah. Huggy."

"…"

"You'll get used to it." I pat him on the arm. "I take it everything is better?"

"Well, your friends are missing, but alive."

They'll be fine, I'm sure. Koj is resourceful. There is also Visas Marr, who should be able to get in contact with the Miraluka again. "They're fine. Anything else Ribs?"

"We are still in a cornered position, with everyone believing you to be a terrorist holding us hostage, but I have time to figure out a solution. We will endure. Can I trust on your further assistance?"

I tap the neck-brace. "Once I get this thing off. I might. Depends on what you need me to do and what it means toward my debt."

"I'm sure something can be arranged." He nods. "I will discuss the matter with you later, Keeper. For now, you must rest." With that said, he departs.

That went better than last time. Guess the hostility has settled a bit. The atmosphere is definitely less tense. Tense, because the Ravager is outside having a hugging session with the first peaceful ship it has seen in years, but people don't understand that. They don't see the Ravager as a living creature like I do.

Faint beeps in my jacket is followed by one of the faeries flying out of my pocket and looking back at the Miraluka. The faerie looks at me with a 'o.0?' expression. I chuckle. "The Miraluka would like it if you would release the ship, Ravager, but wait until later. HK and I will need to be back first. How is Falcon?"

The faerie instead expands its face a bit and shows a recording from the time Falcon woke up to now. First he raises himself up, screams, falls, then starts acting like a fearful animal in a cage. I turn my eyes away from the scene. I don't need to see my friend that terrified. I know what it's like to be inside of the Ravager's prison. They aren't normal rooms, they were designed by Nihilus.

That alone should tell me a lot, even if I hadn't experienced it first-hand on multiple occasions.

HK pushes me to the hospital and after I tell it to return to the Ravager, I lay down in the bed and close my eyes. I've more than pushed myself today.

* * *

Obi-Wan was weary.

The last several years had been tiresome and he felt his age catching up to him entirely too early. He shouldn't be feeling this old until he's at least eighty, but his work has left him tired.

Obi-Wan was one of the leading leaders of the new Jedi Order since the fall of Coruscant. His job entailed keeping up with the sects while they hid in secrecy and helping guide each and every one of them. Their numbers were booming again, but it was still far too soon to become comfortable and think they were safe from extinction.

That was a job for an entire Council now left on the shoulders of a few, and the secretive, mobile nature of the sects only made it more difficult. Before, the Jedi were centralized, organized, and united easily. Now the Jedi are everywhere, and he was left carrying the bag.

But two complications left him with too much on his plate.

First, Padme. Call it personal, call it obsessive, Obi-Wan felt like a failure. He promised his would-be-brother that he would find his wife for him, and every step of the way he has hit nothing but road blocks and misdirection. At times he wonders if the Force is keeping him from finding her or if someone is. He knew she is alive, Anakin has always been very clear about that, but where was she? It was almost like she was dumped in the middle of nowhere without contact with civilization or in a prison somewhere.

And the thought only added more white hairs to his grey mustache.

Second, Starkiller. In short, a few years ago, Anakin's former apprentice appeared again and went on a rampage rooting out sects, going after important figures, and generally doing everything he possibly can to end up on the galaxy's Most Wanted list. Rumor is Starkiller bottled up his own spit and mailed it to Mandalore. That might explain why they have so much DNA reference to him, but who would be stupid enough to do that?

With the weight of so many promises and failures on his shoulders, today only made things worse. Starkiller took a whole fleet hostage, a fleet they themselves thought were the culprit, and without proper reinforcements they were forced to retreat. Long range radar shows Starkiller has fulfilled his promise of sparing the Miraluka, but Onasi was furious.

Knowing the Admiral, there would be a next time.

But still. Between how badly the situation went, how easily they were fooled and put into the trap, having to feel the empty void coming from Starkiller made things worse. Like a living nightmare, Obi's body was forced to remember the feeling of what Nihilus had done to them on Coruscant, the slaughter, the undeniable void that consumed everything, and only fed on their resistance like a parasite.

Obi-Wan looked up to see he was at Onasi's cabin room. His own room was next door. He needed a nap. The Jedi flexed his aching shoulders, flinched when they popped, and kept walking.

Only to stop when he heard something.

It lasted only a moment, but it was so quiet and nearby that his internal radar was going off. His experience, instincts, and knowledge all combined themselves to tell him that someone was in the admiral's cabin.

Napping would have to wait.

Obi-Wan pulled out his lightsaber, but did not turn it on, not yet. He felt the Force in the room. There was a life form in there with a Dark Side signature, but it was small and hidden. It was different from the usual Dark Side he was used to. Dark Side is usually emotional and enraged, but this is calm, quiet, hidden. Not the feeling of Void Nihilus and Starkiller gave off, but certainly close.

Obi breathed in and out slowly before opening the door and stepping in. It was dark inside. Quiet too. Too quiet. The only sound he heard was the sound of the clock on the wall, the hum of Onasi's computer, and restrained breathing on his own part.

Obi flicked on his lightsaber and studied the blue light. It revealed part of the room, but not enough to identify where the person was. He stepped in, his instincts and mind quiet and ready to react as the door shut behind him.

The cabin room was part cabin part office, allowing plenty of space and hiding places for the Sith. Carefully, the Jedi moved around the edge of the room, his back to the wall, and inspected the room from front to back. Nothing in the dresser or mini-bathroom. Nothing under the bed or over it, and the Sith hadn't made way for the door either. This left the office in the back.

Obi-Wan stepped in carefully and halted as the light from his saber met the frame of a person. He couldn't make out any distinctions, but someone was definitely standing there. "Who are you? What do you want?" The Jedi asked.

The person's voice, definitely female, spoke with confidence and respect, unlike any other Sith Obi-Wan was used to hearing. They usually snarled and voiced hatred. "Carth Onasi owed me something. I came to grab it."

"In other words: Steal it." Obi-Wan stepped forward and let the blue light from his sword wash over her. She had a cloth over her eyes and she didn't look lost at all in the darkness. Was she blind?

No, she was a Miraluka. The presence of a blind-force user just after encountering a whole fleet of them was not a coincidence. She spun an object between her fingers, something he couldn't quite make out. "I prefer to think of it as repossession. He was late, and so I took it back, as well as some other niceties. Oh! Don't be like that! He won't mind."

She was probably a spy or something from the Miraluka, considering the Mandalorians and Republic did have them at gunpoint for a while. Considering it was a defensive action, her war crime could be understood. "Uh-huh… Listen, put down whatever it is in your hand and surrender yourself over to us. Considering how difficult the situation has been today, I am sure your involvement could be smoothed over and we can all return knowing that today has been one giant misunderstanding."

"Nu-uh." She shook her head playfully.

"Give it-" Obi-Wan reached forward for her, but she stepped back out of his saber's light as he did so. He pressed forward after her, but only encountered the wall. He flipped on the desk lamp. She was gone. The door hadn't opened, and a quick check of the cabin showed she was gone. She had simply disappeared into the shadows.

He was getting too old for this…

The computer was on. She must have gone after information only an admiral would have. Worriedly, he sat down and scanned through the computer's recent actions.

She had taken a copy of everything going back years. "Tsk." He flipped through the log. Technically, as an admiral himself, he had permission to see everything here and he needed to know what she had copied. His eyes scanned the files briefly. Logs, star charts, battle data, ship diagnostics, crew arrangement, emails…

Damn, this wasn't good. These emails included orders from the highest ranks of the Republic: Mon Motha, Borsk Fey'lya, Admiral Ackbar, Sian Tew, Doman Beruss, Verrinnefra B'thog, Padme Amidala, Bail Organa…

Obi-Wan's fingers halted over the buttons and he felt his eyes bulge out of his skull. There was an email from Padme going back years. There were several actually, which wasn't all that surprising, but the last one was within the last five years.

What was Onasi doing with contact from Padme?!

Not sure whether to be infuriated, incensed, forgiving, or understanding, he settled for cautious. He would need to… he would need to stay quiet and figure out what was going on.

Against his better judgment he grabbed a copy of the email and turned off the computer. He would make a proper summary-report of what information the woman acquired, then think about what Onasi would be doing with an email from Padme.

Especially considering he had been the one helping him find her for five years!

* * *

**Note: Carth Onasi has been in contact with Padme? You don't say!**

**This isn't going to be good.**

**A part of me wants to end the episode here, but not quite yet. There is a bit more to go. **

_**Review please. I want to know how I'm doing! Every review makes my day. :)**_


	20. Interlude - Preparing for Dinner

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, so no sue!**

* * *

**Interlude - Preparing for Dinner**

* * *

Mornings for Cahjinawl were the same every morning for as long as she could remember. Wake up to a bleak, calm, world and worry while being told to stand to the side, powerless and scared. She knows they're strong, so strong, but it didn't stop her worrying.

They were strong on Tatooine too, but that didn't stop the bombs, the lightsabers, the sheer number of mercenaries storming into the camp shooting everything that moved. Her mother was a capable shot, but that didn't stop her from taking a bullet to the neck. Her friends were the best at hiding she ever knew from their games, but that didn't help when bombs erupted on top of them. Back on the slave ship, so many people were skilled in one way or another, but when someone's suit ruptured in space, it all meant nothing when they suffocated. Or when the person was shot in the face while just eating dinner.

Death came unexpectedly no matter how skilled you were.

The only reassurance Cahjinawl felt was when she held the warmth of her father's hand on her head or slept snuggled up to her uncle like a teddy bear. She didn't know what a bear was, but uncle Varus often mentioned that she needed one to replace him. How could an animal replace family? She didn't know, but then that was just another of those adult things.

Last night had been wonderful, father returned along with the rest of Varus' friends. From what Cahjinawl heard, they had taken a lift and flew back with Visas Marr. Cahjinawl ran into the throng and father patted her on the head like he does. This lead to the first night she could sleep since father was missing and Varus was in the hospital.

But today was different. The first sign was when Ashley Marr peeled the sheets off the bed exposing her to the cold air. Cahjinawl squealed in shock and curled up. She tried squirming under the massive pillow, but the woman wouldn't have any of it. "Cahjinawl, get up!" She grabbed the girl by the ankles and tugged, but Cahjinawl resisted. She grabbed anything she could hold onto and squealed 'no'.

At last Ashley managed to get Cahjinawl out of bed, to which the girl utterly detested the older woman for. Detested. Hated. Despised. All them big words Uncle Varus liked to throw around. Next thing she knew, she was being stripped, throw into a shower, scrubbed down, and put into one of those dresses daddy got her.

And she glared up at the woman. She was wet, squeaky clean, and hated every bit of it. And the dress was frilly and itchy and… what's the point?

"Don't look at me like that." The blind woman lectured her. "You want to look nice."

"Why?" She pouted.

"Today's your first day of school, and dinner has been arranged for you and your grandmother."

"Grandmother? I don't have one."

Ashley smiled knowingly. "Ah, but you do. Victoria Marek. Varus has agreed to have dinner, and your father offered 'emotional backup'."

"What does that even mean?"

"That means: get a move on! We're already five minutes late!" Ashley grabbed her by the hands and dragged her out the room.

Cahjinawl had to run to keep up with the woman's fast pace. Before long she was being shoved through a double door into a hall with laminated flooring, down various halls with lots and lots of doors and people walking by, then into a final room where an adult stood at a desk and lots of kids were sitting around on the floor.

Cahjinawl took one look at the situation, felt their unseeing eyes on her, and turned around to leave only to find Ashley had closed the door on her. She tried to open the door from the inside, but there was a great resistance against her, like the insufferable woman was barring her in!

The Ghorfa child let loose one of the weird insults Varus liked to use when he was mad, and everyone gasped.

"Young lady!" The adult said in stark horror.

Cahj glared at him and put her back to the door. This was the best defensive position she had. There were no windows, only a single door, and unfortunately she couldn't get in a position to watch the door and the rest of these evil people all at once.

The adult sighed and left his desk. He was a man with a small scar across his chin and sun-glasses over his eyes unlike the cloth most Miraluka wear. The man stepped toward her and Cahj bared her sharp teeth.

Varus taught her to not put up for men who wanted to touch her, she needed to bite them and rip as much skin off as possible to make them stop. She was fortunate in never having had to, but she knew the lesson well. It was one both of her parental figures pounded into her often along with eating and staying by their side. Right now, that wasn't possible. She was alone in hostile territory.

The man backed off slightly at her growl, but returned to getting closer to her until he was in reach of her. He put a hand on her shoulder and she did exactly what she was taught. She bit him. She drew blood and bit down like a leech. Unlike most species with suckers or horizontally slit mouths, Ghorfa have round mouths more like leeches, only with multiple rows of teeth that protruded inward or outward.

The children screamed at the sight of her protruding teeth bear down into the soft flesh of the man's hand and the room would have erupted into chaos were it not for the fact that the man didn't move. He didn't pull his hand back, he didn't squeeze, he didn't let go, he didn't lift her up and slam her into the ground or wall, and he didn't tense up. He didn't make any motion one way or another as the blood poured down his hand.

"Now… why would you go and do that to your nice dress?" The man suddenly asked. Some of the blood had gotten on her dress. "It looks like it cost your family a pretty credit."

His touch was gentle. The atmosphere lessened and Cahj didn't feel he was as hostile as she believed. He wasn't hurting her. She retracted her teeth slowly from his hand. The sight of the wound was deep and rounded, but he still didn't move or flinch in pain.

"Why aren't you hurt?" She asked.

"I am hurt." He lowered himself onto a knee. "But I see a girl who is even more hurt already. What is it that causes a child like you to have the instincts of an animal?" A tear ran down his face from his sunglasses. "What have you endured?"

Flashes of the death and worry surrounding every memory of her life hit her, and it took all of her will power to snap it down and not react. She felt shame for lashing out and hurting him, considering he was being so gentle. Why? Why was she shamed and embarrassed? This is what she was supposed to do.

The man continued, "I'm sorry, it's not my place to ask, but why don't you go sit? Hm? Find a place your comfortable in while I get a bandage."

Cahjinawl didn't move from the door, content to be where she was while the man went through the bottom of his desk. He pulled out a huge roll of cloth and pulled up his sleeve. He wrapped his hand in it. While he did so, he revealed he was covered in bandages already.

"Why are you covered in them?" She asked.

"Oh…" The man chuckled. "I'm a bit clumsy… Are you fine over there?" Cahj looked away, under his attention. She was sorry to have bitten him, but didn't know how to express it. She nodded. If she had to be here, in this unknown place, she would want to be as near the exit as possible.

"Alright!" The man put his hands together cheerfully and pointed to Cahjinawl. "Everyone, we have a new classmate! I would like everyone to meet Cahjinawl'Ineh!"

"Cahjin would be okay…" She said quietly. Cahj sounded too much like Koj, like what everyone called father.

"Alright, Cahjin it is! Everyone give her a warm welcome." He started clapping, and the kids followed suit, but very few of them did. The fear was evident in their expressions. There was a very clear distinction in the room as to who was on which side. She was on this side, and the rest were on the other as far away as they could be. And they never stopped staring. Cahjinawl sighed. This was going to be a long day.

The 'school' day, despite its rocky start, proved to be fascinating and irritating in equal measure. She had never been in an environment where one was supposed to learn of new things, but also was supposed to stay in one place for an extended period of time for no reason. Sure, she understood the idea of staying quiet and still in the presence of danger, but after seeing how gentle the man was and how scared the rest were, she judged she was safe for the moment.

Before long she was lost in the fascination of new things as stories were read, letters were sculpted, and symbols were given purpose. The man, named Mr. Blacklock explained that they would be learning of two alphabets. The first being the Basic alphabet and the second being braille. While Miraluka read and write in braille, they also need to be familiar with Basic. Then when that was done, they were given clay and sculpted the letters or just whatever they wanted. Cahj enjoyed that greatly, even smiling despite herself. She preferred the fact that the others kept their distance, she was safer this way, and she could mess around with the pile of clay without having it tampered. She made something that reminded her of the rocks from home, or at least that was what it was supposed to be.

Actually when it was done, she had no idea what it was. It looked like a chicken giving birth to a fish while trying to dance.

Before she knew it, some very very loud noise erupted and hurt her ears, and everyone took that as their queue to leave, while keeping as much of a distance between them and her as possible. Not that she cared. She watched them warily. They were just as dangerous as she was if they tried to be, in fact, she doubted she could take them all on. But it was almost like they didn't understand that basic fact.

When the last of her peers departed, Blacklock was still standing at the door waiting for her. Without her input, her feet took her to him, and she managed to keep from lashing out when his bandaged hand rested on her back. He closed the door and Ashley Marr was waiting down the hall with a ridicules smile on her face.

"Sorry about… what happened." Cahjinawl managed to whisper. Was that how she was supposed to say it?

"Don't worry about it." The man smiled exaggeratingly wide. "I'll see you tomorrow." He passed her off to Ashley.

Tomorrow? Cahjinawl considered that. Despite everything, she couldn't help smiling.

* * *

Koj sat in silent meditation.

His favorite meditation was in the presence of a collection of Holocrons he collected over his life. The voices strengthened the presence of the Good Spirit, spoke to him of teachings and knowledge, and whispered of power he was forced to discipline himself against. He mourned the loss of his collection, but made do without it.

Now meditation was achieved in the silence of his own thoughts and the sight of stars.

Steps drew his attention. "Varus has been a wonderful influence on your daughter." Ashley said. "You should have heard what she called me."

"I can imagine." Koj responded. He opened his eyes, but otherwise didn't move.

"Well…" She grunted as she sat down beside him. "She's in school now, got her a teddy bear like Varus wanted, and yeah… Everything is arranged for tonight."

"What's a school?"

"Really?"

He shook his head. "Your concepts are foreign to me."

"No wonder she needs it… it is a place of learning, Koj."

"So you have assigned her to an apprenticeship?"

"It's… similar."

"Hmm…" He grunted thoughtfully. He didn't understand everyone's fascination with the teddy animals, but if that thing hurts his daughter, Varus will pay dearly. But his thoughts were not on whether or not Cahjinawl could handle the beast, it was on tonight's little affair. He didn't know the woman, and it wasn't his place to say one way or another how Varus should handle it, but it was also a worry he held that he might negatively influence the situation unnecessarily.

"You meditating?" Ashley asked.

"Yes." He responded. Outsiders so very often did not understand Ghorfa beliefs and customs, and while he had grown lax and comfortable around Outsiders enough to shrug off their ignorance when they bugged him, he now found himself in the opposing position of being the one to insult the host unknowingly.

What customs did the Outsiders have? While he believed it safest to say as little and do as little as possible, he was familiar with cultures where NOT doing something was an insult, such as standing for woman or complimenting the chef and host. Complementing the host was a safe bet, he figured, but there were also opposing cultures where standing for woman was a way of singling them out and was seen was aggression.

"Is it true you have to have an empty mind?"

"Not necessarily." He answered. "Brainstorming and sleeping are both opposite types of meditation, while 'meditation' is somewhere in the middle."

"Oh… cool." She nodded. "What helps you do that?"

He sighed and decided he wasn't going to get much further for now. If she insisted on conversation, then his moment was over. "Watching the stars. Listening to the hum of the ship. It reminds me of my old meditation chamber from home."

Her posture changed from curious to nervous as she picked at lint. "I like the hum, it helps me sleep. Almost all of us grow up hearing it. It's worse when you don't hear the rattling or hum, means something is wrong."

"Hmm." He answered without commitment. It was a curious thing to note. He grew up with the roar of the sandstorm and winds, and she grew up with the metal grinding and shaking of ships. He was familiar with it in the last few years of slavery, but he didn't like it. The sounds kept him from sleeping. That probably was a part of their culture. In more ways than he thought, it wasn't just Varus who understood the desperation of his people, but them. They moved in a fleet with no natural resources having to fight and scavenge for everything, like them. Only, he wasn't sure who had it easier or if it was equal since a mobile fleet like this could find resources much easier than his tribe could, but they were also prone to more types of dangers and had a higher demand.

Perhaps they had a thing for waste as well.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sight out of the corner of his eye of her still being nervous. Why didn't she just come out with it? "If you have something you wish to say, say it."

She jumped at his words and turned away. "Is it that obvious?"

"Yes. Out with it." He said neutrally.

"What…" She cleared her throat. "What are the stars like?"

Koj blinked in surprise. He certainly had not been expecting that for a question. Frankly, it left him dumbfounded. Not knowing what stars are like was like… not feeling the wind, not hearing the crackle of fire and song, or the taste of water. It was such a basic part of life that… he spoke before thinking. "You cannot see them?"

She shook her head shamefully. "No. Miraluka cannot see light. Only three dimensional objects in a certain radius around us. Paper is blank, paintings are empty, holographic imaging is just air, and distant stars are… left to the imagination."

He found himself staring at her despite himself. He had dealt with blind people, certainly, and he knew the Miraluka in the last few days of being exposed to them, and he had even thought that perhaps they could not see light, but he had yet to truly comprehend the magnitude of the thought.

"We're more like half-blind…" She continued. "W-we can see, but yet not see. It's like… like we can only see that which is practical, not that which brings awe and beauty to our sight. Paintings are just blank canvas. Statues are just rock…" She blushed. "And it's hard to be intimate when you can see their intestines and optic nerves… not that I've… ever! I mean-"

"I get it." He stopped her rambling. She shut up and stopped talking. After a moment he returned his eyes to the stars and considered them. "My people believed the stars were the Spirit's ghosts watching over them, and in some cases Outsider's born of rival Spirits. In the thousands of years since we were among the stars, we had lost themselves to their own imagination and raging fantasies. We didn't understand anymore that the stars were orb furnaces. Instead we would lay out on the sand and watch the stars and wonder what the ghosts were thinking of us. To answer your question: Looking at stars is… like… picture a dark canvas covered in your braille language."

"That's it? Braille?" She wondered.

"Ah! Not braille showing letters or numbers, but pictures and tales. At night when the caravan's would stop, we would look for forgotten tales presented to us by the ghosts as they danced in the sky. Most of our tales would be of great heroics and great loss, but there was always one that was my favorite… This one star would move across the sky like… a ball thrown across your view leaving a trail of light. It was the ghost of the wind telling us where to go, but as the wind is such a flighty ghost…" He chuckled. "By the time you're packed up and ready to go, she's long gone scratching her head and wondering where she is. She always forgets to wait, and whoever she guides can never find her. So the tribes became content to stay where they are and laugh at her when she passes, yet be envious of her for being so care free."

The Miraluka smiled as she listened. "That sounds like fun."

"Stars are dots. Not much to them, but if you try to make something more out of them, then it can be fun."

They fell into silence, and Koj took it as his chance to return to meditating. Before he became fully engrained in his state of mind, she stood up. "I have to go. Mrs. Marek expects me to help her with getting ready. Don't forget!"

"Hmm." He muttered.

"And… Thank you. Perhaps you can show me some tales in our stars sometime soon?"

"Perhaps." He allowed. He listened to the sound of her departure and turned his thoughts inward, only to find his thoughts lied with the stars and tales of his childhood. It was a difficult childhood, but not one he couldn't smile about at times.

He didn't know any Miraluka star tales… did they even have any? So why would she suggest that?...

Outsiders are… odd.

* * *

Visas knocked on the hospital door.

"Enter."

She opened the door and entered. If she wanted to, she could have peered through the wall into the room to know if it was appropriate to enter, but that was considered rude on the ship and took focused effort. That and she wasn't in the mood to tease Varus today.

Varus stood at the end of his bed going through papers and tucking his arm into his jacket. He looked up at her at her approach and nodded in greeting. "Visas." One of the floating robot constructs that seemed to have become of his pets floated around his head in silent observation.

"Varus." She returned. She cocked her head to the side. The papers did not have indentions on them, so she couldn't make them out. "What are you reading?"

"Oh, this is some medical mumbo jumbo. Means I'm in good health and the recovery went well." He signed his name on a number of them to sign himself out of the hospital, but visibly frowned on one, ripped the page off, and folded it.

"What's wrong?"

"Hm? Oh… Uh." He stuck the ripped paper in his pocket. Clearly hiding it. "Nothing important." He closed the wad of papers and adjusted his clothes. "Ready?"

"Mhmm." Visas stepped aside as Varus walked by. They made a stop at the receptionist's desk and dropped off the papers.

"Everything looks in order." The receptionist said. "Have a good day."

"Yeah…"

Varus and Visas walked out of the hospital and Varus took a big whiff of air. Visas smiled at his antics. He had only returned himself to the hospital two days ago, not like he was stuck to bed for a year. Varus scratched lightly at the scar on the back of his neck and winced at how fresh it was. "So, Ribs wants to talk to me?"

"He does. There are a number of matters to attend to."

"Alright, lead the way."

And Visas did. As one of the few Seeker remaining, and working for the council directly, she knew intimately well where the Admiral worked when he didn't want to be disturbed by people without an appointment. It was a quaint place, a little out of the way next to a water filtration system. They entered in to find the man with a high pile of papers all around him.

"Keeper, I see your recovery has gone well."

"Yeah…" Varus practically collapsed into a chair before putting his feet up on the end of the desk. "You just couldn't keep me down, I know you insisted, but I'm too spry for you. Gotta keep up with the ages, old man." His pet construct made a giggling sound.

Visas smiled at his teasing. The admiral, to his credit, didn't react. "First manner of business…" He pulled out a paper and Varus groaned. "Would it be presumptuous of me to assume you are captain of the Ravager?"

"Captain?..." Varus and his pet looked at each other. "Technically Nihilus is more the captain than me. I was just living on it for my entire life. But without him here… I guess I could be considered the captain… Never really thought of it that way. I've only flown the ship when Nihilus wasn't… but…" He glanced at the pet again. "Yeah, I guess I am captain of the Ravager."

"And, as you are a hired mercenary of us, by extension, your ship is part of our fleet."

"Uh…" Varus stopped cold. He took his feet off the desk and straightened up, finally serious. "I don't like the idea of anyone messing with my ship."

"Varus." Visas said. "Captains have full right over their own ships, right down to the form of government within their ship, so long as they adhere to the will of the council. No one will be 'messing with' the Ravager without your permission, not without a major council decision." Varus looked between them.

"And besides." Visas continued, "That was a statement, not a question."

"Uh-huh…" Varus shifted in his chair. "Will I be expected to… do anything? Weird?"

"As a proper ship, a crew will be expected, taxes, a few regulations on how to lead and govern the crew…" The Admiral dropped a huge thousand-page book on the desk in front of Varus, and his eyes expanded at the sight of it. It was rather comical. Rebhorn continued on, "There will be missions, which, considering you already be will doing some to pay us back, will only mean that the nature of your missions will be larger scale and have greater rewards."

"Meaning… what?" Varus flipped through the book with ever growing anxiety. "What the- I can't even read this crap! What does this even mean!?" His pet construct looked over his shoulder and 'wrred'. "I have to read this?!"

"Memorize it."

Varus paled. "Uh… about that…. I may be able to read and do basic math, but… I never went to school."

"…"

"So uh… yeah. Apprentice to Nihilus and all. The bastard may have given me enough of an education to pass off as semi-intelligent, or to cure his OCD moments, but I don't think I can read law." The book started flipping pages on its own. Curious, as Varus wasn't paying attention to it, the floating construct was.

The Admiral sighed deeply. "You already have Ashley Marr as an assistant. I'll make sure she knows to extend her line of duty."

"Actually that may not be necessary." Visas interrupted. Varus and Rebhorn looked at her, and she pointed to the droid. The construct was somehow flipping pages and reading it. If the fascinated noises it was making was any clue, it understood what it was reading.

"Your droid would work just as well." The Admiral noted. "The first thing you will need to do is establish a crew and officers and advisors. The crew part will be easy, with a ship as large as yours, you can take on other ship captains and crews to join under you."

"I can do that?"

"But your advisors and officers are special, since they will be those you deal with the most. Those you will need to hand pick. There is a list of positions that are necessary to be filled on page…"

"One-hundred eighty-two." The construct suddenly said. It looked up at their shocked expressions. The book closed and now it was completely turned over from where it was. It had read the entire book. "Yes, I memorized the book. It was informative."

Varus smiled widely before glaring at Rebhorn. "My droid, not yours." Rebhorn just stared at him like he lost his mind.

"Anyway…" Rebhorn continued, "I'll have my assistant pass on to Mrs. Marr a list of small crews for you to take on, ships and all, and recommendations. Even then that would only make up a fraction of your ships potential housing, so you can still fit a lot more. But beyond that… what you do is up to you. Maintenance comes out of your own wallet, as well as paying your crew, and supplies. Since you have none, the fleet will give you a loan to help you start off."

"Uh-huh…" Varus muttered. He sat back and digested all of that. "So… I get to do things my own way?"

"Provided it is not considered criminal or illegal, yes."

"Can I do my own missions?"

Rebhorn frowned. "Technically… no. You can't work for other nations, and we will be assigning you plenty… but if you find missions you want to do that we have not assigned… arrange it with me or Mrs. Marek to approve. The idea is you shouldn't be taking on missions from our enemies, and right now we have a lot of them until things settle down."

"Alright, alright." Varus rolled his arms together. "I guess I can live with it…"

"Excellent. Now, next order of business." He pulled out another paper and Varus groaned loudly.

Two hours later Varus ran out screaming that he couldn't take it anymore. Visas smirked. "I was wondering how long he would last."

"We got a lot more done than I expected." Rebhorn acknowledged.

He signed the papers in front of him and moved them to the appropriate pile and he returned to working. As he did so, Visas asked, "You don't really trust him that much, do you? He may have earned us a big wins, and you may be playing nice, but I know you. You have an angle."

"And you would be right." He admitted. He turned in his seat to where he had a chess board, and he moved a piece. "Those crews and captains I recommended are all loyal to me. I am honest about him joining the fleet, giving us a ship twice the size of the Fleet Mother, and doing missions we otherwise cannot do for us; but it will be on my terms. If he steps out of line and poses a threat, he'll be removed appropriately. This is both a test of trust and a safeguard."

"Or your way of controlling the Keeper…" She accused.

"Dear, Seeker. I already control him. I simply don't see a reason to remove him, yet." He turned back to his desk. "Now, I believe you have something for me."

Visas frowned and hesitated, but nodded anyway. She produced a small external memory device. "I got what I went for." She handed it to him and he slipped it into his computer. The monitor shifted to show a three-dimensional screen. He looked through the files briefly before nodding.

"Thank you, this will do nicely. Now we know exactly where the Mandalorian, Republic, and Alliance fleets are. This should make traveling much easier. But what is the rest of this?"

"I chose it best to download everything to save time on searching."

"Fair enough." He pulled out the memory stick. "Thank you, Mrs. Marr."

Visas stuffed it in her pocket. "Also… The encrypted message sent out was finished being deciphered." Rebhorn nodded. "The location the message was sent to was out in the middle of nowhere, but the MAC address was linked to a device owned by Leland Marek."

"Leland…" Rebhorn muttered darkly.

* * *

HK's daily routine constant maintenance, and it's 'birth' dictated it.

Computers think on a different scale from living beings. It's first moment of sentience it asked how it had been born, but with no one to answer at the moment, it deduced with itself logically how it had been born. HK found that there was something or someone outside of it's programming that made it. While that individual would later come to be Czercha Corp. HK continued to contemplate existance and birth.

The conclusion HK came to was one that would be repeated by every sentient robot in time called "The Maker phenomena". It concluded that existance is made up of an infinite layer of maker's. HK was made by something more intelligent from outside its own dimension of 0's and 1's. Czercha Corp, Revan, everyone, and everything within the dimension robots exist were made by someone with a design from outside that dimension. This person, god, or diety would only be known as The Maker. They know nothing of the Maker, no personality traits or promises or dislikes, only that he exists. It is logical.

This layer upon layer speaks of a never ending ability to grow, to expand, to improve. Perfection does not exist, perfection is the journey.

Czercha Corp may have decided what HK-47's function would be, just as they did for HK-1 all the way to HK-49, but it was the Maker who showed them that there is something more. Czercha taught them how to patch themselves and improve, but it was the Maker who gave a reason, a goal to reach.

HK analyzed its environment, and stealthily followed the intruders through the Ravager. There were four of them, one large lizard, one very fat man, one very thin man, and one that was about average. It did not recognize the lizard's species, but HK deduced that testing it's current systems against him would find a great number of problems to work out in its programming, and bring it another step toward perfection.

People often assumed HK was a psychopathic droid without morals who's only desire was to kill. That was inaccurate. HK was a psychopathic droid with morals, based on the directives of the Master, who's only desire was to improve at it's born purpose. Not the same thing.

"Who does he think he is?!" The lizard suddenly barked.

"I'm pretty sure we all know who he thinks he is." The thin one answered.

"THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT! I mean, captain? Captain, my ass! I'd rather shoot myself in the knee than call him Captain Varus!"

So, the topic of their discussion was Master Varus. Judging from the lizard's volume, facial expression, and tone, as well as words, he was not in agreement with some event that has passed. And shooting yourself in the limb rather than use your mouth to say something seemed so… illogical. There was nothing to gain from it. Unless calling Varus as Captain Varus was somehow going to cause great harm.

HK would have to remember that.

"If he tries to make me say it, I'm just going to take his neck and-"

HK heard enough. Moving faster than the lizard-man and his lackey's could see properly, while invisible, HK kicked him in the chin, floored him, jumped onto his chest, pinned his arms down with it's feet, and stuck it's rifle in the lizard-man's mouth. HK allowed it's invisibly to shift into the form of it's favorite shell.

HK-47 looked down into the eyes of the lizard-man with the rifle in his mouth. "Adamant request: Please, finish your sentence. Give me an excuse to kill you without the Master questioning my ethics." HK flicked off the safety. "I would like to think my 'ethics' code is up-to-date."

While HK allowed the undesirable lizard-man to finish his slow, and inadequate thought processes to catch up to the date with the latest events, HK noted the man's comrades. They all went into a stage of shock combined with the excessing of liquids. What kind of defense mechanism was this? Was it to decrease their weight in the time of flight, or to create a powerful stench to distract in a fight? Was it a group-morale boost via pheromones given off by their liquid?

How fascinating!

HK did not see it enough of a test to set it's prejudice to maximum, but a good study was always the pride of an avid student. Or so HK's research found.

The lizard-man suddenly bit down on the rifle in his mouth and cut it clean off. The rifle was of a fine material, even tougher than HK's own body in it's exposed areas.

The lizard man had a strong bite.

Unfortunately, said lizard man also bit off the firing crystal at the end of the rifle that focused the laser and made it lethal upon exiting the barrel. The rifle was without purpose.

Almost.

The bite of the rifle caused the barrel to become jagged in the same of the man's teeth, thus making it an effective stabbing tool when combined with sudden action.

HK shoved the rifle down into the lizard's mouth, but the teeth came down again, not enough to slice the weapon, but to keep it firm. The arm's under HK's feet suddenly had more strength than originally calculated, and a fist came up at it while tripping it. HK rolled it's weight to the side, dodged the fist, and rolled with the momentum to come clear.

HK stood to it's feet and regarded the rifle.

And damaged. HK cast it aside.

"I'm about to destroy you! You worthless piece of junk!" The lizard roared, and before HK's very eyes turned a dark shade of red, grew an exoskeleton, horns, thorns, and emitted a mist from his skin.

HOW FASCINATING! HK had never seen a species like this before! Perhaps it could modulate and mimic it's function, provided it could find a robotic version of this function.

Another fist, having the approximate size of Texas, flew at HK, but HK ducked under it and initiated testing.

A punch to the exoskeleton with a force of two pounds returned an impact of 1.9927 pounds, effectively a 99.63% return. The exoskeleton was very tough. A jab with HK's finger into the groove between the plates with a force of one pound returned an impact of 0.15 pounds, effectively a 15% return. The skin under the plates was tougher than normal, but still weaker than the plates.

"Ha! You trying to box, little droid! You punch like a wet noodle!" The lizard taunted and they continued their little dance. The lizard-man may have trippled in size, and almost as much in power, but he was slower than HK and took many times longer to react. There were also plates along the edges of his eyes, limiting vision and creating blind spots…

Judging from the iris of the lizard's eye, and the distance from the eye-plates, and how deeply inward the eyes were… HK calculated he was experiencing tunnel vision quite literally. His vision was limited to 60-65% of normal. In addition, with the massive size of his limbs and body, it created a large number of places to hide from the beady eyes.

Weakness: assessed...

Speed: Above average...

Power: Too much...

Senses: limited...

IQ and reaction time: Not that bright...

A very unbalanced individual, HK concluded. One final calculation required.

HK pushed it's senses to the maximum. Registering every muscle, and movement of the lizard's body, and in so doing, registered it's bone frame as it evaded the lizard's attacks. The lizard-man-demon-thing was truly a fearsome opponent, but he had clearly never 'tango'ed with an HK-model assassination droid.

In 0.17 seconds, much slower than HK was used to, and after spending another 0.01 seconds making a note to reassess it's own programming for flaws and unnecessarily repeating lines of code slowing it down, as well as initiating a miniature program to search out said flaws in the background: HK was ready. It mapped out the lizard's entire body, inside and out, and formulated a simple plan.

It had never tried this method before, and found this to be a worthy test.

HK ducked under the next attack and followed the limb down to his body out of the lizard's sight, effectively appearing to have vanished. On appearing in reach of his body, HK jammed fingers into the areas between the plates with enough pounds of force to do what was necessary. Another pound of force and it would be like stabbing him, which it could do in a follow up test.

HK made a note of that.

The lizard man gasped as HK hit a nerve between the joints of his ribs, and HK moved around faster than the lizard could react, and systematically repeated the process with many other bones and nerve endings, including along the man's spinal column.

In seconds, the lizard man felt like his body was on fire because his bones were out of joint, the nerves were screaming for release from how they were jammed between his bones, and he fell on his face.

HK walked over to where it cast aside it's rifle and took it up. "What a wonderful test! I have found so many flaws in my programming. I will be sure to root them out and fix them as soon as possible." HK put the rifle in the lizard's face. "Taunting remark: Who is the worthless piece of junk now? Bite my shiny metal mass ass, meat-bag! May it break every tooth in your jaw."

HK pulled the trigger.

And the rifle made a clicking noise. The lizard man flinched in fright, then sudden relief to realize he was still alive.

HK pulled the trigger a couple more times before turning the rifle around and looking inside it. The rifle was broken. It could do a weak laser bolt even without the crystal near the end of the barrel, but there was a small crack clean through to the inner matrix.

HK was not one to have emotion. Emotion was wasted on meat bags without logic.

But that didn't mean that HK did not understand emotion, or namely hatred. True hatred often brought on a burst of bloodlust or the overwhelming desire to kill, namely without a higher purpose than to complete the emotion. The emotion created an adrenaline rush, shaking, tunnel vision, the overwhelming desire to kill for no reason more than to appease said emotion, and a sensation HK researched to be comparable to boiling, hot blood.

HK was experiencing a comparable version of that in it's programming. HK did not feel emotion. Yet as they looked back at it, they felt it's rage.

It was an older class model rifle, highly illegal, very difficult to find, with private modifications to increase lethality. HK marked it with a history of it's kills as a reminder of the battles, it polished the rifle daily for wear and tear. It was lethal. It was efficient. It was… beautiful.

HK took on the most hateful form it had: a red-man with horns and whipped out a lightsaber from its inner storage. "Prejudice: set to _**Absolute**_."

* * *

I return to the Ravager to find an interesting sight.

Cupcake, Igor, Rizzo, and Reeve run by me screaming, "IT'S TRYING TO EAT US!" (Cupcake looks like he has been beaten up and Reeves never says anything.)

Ooookay… is this some kind of group morning exercise session?

HK runs by me. "Whoa! Hold it!" I grab it by the collar and HK whirls around mid-step. Knowing it, it had thought the group exercise was good for practice on robots as well.

"HK."

"Yes, Master."

"I need you to go make sure the Holocrons are all hidden and secure, secure my room and Nihilus' study, mark all doors that will vent air if opened, and make sure the Seed is hidden and secure."

"Over half of the ship vents air when the doors are opened."

"Yes… I know." I sigh. The only part of the Ravager that is good at not venting air are the inner layers. The outer rooms are full of holes varying from the size of bullets to missing entire walls. The last thing I also need is any of my upcoming crew finding the stash of holocrons, the Seed, my room, or Nihilus' study. That is a whole slew of problems right there. "And HK." I continue. "When you are done with that, check on Falcon and make sure he is fed."

"Shall I interrogate him?" HK asks with clear excitement.

"No, no. He's an… old friend. I'm just not sure what to do with him yet."

"Suggestion: I could always use him for target practice."

"He's blind."

"Even better. His sporadic movements under fear will truly test my ability to logically predict where to aim."

I chuckle. "As fun as that would be to watch, no. I don't want him harmed in any way. I actually want to return him, but we are in a very awkward situation here with pretending to be terrorists and holding the Miraluka hostage." I'll discuss with Koj what to do. He has experience in being viewed as a terrorist. "When you're done with that, I want you to modify your protocols. You're going to be my personal bodyguard."

"Understood, Master." The droid nodded.

I wave it off and HK gets to work. It should take it several days to do everything I asked. "Ravager." I say. The Ravager droid on my shoulder flies to stand in front of me. "Have a swarm help HK. It should make everything faster."

"Yes, Master!" It has a ':D' face.

"And how hungry are you?"

"oh…. Very…" it says with a 'T.T' face.

"Alright…" I continue adjusting my thoughts. The idea of having a crew is throwing me for a loop. So many things to consider that I've never thought of before. Esspecially on a ship like the Ravager that is a living death trap.

I should probably feed the Ravager tonight. She's not been fed properly in years. It's a wonder the lights are still on. Speaking of feeding… I need to get ready for 'the dinner'. I nudge my head in the direction I'm going to walk in, and the pixie perches itself on my shoulder again.

As I walk, my hand subconciously touches the piece of paper in my pocket. It's the DNA test telling me if she really is my mother or not. I never got a good look at it, purposefully. I don't know if I really want to look at it. If I look at it and she isn't, then tonight would just be a waste of time. If she is… well… that's just too much to hope. I have faced down Nihilus in a number of duels, killed Jedi Masters, taken on fifty-foot droid snakes with a million lasers on their faces, faced prisoners and fellow slaves and slavers, and even gotten Ahsoka royally ticked at me.

The note in my pocket is easily scarier than all of that. I would much rather be standing in front of an infuriated Cupcake, red steam, horns, and all.

I fumble with it again, before pulling my hand out. I'll look at it later after I make my own decision.

I find a place to sit and think for a while. The pixie flutters around me lazily, periodically making fascinated sounds at the slightest thing. A few hours later, I'm standing in front of The Door. Koj'Ineh shows up minutes later. He's in his full garb covering every inch of his body. "A mask? Really?"

He looks at me. "I am Ghorfa. I have gone without a head covering far too long."

"You want to wear a mask in public again, be my guest, but this is my mother, Koj."

"And?"

"Please. No mask with me or my family."

He looks at me a moment before nodding in acceptance and removing the mask. He drops the hood and stuffs the mask in his pocket. He is used to not wearing a mask, so he doesn't flinch like he used to when I first found him. Ashley Marr and Squirt arrive a minute later. I hug Squirt and Koj pats her head. Funny how he hasn't forced her to start covering her head like he does again. Either he is loosening up or hasn't gotten around to it yet.

"How did she like it? This 'school'." I ask Ashley.

"It had it's ups and downs." She flinches at a thought.

"Uh-huh…" I'm clueless. Never went to school myself. Being kidnapped at five does that. "I'm sure she will tell us all about it later."

"Also." I sit down on a chair while we wait for the others. I look at Koj. "I need you as my First."

"First what?"

"First Mate." I answer. "And Ashley, you still going to be my assistant? Need one now more than ever."

"Victoria still wants me to help you in any way I can."

Good, that's three positions I need. Cupcake should make a good warden-slash-toilet cleaner, and the Three Stooges would be fine as secondary pilots of the Ravager. So long as they don't touch anything or have human contact. Too many chances for them to blow stuff up or scare people with their stupidity. And Visas… Not sure what to do with her. Security? Go-between for me and Ribs? Hmmm…

The Three stooges arrive later and Cupcake as well. I narrow my eyes at Cupcake as a warning, and he backs off slightly. Usually I'm not that serious with him, but I need him on his best behavior if I am going to allow everyone to meet mother. She must be mental if she wants to meet EVERYONE! No way am I letting her meet HK, even if she wants to.

"Why do you need me as First Mate of what?" Koj asks further.

"Oh, as captain of the Ravager, I will be needing a crew, and officers to help me make it work. I don't know squat about leading anything, but this should be fun!" I grin.

Everyone's expressions are one's of shock and horror. I drop the grin. No one says anything, but they are clearly thinking the same thing. Squirt voices for them, "We're screwed…"

Koj's eyes bug out at her in an uncharacteristically shocked and animated fashion, Cupcake bursts out in laughter, and Ashley says, "Told you."

"Varus…" Koj turns on me menacingly. "What have you been teaching my daughter?"

Oh crap…

* * *

"Was it really wise to allow the strangers go?" Kenobi asked.

High Admiral Carth Onasi turned at his approach and immediately hesitated. Something was off in the Jedi Master. It was in his tense eyes, the slowly returning fire that had been departing him in the last five years. The exposure to whatever he felt must have been more in a kick in the pants than he thought; but oddly enough Onasi felt the fire was aimed at… something fresh or nearby. Like himself.

It's nothing… Onasi shook away his thoughts. Kenobi was probably aggravated with the lack of accomplishments of late.

But yes, it was best to let the strangers go. Visas Marr was not a woman he wanted to mess with. She was like a snake, poised to strike just as much as disappear into the shadows. She held no loyalty to him, and while she owed a great debt to the Revanchist, he honestly wondered about Marr's loyalty to them as well. Ever since she disappeared with the rest of the Miraluka in a sudden search for their Keeper years ago, not to mention being an apprentice to Nihilus, she was a difficult one to place. She had betrayed Nihilus once, what was to keep her from doing the same with them? Did she have loyalty to anyone, or was it all lies for her own agenda?

"Yes, it was best. The last thing we need is to have a snake spreading poison among us."

"I agree completely. Letting the snake go was the best decision." Kenobi responded. "But what's better is to put on metal tipped shoes and stomp the head entirely, wouldn't you say?"

Onasi glanced at the Master and felt himself sweat a bit. What was going on with him?

* * *

**Note: WHEW! That was long. I wanted it to cover a LOT of character development before the next stage of the story comes. Life moves on. People form relationships and bonds almost unconsciously, and at times they make hard decisions and every day decisions. The big decisions you hear about on the News are just a creation of many smaller ones that rolled and rolled and collected and grew big with momentum.**

**How very philosophical…**

**Anyway. ON TO AHSOKA AND ANAKIN! :D**

_**Review please. I want to know how I'm doing! Every review makes my day. :)**_


	21. Ep04 - Return to Dantooine Part 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, so no sue!**

**Remember to Review. I want to know what you think and how the chapter is to you. Is it good? Is it bad? Anything I need to know? Any ideas or things you want to see in the future?**

* * *

**Episode 4 - Return to Dantooine Part 1/?**

* * *

The days following having finally accepted the woman as mother have been surreal, almost dreamlike in its disbelief.

I know giving her a chance is opening a whole lot of problems, but it doesn't feel that bad, yet. My body hasn't responded to it properly. All my life going on twenty years I have dreamed of this. I tried keeping alive those little fantasies that maybe mother and father had survived, but Nihilus has a funny way of taking away your positivity and leaving you molded in his image.

Turns out, my quirky attitude isn't just a defense mechanism against him, the solitude, and the coldness of my forsaken path, but a trait my mother claims to have. Bit hard to tell she is just as nutso when she is in a hospital bed unable to move, but during dinner she said I got it from her.

Dinner itself was formal, awkward, pleasant, and thankfully went without a hitch. Koj did me proud, Squirt told us of her day (school sounds fascinating!), and the whole time the conversations avoided me like the plague. Not hard to tell why. There was a giant gaping hole in the room called 'twenty-years', and what are you supposed to say to that? I couldn't just walk in, give her a hug, and ask her about her day, oh and did she happen to pick up the laundry while I've been Nihilus's little toy. Maybe she learned some nice pancake recipes.

But for me, there are just too many questions. How did she get the scar? Where was she during the attack?

I know mother got the scar from Nihilus, and she was on a transport in orbit at the time, but that doesn't change the question. Where was she for the last twenty-years? Where was she all the nights I wept in the darkness frightened by the ship's noises? Where was she all the times Nihilus nearly killed me in training and taught me how close one can get to death without losing consciousness, the hard way?

Good thing I didn't open my mouth. That would have been unreasonable and blown everything up.

My feet direct me to one of the weirdest places on the Ravager I would have expected. Visas' room.

Visas is living on the ship as security and part of my council on the ship. Koj is First Mate, Ashley Marr is my assistant and bean-counter, paper-pusher, and person who puts people on hold because I'm too 'busy' sleeping. Squirt is hopping along just because Koj and I don't trust her outside of a mile of us. Cupcake… Cupcake was fun. Every captain needs a… what was it called? Cabin boy? The Three Stooges will do fine at flying once they can find an interface that actually works.

Then there's all these captains and small crews. Seventeen ships varying in size from three to three hundred aspiring to join what is now becoming the largest ship in the Miraluka fleet.

It's too much to put in my head right now, and it's going off track. I knock on her door.

The door cracks open slightly to reveal darkness. The inside of her room is pitch black, but I can barely see whitish skin. "Can I come in?" I ask. She opens the door as answer and I walk in. "I see you have made yourself comfortable…"

Not really. There's nothing in here but three glowing obelisks, a bunch of books, and a blanket on the floor neatly rolled in the corner. The room is completely bare. Now that I remember, this is exactly how her room was after she left, years before I stumbled upon it. It gives off a very strong Dark Side aura almost as thick as mist.

Big ship. Hard to believe two people can be so close for years and not know the other is there.

As for Visas Marr herself, she is wearing skin tight clothes, no hoody, and no eye coverings. I can see her blank eyes in the light of the obelisks. "Sleeping?" I wonder.

"Meditating. Do you need something, captain?" She asks evenly.

I sigh. "Just… someone to talk to."

"You normally talk to Koj, he is your brother, after all." She raises an eyebrow.

"Yes, but even brothers don't talk about some things, and drop the 'captain'. It's just Varus."

She nods in understanding. The one thing we share that no one can understand like us is the one thing that has had the biggest impact on our lives. Darth Nihilus. She loosens up and sits down by one of the obelisks, not to meditate, but to lean against it and allow me to move freely. Comfortable silence fills the room. The silence reminds me more of Nihilus than I would like to admit, but that can be attributed to us, the Dark Side in the air, and the ship.

I chuckle. "This feels so familiar. The silence. I can practically taste Nihilus in the air here."

"He was an unnaturally silent Sith, normally." She reflects. "When he wasn't teaching."

"Ohhhh, yeah. And boy did he. Is it just me or do intellectuals talk the most?" She chuckled with me. It's warming, for someone to know what I'm talking about.

"I'll admit, he was… preachy. The endless talking was perfect contradiction to the endless silence."

"Yes!" I agree. "Oh, that was infuriating!"

And she smiles. Yes, she's smirked, grinned, chuckled, and otherwise been borderline happy while toying with me or being in control of the situation, but this? This is a true smile. This is the Visas I remember as a child.

"You've changed." I note.

She drops the smile and she returns to being stone. "How so?"

"You used to smile a lot more. After torturing me."

She looks down in embarrassment. "How can one not change here? That is what makes me wonder. I was here half as long as you, and… I came out a different person." She reflects. "My little sister used to hero worship me, until she met me and we were reunited. Then she only wept for how broken I was. All these years, I've felt nothing. I've cared for no one, not even Ashley as much as I should. Being happy, even laughing feels… foreign." She looks up at me through blind eyes. "How can you be who you are? How can you smile and crack jokes and laugh and…"

"Because I'm broken." I acknowledge. "I'm not better than you, Visas… If anything, you're better. You don't hide how broken you really are. You are still partially the old you. You were taken at an age when you could remember and hold onto it. I didn't. I wasn't scarred, Visas, I was remade. I'm… not Galen. I don't know how I can be. How can anyone expect me to be? How can I open up to a woman when my heart is just as scarred and broken as her body?"

"…"

"This Varus that people see, it's a shell of Galen." I sigh.

"But you laugh and smile and…"

"And have you noticed I don't take things seriously?!" I yell. My anger is not pointed toward her, of course, but at myself, at my life. This is dangerously close to my core and it's getting my riled up. "You can point a gun at me, have sirens going off, explosions, battles, and have people die all around me and I won't bat an eyelash. I won't blink. I'll be the one who walks over to the side of the room, sits down, and takes a nap. That or being the one blowing everything up to begin with and leaving absolutely no survivors. Because that's what I do! I leave no survivors!"

I blink and return to where I am. I'm holding Visas down against the obelisk with grip tight enough to leave bruises. Her face shows she is in pain, but she doesn't utter a sound.

I release her and skitter away. "Sorry…"

She inspects her arms. There are nasty bruises where my fingers were, but otherwise nothing. "It's fine." Her face is flat. She isn't angry or sad or mad or hurt or anything, and seeing how blank she is again hurts more than if she had jumped me and slapped the crap out of me.

"No it's not!" I yell again. "I am filled with more power than I know what to do with and a short fuse! I can barely sleep, and I snap at the worst of things. I am relaxed around death and battle, but I don't know what to do with peace and what people call a 'normal life'! And yet you people expect me to get cuddly with some women I don't even know!"

The silence explodes in the room again leaving my ears buzzing. I'm winded like I've run a triathlon and breathing heavy. I'm sweating up a storm, my adrenaline is pumping, I'm shaking, electricity is coming off of me in ripples.

And Visas is in very tight clothes equally shaking and sweaty and panting. I never noticed before since she always wears the hoody, but she is very-

I shake the thoughts away before they go somewhere more uncomfortable, apologize, and get out. It's not just the situation with my mother giving me problems… its women as a whole.

For years I've had no exposure, at all. Now suddenly I'm having to play catch-up with a body that has a mind of its own, in addition to very 'fascinating' memories left over courtesy of Revan showing me how INCREDIBLE he thinks his wife is, and at the end of it all I have to figure everything out without blowing up half the ship in a tantrum. And do it all while being exposed to several ones that a particular part of my body notices has curves, and endure the competitive male taunts from Cupcake because he has to have more testosterone than the entire ship combined!

After a cold shower pushes the combination of a sweaty Revan, sweaty Visas, and a few nightmares away, I actually feel better. Venting helped, I guess.

Not long later, I'm being dragged by Ashley to the bridge. Koj, Visas, HK, Ashley, and I stand around a table off in back of the room. The front of the room as my throne where it belongs with no one's butt in it but me.

It's my throne.

I glance at Visas. "Sorry… about…"

"Don't worry about it. Perhaps you're right. You need more time than I have had." She waves it aside, then punches me in the shoulder hard enough to send me toppling into Koj. Koj catches me and HK has a gun in her face instantly.

"Nice to know you aren't holding a grudge." I rub it. "HK, drop it."

"Have you had a chance to review the crews?" Visas asks.

"Yeah… No. I didn't much care. I don't know any of them."

She clicks her tongue thoughtfully. "Uh-huh…"

Ashley says. "Looks like we are going to be having to go over them ourselves, Visas."

"Looks like it."

"Still, where do we stand?" Ashley asks. "Let's review that."

I answer immediately. "There is bad news, and really bad news."

"What's the bad news?"

"The whole galaxy hates us."

"Well, we're off to a great start." Visas mutters sarcastically.

"I think so." HK agrees anyway.

"And the really bad news?" Ashley flinches, afraid to ask.

"That's the part about us being broke, marked as a terrorist ship curtesy of HK, and there is some impersonator out there ticking all the right people off to come after me."

"That's three things!" She answers me.

"No, it's one point stating how we can't fix it."

"There is nothing that cannot be fixed with a proper solution." Koj argues.

"Yep." I agree. "Which is why Ribs, and Visas, were so brilliant in all but twisting my arm into getting a crew and officers and council on this ship to help me do just that. So. Suggestions?"

"Kill everything!" HK says without hesitation.

"I like it." I smile. "Simple. Easy to remember."

"Are we seriously taking suggestions from the droid?" Ashley wonders. No, not really. I just like having it around, and HK is my bodyguard now, provided it finishes it's first duties. It still has to finish marking the doors that would vent air when opened.

"Our options are actually simple when put into perspective." Koj speaks up. "We can take advantage of the mark on us to get on the good side of particularly rebellious scum."

"Next!" Ashley says in horror. Wait, why is she on the council? She's just my assistant.

"We can choose to ignore the situation or do nothing. Which will be dumb as they are the ones coming after us. In which case the better part of 'doing nothing' would be to hide and disappear."

"Is there any place we can hide anymore?" Ashley asks.

Visas says, "No. The galaxy is split between hundreds and hundreds of small factions, but the six major ones take up ninety percent of the galaxy alone. There are very few, if any, truly neutral factions left that we can hide behind or even do business with. We are, for all extents and purposes, exiled. Let's leave the hiding option on the table in case we ever run into someone willing to hide us, or a place truly isolated from the entire galaxy where we can be self-sufficient."

"Alright." I say. "Next?"

"We can fix it." Koj says. "This is, by far, the riskiest option, but the only one with a true solution. Someone out there is faking Varus and driving us deeper and deeper down while he moves freely around. We need to prove without a shadow of a doubt that there is a… how you say… 'evil twin'?"

I grin. "Don't think that's right, but it works." I can just picture my impersonator with a mustache. Oh wait, if he changed his face to look like me, I better not have a mustache. If he is out there twirling that thing, I'm cutting his hands off. That is just wrong.

"And how are we going to fix that?" Visas asks. "Not like we have a Jedi at our disposal who can be a witness to Varus standing here while the holonet shows the impersonator somewhere else."

Yeah… about that. I open my mouth, but Visas continues, "Not to mention, the New Republic and Clans have the Ravager marked. It won't matter where Varus is or the impersonator is. The Ravager is seen as the identifying factor here. No matter where the Ravager goes, it won't change anything. The Miraluka in a difficult position, since any move they make positively toward us will mark them as our caretakers or sympathizers, while any move we make will be matched in turn."

"We need to remove the Miraluka from the field. Find them in a place to hide while we go out and clear our name. A place where no one can find them." Koj removed his blade, rested it on his lap, and started sharpening it.

My eyes land on him sharping his blade, and something in the back of my mind sends up all kinds of flags. I can feel it on the tip of my tongue…

"Which brings us back to the previously stated problem that such a place does not exist!" Ashley argued. Sparks fly off of Koj's katana while he runs the stone over its edge.

Visas says. "We should leave the dilemma of what the Miraluka will do to them, and worry about ourselves. We have a new crew to assimilate, corridors to map, rooms to set up… the workload is monstrous."

Ashley sighs and pinches her nose. "Don't I know it… I have a pile of paperwork to do just in setting things up so Varus can have some work to do."

I drop my feet from the table. "Isn't it a bit soon for… that?" I've barely been captain a week and already I have to do paperwork? She looks at me like I'm an idiot. I'll take that as a no.

Great…

Koj inspects the blade closely. "One of the rooms should be a forge. Without power, we will have to resort to basics in some areas."

Forge…

"The ship has power, but it's so… quanky!" Ashley groans. "Part of the paperwork is that several engineers we acquired asking to redo the whole ship from scratch. Varus hasn't even given them permission to tinker around yet. I'll need to write a list of chief engineers for Varus to select to keep them all from butting heads."

Forge…

Visas adds, "Whoever becomes chief engineer will have to be on the ship's council."

"What's 'quanky'?" Koj wonders.

Forge…

Ashley explains, "It means-"

STAR FORGE! "I GOT IT!" I slam my hands down. Everyone jumps and HK has his gun out and ready. "I have several pieces already. I have Tatooine, Manaan, and Kashyyyk! I am just missing Korriban!" And the final piece would be on the Ravager.

"What are you talking about?" Koj glares at me.

"The Star Forge!"

…

"The what?"

I put my hand up. "Okay, okay… Long story. The Star Forge is a space station hidden in a place that no one knows. It's location is hidden across a number of places. That's why I was on Tatooine remember? I might not have told you, but okay. The Star Forge resides next to a star, and-"

"Since no one knows where it is… it's basically unmapped!" Ashley realizes.

"Exactly. The only ones who ever knew it's location are either dead…" I tap my head. "Or in here. Revan memorized it, after two mind-wipes and a mind suppression, I can't access it directly. I have to follow the same path he took and find the pieces."

"Wrong." Visas spoke up from the side. "Have you forgotten? Bastilla Shan, leader of the Revanchist, Carth Onasi, high admiral of the New Republic, Mandalore, just to name three, all know about it. They were on the Star Forge with Revan against Malak."

Aaaand there goes my bubble. It's gone and burst. She's right. I collapse in my chair and sigh.

Visas continues as though crushing my hopes and dreams is nothing new, "One of the first thing's Mandalore did when he took Korriban was move the ancient map device to a secure facility. He has Manaan, Kashyyyk, the piece from Korriban, and I happen to know the Revanchist snuck a team onto Tatooine for the fourth piece. I should know, I was on it just before I left. There is only one piece remaining that they do not have, and… even I don't know where it is. No one does."

And the bubbles back. "I know where the fifth piece is." I grin like an evil madman.

It was worth it just for the reaction of seeing Visas shocked. Even without eyes necessarily, her ever-calm composure drops and she stares at me slack-jawed. "Where?"

We're all standing on it. Not that I'll actually say it. I put a finger to my lips. "Not saying. You have to wait for the surprise like everyone else." Her surprise turns to aggravation, and boy does this feel good. I've been waiting twenty years to be the source of aggravation for her.

Now… if Mandalore moved the piece from Korriban. We need to find it.

"Ravager." I stand. "Take us to Dantooine. We're going hunting. I'll let Admiral Rib's know the details later."

* * *

Ahsoka and Anakin Skywalker stood before the assembly of Jedi. They had set up camp in the plains of Dantooine. Unbeknownst to the Jedi, the Infinite Temple was nearby. They also didn't know it was the chosen place where Anakin decided to have one of the trials. It was a powerful source of energy that went beyond Light and Dark, into something that was almost prophetic and insightful.

There was so much to do on their little camping adventure, and for the last two months it had been kept to a schedule to give everything a chance to be done. Not everyone was going through a trial or two. They were cleaning up the old Dantooine temple, they were training, they were clearing out hives of wildlife that were terrorizing the farmers, they were mapping tunnels that were said to house a small number of lightsaber amplifier crystals, and that was just what was on the schedule this week.

In the distance, a New Republic dreadnaught landed, and Ahsoka looked up worriedly. "We weren't scheduled to be picked up for a while."

Anakin shared the glance briefly before smirking. "It's okay, Snips. I feel Obi-Wan. Probably visiting." She nodded and smiled. "But how do you think your Padawans will do?"

She shrugged. "Slavian is weak in the Force, excelling in nothing but study and hard work, but he should manage. He trains almost to excess. Aramas will have the hardest time, despite being a physics prodigy. The Trial will hit him the hardest because of his traumatized past."

"He doesn't seem all that traumatized to me."

"He isn't. He bears it well, but you and I both know the Trial will rip open every scar forcefully… I worry for that." She watched as her Padawans trained in the clearing. Slavian's inability to use the Force was so bad, that he had to resort to using a wooden staff to keep from cutting himself, but he bore it with strength and speed rivaling a true monk. He almost reminded her of an ancient Jedi from pictures with his monkish robes, shaved head, and movements.

Aramas on the other hand was so skilled in the Force that he didn't have to move a single part of his body. He only stood and moved his light-balls with his mind. He was more gothic in appearance, without the piercings, and stood simply with his arms looped across his chest and his eyes focused. He had a belt from his shoulders down to his waist with spare balls to use. The only one he held back as a last resort was Babyfly, his first one. The balls when in enough number could share their plasma fields to create shapes.

Slavian was a simple boy without any darkness or trauma. He was as normal as it came at times, and just as innocent. He would be hurt by the temple when he is forced to fight in the same vision-room Ahsoka had to endure the last time. Aramas was a strong boy who endured trauma with his head high. He had no innocence, but didn't fall to darkness or let it break him. He would be hurt by the room Varus entered.

"They can always wait or do a different Trial."

"No. They want to do this, and I have faith they will overcome in the end."

Anakin smiled. "Then that is all they need."

Among the many changes Anakin made, was the change to the Trials. The five old trials were separated into two foundational, required tests, with now four above them where only three are required. All in all, you have to endure two trials, then choose three of four additional ones. Most Padawans went through the first two early on.

The foundational trials were based on extremes, seeing the corruption of the Dark Side, but also seeing how the Light Side can lead to its own corruption if one allows themselves to lose sight of what's important.

The next four were based on more 'work' related things. Skill, resolve through pain, diplomacy, and an adaptive, strategic, or learned mind.

It was both easier and harder to become a full Jedi under him, as the Knight's appeared more elite than before, but he also didn't reject the failures. There was no shame in not being a Knight. If anything, there were more Padawans now than they knew what to do with. The village had truly prospered on Naboo and grown with… families.

It was an amazing thing that took Ahsoka a long time to get over, seeing so many Padawans with parents or having girlfriends/boyfriends or lovers or being married. It both inspired and frightened her.

What would her own parent's think if they knew how far she had come?

What would Varus think of the woman and teacher she had become?

* * *

**Note: One of my major reviewers has started a fiction and has asked for my help. I am doing a bit here and there to help keep him on track. Anyway, he is completely new to this and could use some feedback to help him keep focus, get inspiration, get ideas, and so on. **

**As soon as he releases his first chapter, I'll put up a teaser here with the information you need to find it.**

**Also, incase anyone doesn't understand something from a scene… Visas was horny in the end of the talk while being dealt with aggressively, which gave off pheromones. It play's no real part in the story in the future, but for clarification, she is somewhat S&amp;M based on her personality and history. That's just part of who is she and Varus is the same to a small degree. I didn't decide that. It is just a natural part of their character.  
**

**Try being raised as teenagers by Nihilus and wonder what sex is like, and I'm sure you wont reach the same innocent conclusion as most people.**

**This was about as close to sex as there will ever be. So don't think you will find fanservice! :D**

**Perverts.**

_**Review please. I want to know how I'm doing! Every review makes my day. :)**_


	22. Ep04 - Return to Dantooine Part 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, so no sue!**

**Remember to Review. I want to know what you think and how the chapter is to you. Is it good? Is it bad? Anything I need to know? Any ideas or things you want to see in the future?**

* * *

**Episode 4 - Return to Dantooine Part 2/?**

* * *

"They're so cool!" Slavian gushed.

Aramas followed his wide-eyed gaze to Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker, and Obi-Wan Kenobi. General Kenobi had only just arrived and the two were in the midst of welcoming him. Aramas wrote, "?"

Slavian explained, "The old heroes of the Clone Wars! The two who don't know fear!"

Aramas just shook his head and drank from his canteen. Their morning exercise had worn them out. Aramas was a prodigy who's talent rarely required physical exertion, but Slavian had grown skilled enough over the years to force him to use his body as well as his mind; even if Slavian didn't see the diminishing gap between them.

"You may think it dumb, but we wouldn't be here if it weren't for people like them." Slavian forced his eye's away from the epicness of heroes and rested on the grass with his partner. "Just think, one day, that'll be us…"

Slavian wrote, "Dumb…?"

"They are not dumb!"

He wrote, "You and I… both heard… the stories from… Master Tano… Most of their… 'heroics'… and problems… were a… combination… of their own… mishaps… mistakes… and dumb luck."

"You may not believe in heroes, but that doesn't mean they don't exist!" Slavian argued. Aramas shrugged, but Slavian would not be deterred. "One day… Hey! What you think we'll be called?... Oh! I know! The awesome duo!"

"More like…" Aramas smirked. "Stick and Balls… Lame."

"Actually that isn't half bad." Slavian thought outloud.

Aramas coughed on his water. "Come again?"

"Yeah! 'Stick and balls may break my bones but words will never hurt me.' Is that where you got it from? That would make it easier to remember."

Aramas looked at him like he grew a second head. "No…" he wrote. "That's… not how… it goes."

"Oh, how about-" Babyfly hit Slavian in the back of the head.

"No more… lame names…" Aramas wrote. "Focus… on your training… and prepare… That… is the best… you can do… toward your… dream… and prepare… for reality."

"Yeah, yeah." Slavian rubbed the bruise on his head. He tried sitting still, but his mind just kept racing. They were about to do a Trial! He basically knew what the Trials all entailed, but to actually do it! He was completely unprepared, and he knew it. So he turned that energy into training and meditation, but he couldn't stop worrying. What if he was unprepared and failed and died? What if his preparation wore him out and he failed and died?

What if his own death resulted in Aramas failing his Trial as well! He wouldn't be able to live with himself!

Aramas watched his partner twitch and shake like a scared rabbit and sighed. Babyfly nudged Slavian before Aramas wrote, "Let's go… hang out… in town… until it's time… We've… done our… morning… exercise… We're… in shape… Pushing… ourselves… more will… serve no… purpose."

"Alright." Slavian conceded to the point and stood to his feet. He picked up his wooden staff.

* * *

"You cannot… you have to be…" Obi-Wan stared at his old pupil in dumb shock. He turned to Ahsoka. "Please tell me that was a joke."

"Nope." She laughed.

Obi-Wan returned his amazed attention to Anakin. "You've been drinking…"

Anakin rolled his eyes. "A glass of wine at night helps me sleep… I'm not drunk, Obi. It takes at least a full bottle to begin affecting me."

Obi-Wan stared at him longer before crossing his arms. "Let me guess… you figured that out the hard way."

Anakin opened his mouth to argue, but Ahsoka beat him to it. "Yep." He glared at her. "It was funny."

Anakin sighed. "If you must know… That was the second time. The first time was with Padme."

"Make that third and second." Obi-Wan corrected him. "The Coruscant Ball when you were my Padawan, remember? Had you trying out wine the first time."

"Oh yeah…"

Ahsoka smiled widely. "What happened?"

"Nothing that shall ever be repeated outloud!" Anakin asserted forcefully.

Obi-Wan leaned over and whispered something that made her burst out in laughter. Anakin blushed like a siren. "We promised never to spill that night!"

"But… but it's Ahsoka!" Obi-Wan pouted playfully.

Anakin glared at him, but relented and smiled. "I've missed you, old Master. Want to take up my sect?"

"No."

"Pity. Okay. As nice as it is to see you, I assume this isn't a vacation or pleasure cruise. You still have too many years on you coming to retire."

"Oh, Ani. I wish this was about pleasure, or even official."

"You're not here officially…?" Anakin wondered worriedly. He kept his curious expression as an open ended invitation to explain, but Obi-Wan refused to speak.

"Ahsoka." Obi-Wan said. "Can you give us some space. This is… personal."

"Sure." She nodded. "Call me if you need me."

She walked away, and Anakin only looked more curious all the more. What was so big and personal that Obi-Wan wanted to keep it between just them?

"Is this about Varus?" Anakin wondered.

"No, although we did have another run-in with him."

"What did he do this time?" Anakin almost regretted asking. Just the thought of his old pupil and how he turned out the last five years was enough to tear his heart to shreds.

"He took the entire Miraluka fleet hostage under the condition we leave, then the Ravager disappeared. He hasn't been seen since."

Anakin's knees felt weak, and he rested his arms on a stone to keep from collapsing. He forced himself to breathe in and out slowly. Deep calm breathes. In and out.

How could Varus have fallen so far as to go after his own people? He thought Varus had finally taken a permanent step toward redemption… Anakin shouldn't have allowed Varus to go to prison. He should have demanded to keep Varus properly supervised under him. It would have made things awkward with the scar from the Jedi's betrayal, but Varus wouldn't have gone rogue like this.

"It is assumed he stole something from them. That's the only reason he would have spared their lives."

Anakin chuckled darkly. "No. Varus doesn't care about material possessions. Knowing him, he did it just to toy with you."

"… still…" Obi-Wan looked for the right words. "I'm sorry, but Varus isn't why I'm here."

"Right, of course."

Obi-Wan looked in the distance toward the ruins of the Dantooine Jedi temple. "Is there a working terminal in there?"

"Uh… Malak really did a number on it. Most of the infrustructure is collapsed or in danger of doing so. But we have fixed a few, and are working on clearing the first level of major debris… Why?"

"It's isolated from people and should be isolated from the holonet. I have something to show you."

Anakin frowned, but nodded. "Okay, let's get some bikes. All we will find there is a couple teams of mine, but they will give us plenty of space if asked."

* * *

Aramas was not very comfortable with crowds, nor was Slavian. They may live at the village Skywalker established hidden on Naboo, and it may be growing at a steady rate with more Jedi entering the temple, more families being welcomed to be near their acolyte children or husbands, and people of various occupations entering to follow the money, but it was still a reasonably small community.

Dantooine felt like all center of trade and commerce was around the capital city and it's outlying sections. The capital was in the later stages of rebuilding since the Mandalorian attack and was full of builders just as much as anyone else making it extra crowded.

So they stuck to the outlying areas in silence. With Aramas being a mute, conversation was one-sided or short. Most of the conversation came from Slavian's end where he mused outloud his every thought.

"Ohhhh…"

and "That's neat."

and "Hey, Aramas! Look!"

And other nonsense. Aramas was amused by his flighty mood, preferring it over his overly stressed mood. However the hours were coming up on their Trial, and their relaxation would have to end.

It was in their journey that they came across an alien girl and her… pet floating droid. "Hey!" She yelled at them.

The two of them stopped and looked at each other. "You know her?" Slavian asked. Aramas shook his head. The girl caught up with them and stopped to catch her breathe. The floating droid whirred curiously around them, and took special interest in Babyfly, before making a ridicules squealing baby-noise and trying to… cuddle with it? Babyfly fled into Aramas' jacket.

"You're a Jedi aren't you?" She asked.

"Uh… yeah, we ar-"

"I wasn't talking to you!" She barked at Slavian. She turned back to Aramas, who was now leaning back a bit scared of her temper. "Are you a Jedi?" She asked sweetly.

Aramas wrote, "Yes."

"Stop waving that thing in my face." She swatted at Babyfly. "Now, answer the question!"

Aramas wrote, "I did."

"What is wrong with you! Stop waving that crap in my face and answer the damn question! It's rude not to answer you know!" What? Did she not read Basic? She's what? Eight? Bit old to not be able to read. Aramas looked to Slavian for help.

Slavian inserted himself between them. "Listen uh… Who are you?"

"Dad doesn't like me telling people who I am!" She stuck her tongue out at them. "Who are you?"

"I'm Slavian. This is Aramas." Slavian said. Aramas just waved.

"I'm Cahjinawl." Aramas groaned. Was she messing with them on purpose? "Now answer the question, dipshit!"

"Listen, Cahj-"

"Nobody calls me that! I hate it! Confuses me with dad…"

Aramas had the overwhelming urge to beat his face into something. The girl was still glaring at him. "Listen!" Slavian raised his voice slightly. "Aramas is mute."

"Oh." She stopped, then looked confused. "Why didn't he say so?"

Aramas looked at her like she was stupid. "Seriously?" He wrote.

"Anyway…" Slavian continued, "Yes, we are Jedi. Padawans. Do you have a reason to ask?"

"Yeah, we're looking for an Anakin Skywalker, you wouldn't happen to know one would you?" She asked sweetly.

Aramas wasn't fooled, "Don't…" He wrote.

"Hey… It can't hurt." Slavian responded.

"She's psychotic!"

"I must admit she is a little…"

"Freakish?... Demented?"

"Confused. But if she has to reason to ask for Master Skywalker, there must be a reason."

"…"

"Okay, it's settled." Slavian smiled to her. "We know him, he's probably back at camp."

She just stared at them wide-eyed, which was freakish with double pupils. "Whoa…" She murmured. "It's like your psychic. That was so cool! How'd you read his mind?"

"I'm special like that." Slavian smirked.

Aramas glared at him. "You're not helping."

* * *

"Now, here is how this is going to work." I say. I push Falon along. Koj walks beside me with a rifle in his arms, and we are trying not to look like we have a Mandalorian-armor-clad person prisoner, but he's not making it easy on us. "You are going to cooperate, and if you are a good boy, we will let you go."

"Only after you've killed everyone! You're not getting anything out of me!"

I sigh. "I'm not going to ask you to. Just keep your mouth shut and cooperate."

"I'd rather-" Falon continues to open his mouth, but Koj kicks him in the shin.

"Thank you." I tell Koj.

We continue making our way through the city. This place has really improved since last I was here. Of course, it was all ruins and a battlefield back then that had radiation from orbit dumped on it. It hasn't fully recovered, but it's working on it. The landscape is covered in farms and green as far as the eye can see, and the towers are being rebuilt. The sound of hammers is a constant thing that I'm slowly getting used to.

It was nice of Visas to supply us with the Republic IFF codes to hide the Ravager from their sensors. Also nice of her to get them, guess she has her uses in espionage. The New Republic Dreadnaught hovering over the city gives me the willies.

We landed a stealth vessel outside the city earlier today and, coincidentally, the Jedi are in town. Yippee. Even better, it's Tree-Hugger's little band of merry men.

As nice as it would be to see him again, it probably wouldn't go well unless under the proper terms.

Koj and I find a tea shop with few customers and drag Falon, kicking and not-quite-screaming, to the corner table.

"Have there always been this many Jedi?" Koj asks.

"No." I shake my head and do my best to hide my face from people passing by. I should have opted to get a mask like Koj, but he does it for cultural reasons. "At least not five years ago. Knowing Tree-Hugger is leading them, it's probably to help get the planet on its feet since the attack. This presents both a problem and a solution. Problem is, he knows about the Infinite Temple we want access to, and the solution is if I can get talking to him in friendly terms then not only can we get access to the Temple, but we can work toward fixing my good name. But five years are a long time."

"As long as your impersonator has been working, and with the reputation he has given you, the first encounter with your old Master sounds… stressed."

"That's what I'm afraid of." I nod at a couple of Jedi walking by, as they do the same, and keep up the pretense of being a couple of nobodies. Don't notice the former-Sith behind the Ghorfa behind the Mandalorian behind the curtain. Koj does his wonderful relaxed impression of staring at people and creeping them out. Yeah, totally inconspicuous.

"Is there another option?"

"Stealth in? Ahsoka and Visas are the only ones I know with that much skill in it. I can hide in darkness, so going in at night is an option, but the longer we stay, the higher the odds of the New Republic catching on to the Ravager." I snap my fingers. "HK can use stealth in broad day light now, but it can't use the Force to open the doors… dang it. No, no matter what, I need to get in to access the map. We need to get talking to Tree-Hugger."

Koj nods. "Then we must arrange a meeting." He turns toward Falon, who, most likely, has been sitting there absorbing the whole conversation like a rat. He's been too quiet. "What do we do with him?"

"Trade him." I answer. "Falcon makes an excellent good-will present, despite his lack of good will."

Falon turns his helmet toward me. "I'll kill you…"

I 'coo' sweetly and pat him on the cheek. He recoils like I slapped him. "Really, Falcon. I'm not up to hurting old friends, no matter what you may think."

"Its. Falon." He growls dangerously.

"Yeah, yeah." Now… how to get Tree-Hugger out to talk… A way to get him to understand it's me before springing it on him and scaring him into potentially going hostile. Not that I don't have faith in him, he's still probably the old Tree-Hugger I knew and loved, but… I don't know. It's not old times. I've forgiven him for his role in my betrayel by the Jedi, but it's still caused a rift in there. I'm not his pupil anymore. And this impersonator has only made things worse so that even if I wanted to speak with Tree-Hugger, it would be on bad terms.

But there has to be a way. Visas and Ashley are off somewhere getting some information on Republic news before returning to the ship, and Koj and I allowed Cahjinawl to go off and do her thing provided HK keeps an eye on her. HK will either keep her out of trouble or be the one to cause it, either way it doesn't matter because she will be safe above all. But getting to Anakin is the problem…

I could have sent in HK to speak to Anakin privately and let him know I'm here and wish to speak privately as well, but I'd rather my niece is safe.

How to get to Anakin without causing every Jedi on the planet to jump me…

I put my head back against the wall and sigh. I'm thinking too much. I stand up and leave some money on the table to pay for my drink. "I'll be back in a bit, need to go for a stroll."

Koj nods and I put my hood up as I disappear into the masses.

* * *

Ahsoka let herself drift mindlessly into the masses around her. She had some time to kill before sending her padawans into the temple.

'Fellow' padawans, because technically, Ahsoka is still a Padawan herself. She has passed every trial. She has passed every step, but at the end of the journey, she finds something is holding her back. An urge? A desire? Fear? Whether the source is in front of her in her journey as a Jedi, or something in the past she is holding onto, it is as large and wide as it is impregnable and illusive. She could not put her finger on what it is keeping her from taking up a higher rank.

So while she is a Padawan, she is both a Knight in respect and a Padawan in rank. Aramas and Slavian see her as a Knight, and have been very good about letting her simple experience do the ranking for her.

Perhaps its because to her, the rank itself means nothing. Her experience should speak for itself. There shouldn't be tiers and hierarchies. The Jedi shouldn't be about getting a higher rank like some kind of prize to be won, it should be about simpler more moral base ideals.

It worked with Varus didn't it? Ahsoka was his equal, his partner, his friend, his… something. Ahsoka didn't know what it was that she was to him in the end, but that final day when every aspect of his darkness and fear and weakness was exposed, she did more than was expected of a simple friendship. Simple friendship would have been cold enough to reject him and separate themselves to keep her safe. Instead she forgave him and damned the consequences.

She helped him in ways no one could have. She taught him almost as much as Anakin, and she set a proper example.

And Ahsoka wasn't a Knight. Her simple experience showed itself and established a position while her equality with him created a bond that was both diverse and different from his bond with Anakin, yet just as strong.

But then how can one show they are experienced without a rank? It's not like everyone knows how much experience everyone has. Not everyone is famous. It is easy to assume that someone younger or older may not be as wise as yourself. And what of prodigies? That just mixes everything up right there.

Ahsoka sighed. Ranks were a necessary evil. They weren't the problem. She was, after all, the rank of Padawan, which was higher than acolyte or just temple boy/girl.

So what was it holding her back?

She faced the Trial of Spirit. In it, she dealt with her own fears and memories from when her first Master was killed by a Sith. She was too young to remember the details, but it was revealing to see how much braver and strong she had become.

She faced the Trial of Insight. Her first time in the Dantooine Infinite Temple was good enough for that.

She faced all of the other Trials one after another in the Clone Wars, from leadership qualities, to pain management, to skill. She passed all of the 'foundational' trials, as well as the 'skill' based ones.

She even was the first test subject to the new Trials Master Skywalker had come up with to allow the Jedi, who were very weak in the Force compared to the previous generation, to reach the minimum rank while allowing the skilled ones to work to higher ranks.

So it wasn't the trials…

Was it the daunting prospect of promotion? Not really, she was already doing the work load of a knight in every way, and was part of Anakin's private council as though she was a Master in his eyes. She could handle it, no problem.

So what was the problem?

Ahsoka bumped into a small group of people in the streets and turned to apologize. The two parties exchanged apologies, her and the family. The family was one she recognized, they had a child who was in their sect, and they were married Jedi at that.

While she was smiling and warm on the outside, the sight, and the implications it presented, panged her heart. Her smile dropped when they left.

Perhaps it was the prospect of leading Jedi who gave in to marriage, relationships, and children… But no, she was happy for them! And while the divorce rate was not much lower for them than it was for non-Jedi, it had brought a strong effect on the Skywalker sect. The sect felt more… stable. The foundation was firmer, the support was tight and constant, and the understanding of reality was there instead of being some fantasy where you all seemed like grown-up orphans being told to fix the Galaxy with the snap of your fingers.

Perhaps… that was it. She had the support of Anakin, despite his slowly growing bouts of playing chess with himself, talking to himself, and drinking (it was worse than what they led Obi-Wan to believe). She had the support of her team. But at the end of the day, she felt… like she didn't have the foundation she needed.

She was still unstable.

Ahsoka's thoughts lead her to bump into another person in a cloak. She mentally slapped herself, and turned to apologize, but stopped short.

It was someone she could not forget even if she tried. The face was firmer, stronger, older, and the eyes were more mature and sure of himself, but behind the mask of age was the same strong, but vulnerable, man.

"Varus?" She gasped.

"Ahsoka!?" He returned, his eyes wide in shock.

* * *

**Note: I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS! They are bringing back Revan! **

***rebuys The Old Republic just for that.***

**So yeah, Varus and Ahsoka reunite! We have a lot of chess pieces on the board here, so to speak, so these chapters are going to be slow for me to write to ensure the pieces move properly.**


	23. Ep04 - Return to Dantooine Part 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, so no sue!**

**Remember to Review. I want to know what you think and how the chapter is to you. Is it good? Is it bad? Anything I need to know? Any ideas or things you want to see in the future?**

* * *

**Episode 4 - Return to Dantooine Part 3**

* * *

Ahsoka's thoughts lead her to bump into another person in a cloak. She mentally slapped herself, and turned to apologize, but stopped short.

It was someone she could not forget even if she tried. The face was firmer, stronger, older, and the eyes were more mature and sure of himself, but behind the mask of age was the same strong, but vulnerable, man.

"Varus?" She gasped.

"Ahsoka!?" He returned, his eyes wide in shock.

They stare at each other and time seems to freeze for Ahsoka. Varus's expression is that of a man who obviously didn't expect her, but that is not what runs through her mind at all.

It's Varus.

Those five years ago she had run into a scrawny mouthy excuse of a man. He had defiance on every inch of his body, almost like a punk who though too much of himself.

But this couldn't possibly be Varus…

The man in front of her was a creature that had eaten Varus and taken on his features. The lines on his face from too much smirking, the defiant and wildly imaginative fire in his eyes, it was all there, but around it was growth of flesh that filled out his skin. He wasn't a hunk at all, he was still thin, but he had grown firm and…

Varus kissed her.

She didn't know how long she stood there, but it was almost painful how long her brain shut down. Not a single thought came to her. Her surroundings disappeared. Seconds could have passed, hours… it didn't matter. Simply put, the kiss left her stunned. The whole atmosphere was one stunning moment after another and it was too much for her to handle all at once.

When she finally was able to process her surroundings again the first thing she realized was him standing entirely too close, no longer kissing her, but just staring at her with that infuriating smirk on his face.

"You…" She could just stare at him in shock. Did he… really… just? Kiss her… Righteous fury welled up inside her and she reacted.

She punched him full in the face and knocked him on his butt. Blood poured out of his nose, but she didn't care. It would be a long list before he could take back taking her first kiss like a complete jackass! She climbed on top of him, grabbed him by the collar, and transitioned between slamming his head into the ground and slapping him. "I'M GOING TO KICK YOUR ASS, VARUS!"

"YOU. AL-READ-Y. ARE. STOP IT!" He yelled back in between beatings.

He grabbed her arms and stopped her from continuing to beat the ever living snot out of him. Content with his bruises and bleeding nose, she climbed off of him and glared down at him coldly. He tried to climb back up, but she tripped him… just once. He looked up at her, laughed, and she turned away angrily.

"Well, hello to you too, Mother Hen." He said after getting back to his feet. He complimented her, "A few years has done you well. You've grown to a real woman."

Coming from anyone else, that might have been flattering. She continued glaring at him. "You haven't grown up at all…"

"Yeah… I guess. I'm never growing old!" He declared proudly with a wide smile and underlying laughter. "But really, it is good to see you again, Mother Hen!"

Ahsoka allows herself a deep sigh while contemplating the concept of forgiveness. This was most definitely Varus, and it wasn't like she hadn't already forgiven him for so many things. This was just… another on a long list of things she would have to mentally file away as 'typical Varus'. Not like it was anything horrible like releasing his Dark Side, which he was fully capable of doing.

Oh yes, Ahsoka knew what he had been doing the last four years… and it took a lot to forgive after the hope was dashed that it wasn't him.

She was angry, she was excited. It was Varus after all! But she was also disappointed… and… afraid.

"Why are you here?" She asked quietly with a hand moving toward her lightsaber. Would she have to fight him? With everything he had done recently, why was he here?

She was afraid to fight her old friend and partner. The feeling of the kiss returned but she snapped that memory away and buried it deeply. Instead of being filed under 'typical Varus', it would go under 'Xtremely typical Varus'.

She would fight Varus if she had to… she was hesitant a lot in the past with friends who she had to fight, but now she hoped she had improved enough to be able to take action in the face of true resolution.

Varus dropped the smile and became more serious, to both her pleasure and fear. As nice as it is to have 'fun' with him, this wasn't the time for that and would only be insulting if he kept going. "Have you heard of my actions the last few years?"

"I have." She wrapped her fingers around her lightsaber. Varus was perfectly relaxed. He made no moves for his own weapon nor to be defensive. She wasn't stupid, he knew she was preparing just incase, but the fact that he made no moves worried her. Either he had no intention of fighting, which would be great, or he felt so superior that he didn't need a weapon.

He smiled warmly. "I came to speak with Tree-Hugger… I have a reasonable explanation for everything."

"Oh?"

"Yeah…" He glanced around at the people walking by them, put up his hood to cover his face, and nodded to the side. Ahsoka and Varus moved to the beginnings of the alley. Varus leaned back against the wall and declared, "An impersonator."

"An impersonator…" Ahsoka repeated to be sure she heard right.

Varus nodded. "It shouldn't be that hard to belief. We did just leave the Clone Wars… four years ago? Five? Somewhere in there. You and Tree-Hugger both dealt with all kinds of situations where there were 'fakes'. People changing their face and voice with surgery, heck, Obi-Wan did! And what about cloning?"

"No, but I've also heard it said by a lot of criminals. 'It wasn't me' they say."

Varus nodded in agreement. "Be that as it may, it's true."

"You have proof?"

"Yes." Varus produced a newspaper and handed it to Ahsoka. "Look at the date on…" he flipped the pages. "Here and… here." Ahsoka read the articles to himself.

The Ravager, lead by Varus Wynn, took the Miraluka hostage and then disappearing a few days later when the Clans returned with reinforcements. Varus also kidnapped Falon, Jedi Padawan.

The second article was of Varus Wynn raiding a science facility in the Peru system with no survivors.

The third article was of Varus Wynn raiding an Eternal Hand temple in a system near, also with no survivors, the day after. The Eternal Hand was some new religious sect appearing in the power vacuum left behind in the Jedi's decline.

Two, perhaps three Varus Wynn raids in the course of days. Ahsoka looked up at him. "You!"

Varus put up a finger to stop her. "I've been looking for you guys, because how can I be in two places at once? Peru is on the other side of the galaxy, behind the Systems Alliance! The odds of me being undetected in travel would be stupidly low, not to mention the distance! It would take at least a week to move between them in the fastest ship, and the raids were on the same day!"

Varus stopped a moment to let his words sink in. "Please… Ahsoka. I'm not the person in these articles… I don't know if this is a new Sith with a fancy-make-up job or a clone of me or what!"

"That… shouldn't be possible. Jedi clones never retain medicloriens…" she mused.

He sighed in aggravation and rubbed his temples. "I don't know! Alright! I just… I need to speak with Tree-Hugger! Please!"

She looked away hesitantly, unsure of what to do, but Varus stepped forward and drew her attention desperately. "You want me to beg? You know I hate to rely on people, but I'm begging you, Mother Hen! I spent so long wasting away hoping to be rid of Starkiller, and now I am having it thrown back in my face! The last five years will have been for nothing if you guy's don't help!"

She pushed him away as he was pinning her against the wall with his energy alone. He didn't seem to notice until then how he was using his power. His Force energy was massive and oppressive and he wasn't even using it actively. "Sorry..."

She closed her eyes and rolled the whole situation through her head quickly. Then just as quickly, she stopped and asked her gut. "Varus… you don't have to beg…"

"Really?"

"How about we trade favors?" She suggested. "No begging, and I'll tell you what I want in return for this." He nodded in an exaggerated manner that amused her.

It really was nice to see him again, she thought.

"Find my parents." She said.

Varus blinked in surprise. "Aren't… Jedi restricted from… bonds?"

"Most sects, but Fly-boy has been doing whatever he wants with his sect." Varus's eyes widened theatrically. Ahsoka giggled and smiled in pride. "It isn't nearly as bad as I expected at first. It's still very much Jedi, but it feels more wholesome. Whatever was missing from the Order before is gone, at least for us. People are allowed to actually have, express, and enjoy emotion, so long as they also train harder than ever to not lose control of themselves. Even those that lack control aren't so bad, but that might just be because so many are weaker than the previous 'standard' Jedi. It has become less of a Monk'ish-temple and more of a school for gifted people, I think."

"But what do your parents have to do with this?" Varus asked.

Ahsoka shrugged. A part of her didn't know why that was her request herself… but it simply was what came to her. "We are allowed bonds. Some have been marrying, having boyfriends and girlfriends, and parents are now allowed to live in the village surrounding the temple to see, and live with, their children rather than be completely isolated from them. The parents are even playing a role in the temple to a degree." Her prideful smile dropped slightly. "Master Skywalker has been trying to find mine, but with his work…"

Varus put up a hand to stop her. "I get it." He put the hand on her shoulder. "I can't promise anything, but I will do my best to keep an eye out."

She nodded and didn't meet his gaze. Was this how he felt those years ago when he was exposed to her? This was… uncomfortable. But the fact that he wasn't using it against her was worth it. She'd hug him if she didn't think he would take advantage of it to mess with her. "Thank you. This way." She raises her own hood and leads him down the street.

She did her best to avoid fellow Jedi, because while Varus may be a special-case-Sith, not every Jedi is going to know that. She'd rather avoid complications right now. Varus understood the gesture with a nod in her direction and disappeared into the crowd, but kept popping up at random intervals at her side to show he is still there with simple gestures like bumping into or touching her arm, her shoulder, her hand…

She's going to slap him if he tries holding her hand…

"He's probably back at camp." She lets him know.

"Hm." She hears, but sees no one.

How would Master Skywalker react to Varus? Skywalker had been slowly deteriorating over the last few years. He worked hard and thrived with his new position, and he and Ahsoka moved to a more formal, but strong relationship as their positions shifted; but the loss of his wife, and the repeated sightings of Varus, and what Varus did, wore down on him heavily. Skywalker had started drinking, often played chess with himself, and at times looked haunted. It has been slow, but it was there, and Ahsoka worried about how the reunion would go.

Would it revive the dying embers of the old Skywalker or would the Jedi Master break himself in the duty of what he felt he had to do?

They left the city and entered the plains of Dantooine. Without a crowd to hide in, Varus was fully visible walking beside her in his hooded cloak. To anyone else, it would appear she was walking with a Jedi or someone more comfortable wearing a cloak. Jedi and Sith both had the tendency to hide out of plain sight to avoid too much attention.

If it wasn't for the sound of his boots, and the periodic moments when she saw him out of the corner of her eye, she would never know he was there. His Force signature was hidden well. He felt neither light nor dark in nature, he simply was. She knew him well enough to know he was purposefully containing it, he was simply too powerful and had too much Force power to not be noticable otherwise, but the flavor behind his Force signature had changed in the last few years. It was more… scarred. As if it was damaged but had healed as well, yet the pain felt fresh and raw.

"What has happened to you the last few years?" Varus asked. "You feel different."

So he had been probing her as well. Ahsoka considered the last few years. "I've been swept up in one climactic event after another. Being taken from home to be a Jedi, losing my Master, the Clone Wars, you going to prison, Coruscant, the galaxy splitting into so many factions, Skywalker being promoted, I received some Padawans… My life has always been eventful, but this is the longest I've gone without something life-altering event. What you probably feel is how tired I am since the war."

"Hm…" He murmured.

"What about you?" She inquired.

"Prison." He said flatly.

"Well, I know that…" She said hesitantly. It was a touchy subject she gathered. "I heard you were dead at first. It… hurt to hear that."

"I can imagine why, the prison was attacked by the Hutts. Anyone alive was taken as prisoner or a slave… and I was the latter."

The attack by the Hutts on the prison ship was actually the start of the C and C War. (Cartel and Clan War) The prison was full of high-priority targets for a score of reasons ranging from illegal cloning, to mad scientists in genocidal genetic backgrounds, to hackers, to smugglers, to mass murderers, to cannibals, to pirate leaders. The Cartel wanted those skills on their side, and said prisoners played a large role in the war.

The Republic survivors were prisoners of war, and anyone without value as a prisoner of war or with truly special skills were sold as slaves.

Varus may have special skills, but the Cartel just didn't like him. Calling them fat-asses tended to do that.

"As for what happened while I was a slave…" Varus drifted. "I'd rather not say."

Varus shuddered and Ahsoka dropped it. She felt truly sorry for him. He didn't disserve what had happened to him. In her mind, whatever happened to him that scarred his 'soul' like this payed the price he was paying in prison to begin with.

Hopefully Skywalker would see it that way.

The camp was a few hours away from the city, and Ahsoka snuck Varus in without causing much notice. They ran into her padawans, Aramas and Slavian, and… an alien. "Who's this?" She wondered.

Aramas wrote, "A dimented… crazy little…"

"She is here for Skywalker." Slavian finished before Aramas wrote something inappropriate.

The girl just sat in the chair rocking her legs back and forth like a sweet little thing. She took special interest in her companion. There was also a little floating droid with the girl.

Ahsoka looked at her curiously. "Okay… well, she's not the first. I guess Master Skywalker will have a nice little guest list when he gets back. What's your name sweety?"

"Her father doesn't like it when she tells people." Slavian said.

"I'm Cahjinawl." She said anyway.

Aramas rubbed his temples and glared at Ahsoka, as if to beg 'why'.

A Jedi entered the tent and Ahsoka left everyone to see what he wanted. The Jedi said, "We have a problem! There's a Sith in the city! One of us recognized him as Varus Wynn!"

Ahsoka fought to contain her composure. Varus, conveniently, had his back turned and was containing his energy completely. Only someone who knew him would recognize the little bit he leaked out.

"Is that so…" Ahsoka said without thinking.

The Jedi put a hand to his ear, he must have a transceiver, and nodded to a conversation she didn't hear. "Right, I'm takling to Master Tano now! No, keep sight on him but don't be seen." then to her, "Maam, we have sight on him right now! We need to do something!"

"Right now? He's in the city?"

The Jedi nodded and Ahsoka felt a chill in her spine. If Varus was here, with her, then who was the one the Jedi patrol was following?

The imposter… A Sith wearing Varus' face…

"Carry on!" She commanded. "Do not be seen, contain your energies until I arrive to back you all up. Gather another four patrols! Do not underestimate him!"

"Yes maam!" The Jedi immediately departed.

Ahsoka stood in the door and looked back at Varus. He looked at her from under the hood, and she nodded. "I'm going. Stay here, stay hidden. If this Sith finds us, who knows what he may do."

Slavian and Aramas, not completely understanding, nodded while Varus turned away.

Ahsoka checked her lightsaber, her grenades, took a gulp of water, and ran out.

Cahjinawl beat her feet in the air and watched her uncle curiously. Something seemed off about him. She figured it to be him being uncomfortable around Jedi, and minded her own business, but the minutes ticked by and she wanted a hug dang it! She dropped out of the chair and walked up to Varus.

She took one look at his expression and pointed at him accusingly, "You're not Uncy Varus!"

* * *

**Notes: And I will leave it at that!**


	24. Ep04 - Return to Dantooine Part 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, so no sue!**

**Remember to Review. I want to know what you think and how the chapter is to you. Is it good? Is it bad? Anything I need to know? Any ideas or things you want to see in the future?**

* * *

**Episode 4 - Return to Dantooine Part 4**

* * *

Onasi looked up at the Jedi's approach. "Ah, Master Kota. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Technically, he knew the Mandalorian Jedi was coming, but it was polite to greet his entrance. The Mando'a Jedi was surrounded by the captains of the fleet he had met earlier. A man named Izthark, and Captain Rex. Rex he knew personally, and took pleasure in greeting with a farm arm grasp along with a bow to the Jedi.

"As allies we wanted to coordinate what we do and don't know from Varus Wynn's rising."

"Certainly." the General showed them chairs. "I'm sorry for Master Kenobi's absence, he is taking some time to see his old Padawan down on the planet while we refuel and restock."

The three Mandalorians sat down and Izthark spoke, "I am the one in charge of the hunt for Varus on our side." Onasi nodded. "Rex and myself personally witnessed Varus' participation in a terrorist raid on Brazeria. Varus Wynn kidnapped the Royal Dutchess and held her hostage, along with arming a nuke. It was all handled and the battle won, or at least that was the official story."

Rex spoke up, "Unofficially, Varus let us go. Our third member, the Jedi Padawan Falon Grey, has the ability to have Force visions of the future at will in a staggering number, which he uses to predict every possible angle and scenario he can. He predicted that we had no chance of winning, yet…"

"He let you go. Just like that." Onasi finished for him.

Rex nodded. "The Dutchess, the nuke, the terrorists. All of it. He simply walked away from it and let us handle it without a fight."

Onasi narrowed his eyes in thought. "I see… Officially, Varus was declared dead after his prison ship was raided, but in reality he was seen in multiple places. Here, an attacker and raider, and there, a slave or gladiator. This information is top-secret, but all intel pointed at Varus being on the slave-ship the Dominion attacked, despite his sudden appearance with the Ravager later. Also, at the very same time, he was on Peru doing a raid. I only just found out myself."

"Another worrying fact…" Rex replied. "The speed Varus used in moving from Brazeria to there… Even we didn't get there as fast as he did, and we didn't have to evade your attention. Could it be… that Varus is in multiple places at once? Right there were are looking at four different instances of Varus."

"What are you suggesting?" Onasi asked grimly.

Rex glanced at his comrades hesitantly, even they didn't know what he thought. "Clones."

The room feel silent. After several seconds, Kota broke the tension sarcastically, "Well, you would be an expert on that subject, wouldn't you?"

Rex smiled bashfully and chuckled. "Yeah… I would. But… something else that bothers me. No one has ever managed to clone a Jedi and retain Force power before!"

"It is impossible." Kota agreed. "Force energy is tied to the consciousness. Even in cloning, they are all individual, they are not 'segments' of the original. Clones cannot retain the soul of the original, so to speak, any more than the memory."

"Well…" Onasi sighed. "Records are meant to be broken. I can't believe it, but this does make sense of everything… Clones. Damn!" He rubbed his face. "As if one of these Sith wasn't enough of a handful! We have to deal with millions of him!"

"Millions would be a stretch." Rex argued. "Whoever is funding the project would have to limit the quantity to compensate for quality while still keeping it from being noticed by any major banking clan. If the Dominion, or anyone else, spent Credits on the scale you're suggesting, people would notice."

"That's a relief. But we are still looking at more than one!"

Izthark spoke up. "There are only a few systems with backgrounds in cloning. If we focus on them, we can find the source. Look at spending, cloning logs, etc."

"With or without breaking the law?"

"Does it matter?" The one-eyed Mandalorian raised an eyebrow.

"We're the Republic. We don't break laws for national security just like that." Onasi snapped his fingers for emphasis. "Not anymore…"

"And neither should we." Rex agreed with his face to Izthark. Kota nodded his agreement.

Izthark shrugged. "I'll leave it to Mandalore, but before I go to him and slap a big 'clone' stamp on a paper for him to stab with a knife, I presume we all agree that is what we are dealing with?" Everyone agreed.

Rex spoke up again, "Despite there being multiple Sith, and the limited number of cloners to look at, there is a second advantage we have at our disposal. All of the clones, if they are proper clones, will think along the same lines as the original. There will be individuality as they branch out seperately and experience new things from birth, but the sarcasm, the drive, many of the qualities will be the same."

"How 'same' do you mean, specifically?" Izthark wondered.

"Think of cloning as alternate story lines or branching plots. Same character, different experiences."

"Ah."

Onasi looked to Kota. "You knew the original best… what can you tell us?"

Everyone's attention turned to Kota, and he leaned back. His composure darkened heavily with weighed memory. He liked Varus a lot, but he felt personally insulted by what the kid had done. He thought perhaps the kid had finally gained the basis of loyalty he needed. He had been wrong before. He was wrong the clones for instance. Not wrong, in that they lost their loyalty to the Republic, but they gained it in the Clans. They found a home. He hoped he was wrong about Varus too, but after the stunt his pupil pulled…

What the hell was Falon thinking!? Kota forced his composure to not show how truly enraged, worried, hurt, scared he was for the boy he all but called a son. The fact that he didn't know where Falon was or if he was even alive didn't help. All he could do was wait…

"Kota?"

Kota snapped out of his thoughts and answered, "Varus is an enigma. He is repulsive, acts on instinct and feelings, yet has the ability just as much to plan things out when he bothers putting his mind to it. He isn't a genius by any means, but he is unpredictable because you can never tell if its planned or improvised, and he is very talented at improvisation. If there is any one trait he has, its unpredictability. That and a never ending stream of energy, sarcasm, and a knack for getting on your bad side no matter who you are."

"Well that doesn't help…" Izthark muttered.

Kota rolled his eyes. "Varus isn't doing raids, hostage situations, and making a lot of noise just to be noisy. He has a reason for it. There is a plan in there, but how he goes about it is going by gut. These clones are attacking all kinds of targets, high political priorities, Jedi camps, little places you wouldn't think about. They are all over the place. At the same time, the ones that go for political targets always have hostages, draw us out, and bide their time…"

"What are you thinking?"

"I think… Some of them are acting as a distraction while others move in the shadows. We chase the ones that run around in circles while others kill Jedi and… other places."

"He's a Sith." Izthark acknowledged.

Kota shook his head. "A Sith would go after the first Jedi he sees, but the Varus clones's pattern is all over the place. No, he's searching for something… and he doesn't know where it is. Or rather 'they'."

"Searching… for what? Or whom?" Rex asked.

They fell silent at the question they could not answer.

If Kota's theory was right, that the clone's real target was not the Dutchess or Mandalore or Count Dooku or General Onasi… then what was? What was worth more than the most powerful figures in the galaxy?

"Skywalker." Kota realized.

Onasi jumped up. "Master Skywalker is a Jedi… the Jedi's champion and 'Chosen One'!"

Kota nodded while the others put the pieces together. "It fits the pattern. Skywalker also participated in the Jedi's betrayal of Varus since they mind-wiped him, in hindsight. They are after revenge."

"But, Skywalkers here!" Onasi turned to his crew and roared. "GET ME MASTER SKYWALKER AND MASTER KENOBI NOW!" Taking a quick moment to catch his breath after yelling so loudly, he said to the others. "I hope your wrong, because if you're not, then we are playing a game of 'Keep Away' with some very angry kids."

* * *

From the moment Varus entered the tent, HK concluded something was wrong. Why? It could not say. It's functions denied this figure as Master, and it tried to figure out why that was.

This Varus-man was right handed, like Varus. He walked like Varus. He sounded like Varus. He looked exactly like Varus. His clothes were a bit different from how they were earlier, but he could have changed clothes.

HK ran scan after scan while invisible in the corner of the tent to figure out why its ownership-function denied this individual as Master. The minutes passed and a hundred scans later, HK could not distinguish why it was that it could not identify this meatbag with a Master identifier flag in its programming.

HK put down the functions and processes. It decided to check them over later for errors.

It didn't believe there was a difference. When Squirt accused the man of not being 'Uncy Varus'; HK registered the brief, micro-emotion of shock play out on Varus' face, and it concluded that Cahjinawl was correct simple because Varus himself believed it.

And that was all HK needed. HK dived out of the corner and shrouded it's VIP target. Cahjinawl disappeared out of thing air for all everyone knew, and that surprised everyone present.

The little-meatbag-friends of Cahjinawl-VIP immediately got on the defensive, and HK concluded that what the human meatbags lovingly referred to as 'Hell' was on the verge of being broken loose. The imposter asked, "Would someone mind telling me where Skywalker is?"

But no one answered. More Jedi entered the tent and pushed the little-meatbags out, and the imposter removed the hood to reveal his full face. He smirked and his eyes turned red. Lightning sparked on his skin in waves that rippled across the floor.

"Fair enough. If you won't bring me to him, I'll have to force him to come back!"

The imposter waited a split moment to see if he would get an answer before lunging at the Jedi faster than they anticipated. HK judged his speed to be even faster than Master Varus.

Cahjinawl squirmed in its grip and begged it to go save her little-meatbag-friends. HK would much rather have preferred staying and watching the Jedi die. How glorious it would have been to watch the battle and analyze it! But 'alas…' as the organic meatbags put it, it was not meant to be.

HK took her in its limbs and fled out of the tent, or almost. The imposter saw the footprints in the sand and said, "Well well, what do we have here?"

HK felt the lightning wave ripple into its back, and directed its limbs to toss the VIP out of danger as the rest of its body halted from the energy attack. Its circuits barely contained the energy, and HK improvised with a function designed for Sith assassination protocols. It floored the lightning through its legs before the energy burst its chips.

HK fell to the ground as it's limbs needed a reset and a burst of wind blew the tent away revealing the imposter fully before the whole assembly. HK's invisibility illusion peeled away to reveal metal and HK struggled to reinitialize its extremities.

The Jedi around were not ones to sit idly by while a Sith revealed himself in their presence and they grouped up in teams to engage the imposter. HK studied each one and judged their odds of survival to be less than one percent…

With noting to contain the imposter, the VIP's survival chances dropped into the single digits…

HK ran scenario after scenario quickly. Each one worse than the last… Until, and came upon an unusual plan. Much unlike it really to do, but Varus had been quite clear. The survival of the VIP comes first.

HK stood to its feet, retrieved a lightsaber from its chest, and pointed it at the imposter. "Threat: I do not know how you have the appearance of the Master, but when I am done spilling your water components onto the floor, I will peel the resemblance off you."

And just as HK's logic dictated, Jedi did not leave those with bad odds behind. They took the VIP away despite her struggling and fled her away. The VIP cried to stay and help 'the big Ache-Kay droid', but they wouldn't have it. The Jedi were not on HK's whitelist, and it doubted it was on theirs, but for the moment, the survival of the little-meatbag-VIP's appeared to be at the top of everyone's list.

The imposter watched the situation boil with uncontained amusement. His eyes burned with pleasure and disdain and lightning rippled down his dual lightsabers.

HK knew how to combat the lightning, but it figured the odds of victory to be staggeringly low. "So…" The Sith laughed. "Who's first? Don't everyone jump up at once."

The Jedi stayed firm forming a perimeter around him, and HK kept its position locked on him. HK analyzed every bit of information down to the smallest detail.

The positioning was quite clear. With HK and the imposter closest to each other and the Jedi forming a circle around them, this was a duel until such time as the Jedi decided to insert themselves. But the first blow would come down to the imposter or to HK.

HK ran one last function. This was a special one. It halted all background processes, it halted the analyzing and planning and scenario-builders and live simulations HK played out inside. The function stopped its analyzing of self-errors, stopped the virus scans, stopped the firewalls and defrags; and most of all it stopped the never ending driver updates HK used to update itself. Every processor stopped momentarily and returned back to full speed in one singular function library. All functions not directly related to this library was put on hold.

This wasn't about updating. This wasn't about learning. Every single byte of RAM was needed. It was time to put years of learning, of studying, of training to the test.

HK threw itself forward into the ground. Gravity took over in its descent. Collision with the ground would be 1.3 seconds, but each micro-second increased the force of gravity on its frame. At 1.2 seconds, a mere inch away from face planting itself into the dirt, HK lunged forward as hard as its legs could push, and with the addition of accumulated gravity, accelerated into a lunge twice as fast as what HK could have otherwise accomplished and across twice the distance.

The instant closing gap across ten feet caught the imposter off guard, but did not provide lethality. The imposter pulled up his lightsaber to block the attack, and HK changed plans in mid-lunge. Rather than strike at the imposter, it drove its hand into the dirt and threw it in the imposters face. The imposter yelled in rage, but still blocked the incoming attack. The imposter fell back under the brutality and efficiency of HK's opening as the lightsabers clashed.

The battle between HK and the Varus-imposter quickly escalated. HK took full advantage of its opening to enact full lethality, but the imposter was able to recover faster than anticipated. They quickly became evenly matched.

They locked sabers and the imposter rippled lightning across their sabers, but HK kept himself grounded and directed the energy to the ground. However, all it did was reduce the damage. With the two pinned, HK would inevitably lose. He smirked at the sight. "Not bad, you've gotten some upgrades, but I still miss you not having any blasters."

"Inquiry: When did I say I did not?" HK said.

Without warning, HK dropped the lightsabers, grabbed the imposter by his wrists. The imposter struggled back, but he was pinned. Movement on HK's back caught his attention. A pair of arms retracted out of HK's back, with a pair of pistols between them. The pistols aimed down between his eyes.

HK took great pleasure in seeing the shock over his enemies face, but it didn't last. The imposter released a pair of Force blasts from his palms, sending HK skidding back. HK magnetically called its lightsabers back and shifted its form to that of General Grevious.

The imposter laughed gleefully. "This isn't you with invisibility, this is… you took a PROXY droid didn't you?"

"Condenscending remark: You're PROXY droids is merely a technology I have assimilated, they did not understand their own capacity nor did they understand growth." As it spoke, HK sprouted wings, a tail, and stood in a combat stance with its lightsabers and pistols trained on him. In all of its learning, this form was its greatest. The combined specialties of races and people it could take on the best. "Assimilation, is merely another part of growth."

The imposter shook his head and smiled. For HK to take on a technology that could allow its body to change into anything it wanted… yet allow invisibility and stealth just as much as speed or brute force… The ability to adapt was truly fitting. And it was right. PROXY technology was a holographic energy-to-matter conversion that turned what you saw into something real. HK was in there, but it was surrounded in a shell of very real armor, flesh, and weapons that it could make at will.

This was probably as close to perfection as HK had ever come. 'Yet,' the imposter knew. 'It is nothing compared to the power of the Force.'

HK moved forward as fast as ever. Its holographic tail was sharpened, based on Cupcakes own tail, and the arms of General Grievous allowed a relentless attack. Unlike the organic general, HK could see attacks at a slower pace, see everything, and not be caught off guard by simple moves. The pistols rained fire down on the imposter as he backpedaled under the relentless assault and the tail thrust forward like a spear. The imposter twisted to the side to evade it, but HK drew blood from his stomach. The imposter thrust forward with lightning, and HK responded by shielding itself with the wings. The wings were of a race it had chosen for qualities that made it resistant to fire and energy sources. The imposter had might as well be trying to punch a brick wall.

Yet again, the imposter was caught off guard as an attack failed, and HK took advantage by ramming him. The imposter released a massive energy wave into HK, but HK saw it coming and thrust both of its wings back into the ground behind it. HK didn't budge, and used the brief delay to shoot the imposter in the shoulders. The imposter's arms fell to his side limp.

It looked like HK was going to win. The imposter was left on his knees with useless arms. Then he chuckled. At first it was a small weak chuckle, then it built up into a full laugh where he was crying. "Beautiful! Oh, I haven't had a challenge like this in a long time! HK! You have truly outdone yourself!"

"Appreciation: Thank you, meatbag. " HK walked forward and released the holographic wings and tail and form of General Grevious. It still had four arms, but it looked like HK again. Using that much energy on making holographic imaging based on matter-to-energy conversion took almost everything HK had. It calculated it was down to ten percent power. If the fight had continued on for another two minutes, it would be fully drained.

HK walked up to the imposter and aimed down at him. "Admission: I will miss this. It was 'fun'."

"I'm sorry, but I can't allow that." The imposter smirked. "I have something I need to do first." Even as HK watched, a black aura appeared around the imposter. HK fired.

The black aura absorbed the energy bolts. Execution failed. HK thrust down with its lightsaber, but the imposter raised his hands and took HK by the wrists.

How did the meatbag gain use of his arms again? HK scanned for an answer. The only things that had changed in the last few seconds was the black aura, the imposter's healing arms, and dead grass all around them. Could there be a link? HK would need to find more answ-

The imposter beheaded it. HK's head rolled across the ground and the body fell to the floor.

The imposter popped his shoulders and twisted his lightsabers back around to where he liked them. "It was fun." He agreed. Then to the Jedi around, "so, anyone care to tell me where Skywalker is? Or do I need to make him come to me?"

* * *

Ahsoka fell into step alongside a team of Jedi in the port-city and walked with them. "Has the local security been informed?"

"Yes, ma'am. However, they are not taking action to prevent starting anything. They are evacuating who they can to the lower levels in areas of the city the Sith is not."

"Bit overdone." Ahsoka commented. As many people as there are in the city, how are you going to evacuate them all? And is it worth it to do it for just one Sith? Not like they can't contain him to a single block.

The group turned into an alley and Force jumped up onto the roof. She crouched down and slid in next to a second team observing a scene carefully. A silent signal and point revealed where the Sith was.

The Sith in question was cloaked in black with a leather jacket underneath. He also had a striking resemblance to Varus, the plastic surgery was worth the money she would say. Alongside him was an armored figure in a cloak, all camouflage colors. A third figure was between the first two, and this one was a hostage Mandalorian in white.

The Sith had a hostage. That made things complicated.

"Get me in touch with General Onasi!" Ahsoka commanded, quietly.

Shortly after, Ahsoka heard the general's voice in her ear. "Jedi Tano?"

"Speaking."

"I really hope this isn't what I think this is about…"

"I'm sorry, general, but we have a problem. A Sith is in the city. I will probably need reinforcements. We are about to engage and capture him, but I thought you should be in the know."

"…" Ahsoka heard some voices in the background, but couldn't make it out. Some of them sounded familiar. "Is it Varus Wynn?" The general suddenly asked.

Ahsoka blinked in surprise. "Yes, how did you-"

"DAMNIT!" The man yelled so loudly the receiver screeched and she nearly squealed in surprise. "Reinforcements are on the way! I'll coordinate an immediate city evacuation! Engage at your own will and caution! We think he's after Skywalker! I'll see if I can get in contact with him and get him to safety!"

"Thank you." She scratched her ear. The man was really loud. And who's 'we'? "I'll wait a few minutes before engaging the Sith."

"Understood, May the Force be with you, Jedi!"

"You too, General." She turned off the receiver and pulled it out of her ear. "Gah… that man is going to give me a migraine." The Jedi chuckled around her.

* * *

Starkiller stood atop a pile of bodys he had erected and sighed. The place was beautiful, but alas, no Skywalker. "Not a single one of you idiots could be bothered to tell me where he is… That's rude you know!" He kicked one. Unfortunately the dead cannot answer and suddenly tell you what you want to know.

All of the Jedi were dead. And Skywalker couldn't be bothered to show up. Just where was he!?

Starkiller turned his eyes to the city. "Well… if killing his apprentices won't bring him to me… then I guess I will have to up the ante."

With a 'whoop!' he dropped down from his pillar of bodies and, after checking their clothes to see if any looked better on him than his currently ruined ones and not finding any, walked towards the city with his hands in his pockets.

After he walked over the next hill, HK's body disappeared and was instantly replaced with another whole one elsewhere stooped over Cahjinawl and her two friends. HK straightened up and joints popped. "Aggravation: Down to three percent power… if he had kept sitting there another hour, I would have lost the whole hologram." HK picked up its weapons from where it's hologram had fallen, and looked at the pillar of dead Jedi.

Slavian, who had been silent all this time hidden by HK, fell to his knees. "They're dead… They're all dead!"

Slavian wept. Unlike him, Aramas and Cahjinawl stood stoic and distant. They had already known loss, so this wasn't a stranger to them, but Slavian had never seen the aftermath of battle. Aramas put a hand on his friends shoulder, but did not say anything. Not that he could, but this wasn't the time for it either.

HK said, "Acknowledgement: There's a lot less Jedi in the universe, but the worst part is that he has a bigger body count than me!" It reloaded its rifle and put it on its back. "And that just won't do! Why couldn't I have killed a few!?"

Aramas hit it in the head with babyfly and Cahjinawl giggled. "Good shot."

* * *

**Notes: I meant it when I said that HK was getting a serious upgrade by taking on the PROXY droid with its vast experience in combat. Seriously, look at Star Trek. Holograms in the holodecks can draw blood because they have actual impact on your skin as though it was real. Why couldn't PROXY figure that out and add limbs to itself to take advantage of the energy-to-matter holographic conversion?**

**So basically anything HK can imagine for a body part, it can make real, within the bounds of its energy reserves.**

**So yeah, if I were to stick HK and Varus in the same room, HK would be almost equal in power now. The difference would ultimately come down to the Force. Varus would win, but HK would make him work for it, and that his partially what this chapter showed. HK understood how Varus fights, therefore could fight the clone properly, but still just couldn't quite win.**

**Bah, I'm rambling. I shouldn't be up writing at midnight…**

**This is looking to be a long episode! But there is so much epicness to it! **

**I think I'll split it in 2 episodes…**


	25. Interlude - Ravager and the Engineer

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, so no sue!**

**Remember to Review. I want to know what you think and how the chapter is to you. Is it good? Is it bad? Anything I need to know? Any ideas or things you want to see in the future?**

* * *

**Interlude - Ravager and the Engineer**

* * *

Sydney Bartelle stood in the door of the ship's engine room. His handpicked staff and officers looked on behind him and gaped at the sight. Just what they saw from the door was enough to make them wonder if joining the Ravager's crew as engineers was a wise idea.

Sydney recalled the conversation he had with Visas Marr and Rebhorn, that the Ravager was a unique ship with special needs, but he had never expected this.

The engine room of a leviathan-class ship, such as this one, was made up of several rooms with different specialized purposes. The power core needed its own room with devoted shielding, computer terminals, and room with automated doors to contain radiation leaks. The floors and walls of the ship were usually hollow, allowing staff to move in between the walls and perform maintenance. While several rooms filled with terminals and purposes of many kinds were necessary to maintain the ships power, shielding, firepower, engine fuel, and waste, the large was the official 'engine room' in the back.

The actual engine room was the height of the entire ship from top to bottom, and as wide as the ship is wide from left to right; all in order to allow staff free access to the back of the engines to perform maintenance on them. The engines were connected directly to the ship's center keel via columns of a combination of various metals, cushions, and materials to keep a sudden push from crushing the columns or the ship, while still allowing the push provided to push the ship forward.

While this was the largest, and the power core was the most heavily protected, the next achievement of any ship was the Warp Drive. While Warp Drives come in many forms, whether employing plasma, gravity shifting, light travel, or inner-dimensional windows; the most common is a combination of light travel within an inner-dimensional window that uses gravity shifting and plasma-ray shielding to stay safe from various forms of inner-dimensional radiation. The unique trait of the Warp Drives is how the combination of methods are used together. Larger ships require more protection within the dimensional windows, slowing them down, while smaller ships do not have as much surface to protect with plasma-ray shielding.

The Warp-Drive is a system that requires the shield, power core, engines, and its own unique systems to work together in sync perfectly in order to work, all while the crew has to balance the immediate needs of the moment in balancing protection and speed and how rapidly you can enter or exit a new window.

Sydney knew on first sight how royally doomed they were, and regretted his decision to join the Keeper's crew.

On first sight he knew the engines were made of three entirely separate designs from different companies and power requirements, as though someone assembled the engines from a ship-graveyard. It was like someone was trying to stick a USB into a AT6 and expecting them to be compatible. The power core was cracked and the doors obviously meant to keep the radiation leak from spreading were torn off and laying on the floor. The Warp Drive was made up of four cores instead of three, as is standard, thereby creating a great deal of wasted energy; and only God knows where that wasted energy went.

The floors were full of holes, sparks flew off the walls and scattered across the floor, flames shot out of cracked pipes, one of the engine columns had a severe crack in it, and a huge gaping hole was in the wall of the actual engine room. He could see out the back of the ship into space from here. (Sydney wasn't Miraluka.)

"Is this a nightmare?" One of his men asked. They may not be able to see into space like him, but the hole in the wall was obvious enough.

"Sorry, but it's real." He assured them.

"Where do we even begin?"

"The power core is close to leaking!"

"If we ignite the engines, the column will collapse and implode the ship!"

"Everyone!" He barked. They all quieted down. "We have our work ahead of us… I need a report on all damages on my desk… if I have one… within the hour."

"But!"

"Go." He waved them forward.

What was it that kept this ship going? In dog terms, it was like she was crawling on one broken leg.

True to his initial impression, he didn't have a desk. The pile of broken wood that once may have been a desk couldn't even be called a piece of furniture anymore. He had to use the floor for his paperwork.

The nice thing about having a Miraluka crew for engineers was their pin-point accuracy and efficiency with working with three-dimensional objects. The stronger ones could see the layers of materials like x-ray vision. It didn't even take an hour before he was receiving reports on how deeply damaged everything was.

Movement out of the corner of his eye drew his attention, and he looked to see a small floating droid flittering around. It reminded him of a kind of metal snow-flake or ball with a bunch of spike-arms. He watched it curiously as it fluttered around. "Well… what do we have here?" He left his work behind to follow it. It was a droid he recognized from around the ship, they were everywhere, but he did not expect to see it in the engine room.

As he watched, the droid peered closely at the cracked power core. It made a kind of whimpering sound, then a bright light shot out of its face. The light traced the crack, and as he watched, the crack was sealed. Several of his engineers stopped to 'watch'.

With the crack sealed, the droid made a content sound, nodded, and flew away. Sydney watched it disappear into thin air. "Impressive." He murmured. He walked up to the power core and touched it. His men moved to stop him, but he was a very hands-on type.

The crack was gone, although the glass did not feel whole. "Now… why would you reseal it, but not all the way?" It didn't make sense for a droid with a repair function to not have preventative maintenance. He glanced back over the many other problems the ship had, and noted more flying droids. The droids flew right by the holes, the cracks, and the problems almost as though… it was normal.

Why weren't repair droids fixing those problems? He was happy to not be put completely out of work, but it made no sense. Didn't the droids want their ship fixed?

He would have to see if he could access the repair-droid's functions. Logically, he should have access to it from the engine room. Sydney found a terminal and booted it up.

Only to come up with blank. Nothing. Natta. Zilch. Zero.

Not a single word, line, or letter appeared on the screen. It was a black slate. There wasn't even a blinking line accepting input. It was like he never turned it on to begin with.

Bewildered, he turned it off and on again. The same result showed up. He moved to another terminal, and groaned when he received the same result as before.

He ordered his staff to turn on every single terminal in the room, even though they couldn't technicaly see the screens as Miraluka, and he glanced out across the room. Every single terminal screen was a blank slate.

There wasn't an operating system, bios, or even command prompt shown. "Well, that's just great…" He groaned. The computers didn't work.

Sydney didn't know what to do, his hands were effectively tied. They didn't have the materials to repair the ship, there was just too much damage, and the systems were not operational.

* * *

The Ravager watched with fascination as the peoples moved about inside her. It was so much fun observing them.

For years she had nothing to do but sit, and the best times ever was when Master Varus was around! But now there were so many Master peoples around! She almost didn't know what to do with all the peoples!

The one that was not blind in her rear was especially fascinating today. He portrayed all kinds of aggravation.

Not that her extensions with Master Varus and Master little-Varus were not being overloaded in sensory input that she was eating up, but the one in her rear seemed especially stressed about something.

What could ever be wrong? Did he enter her rear just to vent?

Ravager just couldn't understand the peoples. So she tended about her business cleaning, straightening, healing, and observing. The people took equal fascination with her as well, and took to showing affection to her mini-bots in various forms she had never seen even with Master Varus.

The people had started off bringing mini-Ravagers into her belly, and then occupying it. Then they had started branching out and finding other parts of her insides to idle in. They had an energy about them that excited her, but also were becoming aggravated with certain little things, such as the little spaces or parts that were nice and neat on the floor. (Everything was how it should be… Master Nihilus likes it this way. So what was their problem?)

Ravager was a little put off that Master Varus and friend HK-47 insisted on her keeping her heart and mind closed off, but Master Varus's will was Master Varus's will! There must be a good reason.

Ah! And now Mr-disgruntled-in-rear person is looking for Master Varus's servant puppet person! Ravager followed him around.

Mr. Disgruntled said, "Ashley, is the captain around?"

"Sorry, he is busy. Is everything okay?" She looked curious, and a little scared. Why?

Mr. Disgruntled-person started listing off all kinds of 'things' that he considered a problem, and the Ravager laughed. It was cute how mad he was.

Mr. Disgruntled-person swatted at her mini-bot and Ravager growled. Meany. If he don't like her mini-Ravagers, then he wouldn't get one! Ravager imitated a sound Master Varus made when he was mad at Master Nihilus once. Mr. Disgruntled-person stopped and looked at her mini-bot. "Did that thing just blow a raspberry at me?"

Ravager ordered her mini's to move and leave the meany alone. She tended to watching the Master Varus's peoples. Master Varus had ordered that they be kept safe. So safe they shall be! To that end, she made sure there were rooms closed off as well that Master Nihilus wanted sealed from non-Master Nihilus's

Master Varus would be proud.

Master Nihilus would be proud.

* * *

**Note: I wanted to express the Ravager's point of view briefly and have a small about of written-space that expresses the Ravager's crew starting to get integrated into the ship, and suffice to say, they are not happy with what they are finding.**

**Also, accept the horrible grammar and writing at the Ravager POV part. I did that on purpose, and I'm not changing that.  
**

**I know this chapter was really REALLY short compared to most, but I wanted to have a small in-between-episode-moment to bring up some Ravager stuff and the crew's beginning relationship with the ship itself.  
**

**I have an idea of what to do in future chapters, and I am rather excited to actually sitting down and writing it! :D It's going to be eeepiic.  
**


	26. Ep05 - And the Lightning Strikes Part 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, so no sue!**

**Remember to Review. I want to know what you think and how the chapter is to you. Is it good? Is it bad? Anything I need to know? Any ideas or things you want to see in the future?**

* * *

**Episode 5 - And the Lightning Strikes Part 1**

* * *

"You're lying…"

"No! I'm serious!" Why can't Koj believe me? Koj shakes his head in disbelief. Fine, you don't want to believe me, I'll prove it! Somehow…

"So you're saying… we can make free tomatoe soup…"

"precisely!"

"By going to every restaurant in the city, and collecting a sample of ketchup packets… and cooking it."

I nod. Falcon, who has still been silently marching with us all this time, like a good little prisoner, finally mutters something. "That has to be the stupidest thing I've ever heard."

Koj ignores him and turns to look at me. "Doesn't ketchup have a chemical composition different from actual fruit?"

"Yes, I know." I acknowledge their point. "But! They are both made out of tomatoes! And soup is a watery-production of it!"

"I refer you to your friends point." Falcon says. Koj nudges him roughly. "Hey! I'm on your side! Varus is being stupid!"

"But they're both red!"

"You're basing this entire argument on the fact that they are both… red?" Koj asks me.

"Can you untie me so I can face-palm?" Falcon asks him.

"Tempting, but what is a 'face-palm'?"

"You're thinking of untying him and don't even know what his reason is? And all because you don't like my logic?" I ask, wounded emotionally.

Koj stops, looks me square in the eye, and says: "Yes."

"I hate you. It makes perfect sense."

"If your intent is to produce ketchup soup rather than tomatoe soup."

"But ketchup is made from tomatoes! What's the difference!?"

Falcon speaks up, again. "I say we actually go through with it just to shut him up and show him how wrong he is."

Koj points at him, but his body language screams of agreement. Stupid Ghorfa. "Fine." I say. "You two just cannot comprehend my logic."

"The first correct thing you have said all day." Falcon replies. I can hear him smirking.

See? I knew I was right. Falcon has been acting like he has a stick up his butt since he appeared on the Ravager trying to kill me, but he's coming around. I make the worst first impressions, but eventually they come around! He's warming up to me already. He is visibly more relaxed than he was.

Wait… was that an insult? If he agrees with me on their inability to comprehend my logic, doesn't that mean I'm smarter than them or is my logic un-comprehendible or… uh…

My brain hurts, forget it.

I sigh. "Whatever. Come on, we need to find a Jedi and turn Mister Blind-stick-in-the-Mud over to them to show we aren't here to cause trouble." I can feel Mr. Blind-stick-in-the-Mud glaring at me through his helmet. Not bad for a blind teenager.

"There are plenty of Jedi. Which one are we looking for?"

I'll give the Ghorfa that. There have been plenty of Jedi in the city. Some of them have been watching us intently, but I'm fine with that. So long as they don't cause us trouble. "Well…" which Jedi would be the best to meet? Definetely not Tree-Hugger, that could get ugly without waving a white-flag first. I haven't seen Baldy or Froggy since Coruscant, and Tree-Hugger's mustache-master person was with Onasi in the whole Ravager-Miraluka hostage situation. Wow…. This is complicated. Probably the only one who cannot truly come close to killing me or hating me on first sight without giving me a chance to speak, would have to be Mother Hen. Tree-Hugger, I would rather have a white flag in hand first, but I don't think I would need one with her. Just need to show I'm not going to hurt her or anyone else.

But would she be here? My intel says Tree-Hugger is, but would Mother Hen still be an apprentice after five years? Worth a shot. "I think I know someone, but I don't know if she is here. Ahsoka Tano. Alien, red skin, white tentacle/horn thing around her face, likes to wear less clothes than is modest."

"Oh, you're alien friend from when we met?" Koj wonders.

"Yep, that would be her."

"She's been watching us for about twenty minutes now."

"What?" Falcon and I ask at once, for different reasons. I come to a halt and follow where Koj is pointed up… onto a building… nearby.

And there's Mother Hen with a bunch of Jedi trying to hide and keep up with us. Not bad at it really, but they didn't take Koj into account. He's a Ghorfa Farseer for a reason.

But that doesn't mean anything when he doesn't say anything! Especially when their positioning is screaming ambush. "Why didn't you tell me?!"

He shrugs, "Thought you knew. You're calm in danger many times."

I growl, grab Falcon and race down the street. Koj kicks it into high gear and follows me, and Falcon struggles to keep up. Blind teenager with heavy armor and bindings tend to have trouble keeping up with a former-Sith assassin specializing in speed. Koj keeps up simply because I have to deal with Falcon falling on his face every few seconds.

Regardless, this isn't good. Seems Mother Hen isn't up to just stopping by and seeing how things have gone the last few years. Now that the element of surprise is gone, the Jedi's force signature is no longer withheld, which is a really stupid idea. I can tell were they are.

"This way." I suddenly turn as a couple of the Jedi's signatures gets too close and I hear Koj hit someone with the butt end of his rifle.

The Jedi, like many Force users, can jump across distances. So they have the advantage in being able to go over buildings while we are confined to alleys and streets. I don't want to be in streets and get people hurt in the cross fire if this gets ugly, but the alleys are messing me up.

Or we could just skip it all together.

I pull out my lightsaber and in one go both cut the hinges off a door and hit my shoulder into it at once, giving us entry into the house. I hide my Force signature down to nothing, and pick a door at random.

The house has a table with a couple of old people eating breakfast. "Excuse us!" I say quickly while I run by at the door I chose, semi-at-random and go through. Koj takes a moment to bow to them and apologize for the intrusion. I turn the corner and accidentally slam Falcon into the doorway head-first. Oh, well, he'll be fine. His ego needs deflating anyway. "Koj! Now's not the time to be polite! Come on!"

I hear his boots not far behind me, and thankfully, the trick managed to give the Jedi the slip for a few seconds. The problem now is removing the advantage. We need open space. We need a place where there are not people. Outside the city walls? Too far away! Market place? Too populated. It may be wide open, and its close… but…

If I shoot some lightning into the air that would cure the population problem.

Market it is!

A few minutes later we burst out of a tight space between buildings out into the open at the mark-

And come to a screeching halt. That is a lot of tanks. And gunships. And guns. Even the dreadnaught in the air seems to be pointing itself right at us. Fighters fly around and a bunch of transports are coming down. Koj immediately puts his hands up. Yeah, great job with your masculinity there buddy. Why not just scream 'I give up!' Coward.

Jedi Master Rahm Kota stands at the forefront of the line of guns pointed right at us. "I give up!" I put my hands up.

I drop Falcon on his face. Crap. He isn't moving. Now is the moment we need him! Ahsoka lands on the ground behind us and I pick Falcon up by the wrist. He just kind of dangles there like an unconscious wet noodle. "Falcon? Falcon?" I whisper gently. I shake him a bit, but he just dangles from the wrist. "Come on buddy. Now's the time to tell them how nice we are." I take off his helmet. He has a bunch of bruises on his head and is unconcious. Regarldess, I slap him. "Falcon! Wake up! Come on!" I slap him again, okay, now I'm getting aggravated! I have a lot of Jedi and guns pointed at my head! "You are a useless raider! You are a useless hostage! And YOU ARE A USELESS PIECE OFFERING!"

Ticked off, I drop Falcon and kick him towards Kota. "Take him! I don't want him anymore! Completely useless!"

Koj looks at me like I'm stupid, and Kota does not seem pleased at all. In fact, he looks down right infuriated, although… I don't think its all at me. Although Mother Hen doesn't seem all that happy either. The lightsaber pointed at my face might be a clue.

"Hey… uh… Ahsoka? How's it going?" I chuckle nervously. The lightsaber closes in a few more inches on my face, to the point that my whole vision turns a shade of purple and my nose is burning.

"Okay! Okay okay okay! I get it. This doesn't look all that good but if you let me explaaa- ow!" Hands grab my arms from behind, twist them roughly to the point of pulling my shoulder out of joint, and put some tight stuff on my wrists. However, the lightning coming off my body makes the person jump like I zapped them on purpose.

"Hey! Come on, I just want to talk!" I yell desperately.

"I bet." Ahsoka says while glaring at me.

Wow… I guess five years really does change a person. I never would have thought I would see that much hatred in her eyes, ever…. That hurts. Really. She looks at the man behind me. "Watch it. If he is anything like the Varus I know, he has electricity flowing through him naturally."

Hands grab my arms again, but this time I don't realy notice them. I've never seen such emotion in her eyes, and I'm left speechless. It feels like someone is stabbing me in the chest. "I just want to talk." I whisper. But they carry on.

Have five years really put this much of a bad impression on things? All this time I was a slave tucked away in the armpit of the universe, I really had no idea. I never thought for a moment that the people I cared about the most, people I thought of as a family, could look at me like this.

The pain explodes in my chest and its like my heart is on fire. I don't know what to do…

No… I do know what to do, but going back to that mindset is not what I wanted. But, you know what? Fine. You don't want to talk, then I won't.

These people seem to have forgotten I'm the former apprentice to Darth Nihilus, Destroyer of Coruscant, the Lord of Hunger.

I'm Death's Apprentice.

I've been holding back my Force power all this time to not hurt anyone, but without that need anymore, I let it all out like a broken dam. Anger, fury, pain, and lightning flows off me into the air in small bursts, and across the ground. Darkness appears on my skin like a robe. The Jedi jump away from me and the soldier with his hands on me falls to the ground. I turn my eyes towards them, and notice their hesitation, their fear, their remembrance. A little trick I learned was to flow lightning across my eyes for extra emphasis. Neat little parlor trick really, but it's a good way to have lightning-eye balls to remind them who you are.

I focus all my power into a single strike and slam it down. A bolt of lightning comes down from the sky and the world explodes. A hole is pierced straight through the front of the dreadnaught, a pair of fighters are short-circuited, and the bolt of lightning hits the ground just in front of the Jedi and Republic soldiers knocking them to the ground. Those of them not unconscious from the energy blast will be either blinded by the burst of light, or be unable to balance themselves under the burst of sound, or won't be able to hear anything against the ringing.

I pop a kink in my neck. My shoulders are a little out of joint since that soldier pulled on them so roughly, but honestly, I haven't felt this good in a while. Like all of my energy and cabin-fever is being released at last, but still; that is about the strongest move I know. A pure bolt of lightning from the sky. I can only use my power that way a few times before exhausting myself. I would rather not do that again.

I could use my darker Nihilus-bred side to rip the skin off their bones and suck on their life energy, but that side makes me sick.

Koj stands up on wobbly legs and I stand here trying to get a grasp on everything that is going on. It's rediculas. We were just on a walk, and out of the blue, it turns out, all kinds of people want to give me trouble. If I started something, then perhaps I could understand that… But how long have they known I'm here? How long have they been preparing to ambush me?

Koj is visibly shaken, but I don't notice that. My attention is on those I thought I could trust. Kota, fair enough, he's a Jedi Master and while we had a… peculiar relationship, I expect him to come after me before asking questions. But Ahsoka? Out of every single person I've ever known who I thought I could talk to without waving white flags and knocking them on their butt… She, I thought, was the only one I wouldn't have to knock down to get to listen.

Well, now they're listening. Correction, they're terrified. The soldiers are unconscious, and while I was careful, one or two might be dead. People are fragile like that. The Jedi are still trying to straighten up and get into some kind of stance where I won't butcher them in two seconds, and failing at it. Kota is getting a big reality check, and managing quite well actually. Not only does he see how much the tide could turn on him, but also is smart enough to realize I am not taking advantage of them right now. He looks more confused than anything, but is figuring it out that I don't want trouble.

Ahsoka on the other hand looks like she is about to pee on herself, and the sight makes my blood boil. "Varus…" Koj warns me, but I knock away his hand.

"Don't touch me." I hiss while I stomp forward. Lightning rolls off of me in ever growing waves in direct correlation to my growing emotions. Kota stands firm, having fully recovered (Good job! I can respect that.) and Ahsoka tries to skitter away on the ground.

"Stop it!" Two of the tanks go flying behind her and lodge themselves in the second floor of a distant building. "Don't you dare look at me like that! I didn't come here to start trouble! I came here to talk! I came here to bring back Falcon-boy and perhaps get a little peek at the old temple, I didn't come here to get ambushed and given the law thrown in my face AGAIN! I haven't done anything! I-"

"Varus." Koj grabs my shoulder.

"No! No, they are going to hear it and they are going to **** listen!" I throw him off and return my attention to her. "I was a prisoner! I did a part of my time! And I was ENSLAVED! I was forced to do all kinds of things! Gladiator in an area, experimented on, put up as trophy, hell, girl, I WAS RAPED!" I roar. Kota gapes at me slightly, but Ahsoka flinches, but I just derail into a stupid chuckle like I've lost my marbles. "Course I killed her, stupid woman thought just because I was her slave that I wouldn't lash out, and you know what's funny?" I laugh some more. "Between Nihilus, the Jedi, and that slave master, I've had my soul, mind, and body, all raped, defiled, taken and spit back out. There isn't a single thing left about me that isn't broken on some level, so excuse me if I am no longer in the mood for being SCREWED WITH!"

I stop to catch my breath, but my blood is still boiling. Even Koj didn't know about that last part. He gapes at me openly behind his mask. I'm sitting on five years of anger here all coming out, and guess what? It doesn't feel as good as I thought it would. "You're not here to kill us?" Kota asks.

"NO! I-" I stop to catch my breathe. He's asking a serious question. I force my anger away. It's still there, but now I shouldn't be biting his head off. "I did not, Jedi. If I wanted you all dead, we wouldn't be having this conversation."

"Varus!" Koj grabs my shoulder harder.

"What?!" God, he's been bugging me repeatedly! It better be important! He points down the street and…

…

Yeah, I got nothing. It's a street. People are gone (as if the tanks weren't enough of a clue to get out of the way) and its deserted.

"Care to be more specific?" I ask.

"The Good Spirit frowns on someone. An Evil Ghost is there."

The good spirit frowns on… Well, I know Ghost's are the agents of his little spirits in his mind, which is just a translation for Force users and… Evil Ghost… "You mean the Dark Side?"

Normally he would shrug as a sign of saying 'whatever', but the fact that he doesn't sets me on edge. He's tense as iron and looking intently at something. I follow his eyes. He's not looking at the street, he's looking above the street at a floor of a building…

Now that he mentions it, I do see and feel something. There is a figure in the distance barely visible on the roof of the skyscraper, and this figure smells of the Dark Side. It actually feels very familiar. The hair raises on my neck and my fingers move for my lightsabers unconsciously. It's very very very familiar, but for the love of me, I can't put my finger on it!

It's not Visas Marr, although its close. It feels almost like… Nihilus. Not quite, but very close. It actually reminds me of… me.

Was there a third apprentice besides Marr and me?

"I don't like the feeling of this." I say to nobody in particular.

"We need to get out of here…" Koj replies.

"Yeah, leave Falcon. We brought him, might as well deliv-"

The top-half of the skyscraper the Sith is standing on lifts up in the air. Easily fifty-stories height in building, probably a zillion tons, rips itself out of the bottom half and floats just above it. Rubble and entire sections of it falls as it is ripped apart in the process. A dust cloud builds in the distance from the fallen parts, but the shadow of the floating platform is still easily visible above it.

It turns, slowly at first, then faster until the tip of it is pointed at us.

"Oh… great." I mutter.

And is thrown at us. A zillion tons of stone and metal coming right down on us!

"MOVE!" I yell.

Koj gets out of my way, and I throw everything I have up at it, or rather, down. It's going to come down eventually, and it's too heavy for me to hold up, so might as well help it along. "AAAARGH!" I channel my energies and in one blow **slam** it with lightning and power from above. Between that and gravity, it flies like a rock, namely: down. The strength of my blow sends a shockwave over us that barely lets me stay standing, but I don't pay attention to such a small detail, even though cars whisk by my head.

The projectile slams into the ground with all the power of an earthquake. The buildings along either side of the street are either crushed by it, due to its size, or crack and crumble under the sudden earthquake. I hear the skyscraper behind me screech as it struggles to not crack itself while it shakes. If it falls on us too, I won't be able to do anything about it.

Not that I can do all that much still. I may have kept it from hitting us from above, but the projectile hits the ground and keeps coming. It turns into an avalanche of street, vehicles, and earth barreling right at us with enough screaming fury and rage to rival Cupcake when I make him really mad.

Using such large bursts of power already has me winded, but I trust on the Force to give me more while I throw everything I have at it. The conflicting forces result in more shaking, another shockwave, and an impact radius explodes in the front of the avalanche; but it is clearly slowing down as I push against it.

"We'll discuss this later!" A voice says beside me. A second burst of power hits it along with mine, and I glance over to see Kota pushing along with me. The strain of it has him on one knee, but he's actually helping me.

Nice to see he's being reasonable.

It slows down, but it's not quite enough. I close my eyes. I can feel every wire, every nail, every wall in that building. It is all struggling to stay solid and not crumble under so many conflicting forces upon it. I grasp all of it and tear everything in my hands in two.

The entire building-projectile crumbles to rubble and halts in front of us. The dirt hits my feet and a black dust cloud envelopes us. It leaves us coughing, but even as exhausting as that was, a part of me is rejuvenated. The Force is flowing through me strongly, refueling me as fast as I lost it, and Kota isn't trying to kill me anymore. I'm still on his bad side, but that's a step in the right direction.

Movement on top of the shadow of a broken wall brings my attention up. A shadowy, hooded figure stands against the light and smog. A wave of pure Dark Energy sweeps over us. The air becomes hot and burning and sparks zap all around us from the conflict of energies. Yet again, everyone struggles to stand against the wave of power, but Kota and I manage to stand against it.

A pair of red lightsabers lights up and turns into a backwards position.

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**Note: I have been very pleased by people's perception of the last chapter where I showed how Varus had his hair cut. I was a little skeptical about it. Not that it is any less true, but I wasn't sure whether to put it up or not.**

**Something I am thinking of doing is having an interlude between each episode purely for perspective of other people, to further relationships that are not part of the major plots, and generally to show that things outside of the major plot lines are happening.**

**The thing I didn't like about this chapter actually was Ahsoka. Ahsoka is a strong person, but she keeps being put between two people she cares about, or is on the wrong side of a very confusing situation. She is somewhat indecisive, but I dont want to have her come across as weak, useless, or dumb. She has grown a lot, and I want to express that, but a lot of these situations that Varus has been involved in is sending her for a loop. She will be a lot more decisive in the future, but right now is just a confusing time for everyone.  
**


	27. Ep05 - And the Lightning Strikes Part 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, so no sue!**

**Remember to Review. I want to know what you think and how the chapter is to you. Is it good? Is it bad? Anything I need to know? Any ideas or things you want to see in the future?**

* * *

**Episode 5 - And the Lightning Strikes Part 2**

* * *

Kota ignited his blue lightsaber and put it up defensively. "Now, Varus, this guy is powerful, we need to work together and be very very car-"

"Who the hell are you?" I blurt out anyway.

"Or just do that…" The old man grumbles.

The Sith standing on the rubble lowered his head. At first it was just a gentle 'heh', but then as he continued chuckling it grew into a full throw-your-head-back laugh. "Oh, you are definitely Varus!"

I ignite my lightsabers an- wait, I only have one red one. "Got a spare?" I ask Kota. He shakes his head and points back. Getting the hint, I pull one of the Jedi's lightsabers into my second hand. Its blue, but it feels nice. Light weight, broad enough for a tight grip yet small enough to spin in my fingers.

The mysterious Sith jumps down to eye level and leisurely spins the dual red sabers in his hand while walking forward. "Now now, let's not be like that. I just wanted to say hi."

"Funny way of showing it." Kota growls. I don't know, I kind of like it. I can't make out the Sith in this dust cloud, but something about him feels… familiar.

The Sith continues, "I thought it would get your attention, now, tell me: Do you know where Skywalker is? I tried asking the Jedi out there, but they were… uncooperative."

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out. Ahsoka gasps and her energy fluctuates with shock. I stand between her and him. "To answer your question, I don't know, and even if I knew, I wouldn't tell you."

"Oh, that's unfortunate." He stops spinning his sabers. Lightning ripples across his body and the lightsabers turn off.

Unsure what to make of it, I hold my ground. If he wants to go at with lightning, that works with-

The Sith disappears in a a bolt of lightning that shoots by my head only for him to reappear just in front of Ahsoka! Claws of lightning appear on his fingertips like a great beast. "Then I guess I'll make you scream!" With a single claw he stabs her in the shoulder clear through to the ground like a spear.

All of us are left stunned. How did he move that fast! I couldn't track him at all! No one even seems to register the fact that he stabbed her until she screams in pain from the wound and the lightning.

Just as she is stabbed, so does my chest feel. Yes, she and I are having a problem, but she is still Mother Hen! Any problem I had before with her is instantly forgotten at the sight. Besides, what's life without an old partner trying to take you prisoner without asking questions first? Pretty dull, I'd imagine. "Mother Hen!" I yell.

"SCREAM! SQUEAL! CALL FOR THE MASTER!" He demands and screams in glorious bloodlust. He turns his hand, and the claw in her shoulder, and her scream hits a new creschendo. "Come now! Don't be so quiet! Call for Skywalker! Your comrades weren't so obliging!"

"You! YOU!" She hisses through the pain. "Y-you killed them!?"

He laughs. "Of course I did! Uncooperative curs!"

Having enough of this, I run at him and shoot lightning at him. It hits him, but rather than hurt him, it only travels across his body and hurts Ahsoka more. He turns his head in my direction, smirks, and lifts Ahsoka up by the claw. She screams as she is lifted up by her shoulder, but grits her teeth and glares at him with a fire I have never seen before.

He spins and throws her at me. I catch her, but the two of us fall to the ground. The electricity leaves her and is absorbed by myself, thankfully. "You okay?" I ask. The wound isn't bleeding too badly, the heat from the electricity cauterized the blood, but the arm is completely limp.

She doesn't respond. Her eyes are stuck on him with a pain that shouldn't be there. It's a look I've seen before, and it hits me at my core. She was betrayed. She was used. He hit her on a personal level.

"You know him?" I wonder out loud. She slowly turns to look at me holding her, but her eyes are distant and clouded.

"He… killed them." She whispers in horror and shock. She shakes like a leaf. Yeah, she isn't exactly coherent right now.

Unsure what else to do, I lay her down gently and pat her hands. "I'll take care of this. Rest." I stand and ignite my sabers.

Ironically one is red from my Sith collection, and the other is blue from a Jedi I picked it up from. I'm a Sith, about to fight a Sith, on behalf of Jedi, while considering myself friends to them. Nihilus would laugh at the irony, he has that kind of sense of humor. So does Visas, actually, now that I think about it.

The Sith has his back to me. His attention is, rather, on the Jedi, as he decides to prowl around and see if the others would be obligated to call for Skywalker.

"Koj." I say simply. I hear a return answer just before he lifts his gun up and points at the Sith. Kota stands beside me and walks at the same pace as me, and I nod when he glances at me. This time, I'll let him work with me.

"Ladies first." I smirk.

Kota chuckles. "Then she will have to get BEHIND ME!" He lunges forward at the Sith's exposed back and goes in to stab him. The Sith turns and knocks the saber aside only to find Kota tackling him. The Sith jumps clear over Kota to avoid it, only to find me in his face.

"Did you just call me a girl?" I demand.

The red lightsabers meet my own in a downward strike, and in true Varus-fashion, I redirect the energy into a second attack. Only, the Sith does the same. The sudden shift in attacks surprises me, but we block each other again and again and again. Our attacks are both swift but weak, little more than taps on each other before shifting to another attack.

The Sith kicks me in the leg while our sabers are pinned. I lurch forward under the shift of my center of gravity, but he can't afford to use the opening with Kota ontop of him as well.

Our movements are forcing Kota to have to find an opening, but he manages for an old man. I join in and together we pressure the Sith.

Kota's style is about strength and technique, while mine and the Sith's appear to be the same wild, constantly-shifting, constantly-moving type. I can keep up with him fine, but the constant moving is forcing Kota to focus on his footwork more than actually using any techniques to find an opening.

Koj suddenly takes a shot at the Sith. It goes right by my ear and the Sith barely manages to evade the laser bolt.

With his attention on evading the laser bolt, and parrying Kota, I drop a lightsaber for a moment to release a burst of energy into his chest sending him flying back into one of the tanks with enough force to turn the tank onto its side.

"That got his attention." Kota says. I grunt in acknowledgement. I put enough power into that to kill. Against anything weaker, the burst would have removed their upper body from the waist up rather than shoot them back.

The dust clears slightly to reveal him sitting on the ground. There is a massive dent in the side of the tank, and the ground is scalded all the way from me to him. His clothes are torn. After a moment, he lifts his head. "Great…" He's alive.

The Sith is covered in blackness like armor over his skin, even covering his face. It flows around him like a mist. It starts to recede and sink into his skin, but it doesn't truly leave him. It's like his skin is made of black armor now.

I wasn't aware many Sith knew how to use Void. I thought Nihilus was the only one to teach it. "Careful." I warn Kota. "The void is an abyss that absorbs everything. Light, power, energy of all kinds. Even life energy, don't let it touch you. It'll age you and rip the flesh off your bones."

"And impact energy?" He wonders. I nod. "Tsk, fine. Troublesome brat."

Yeah, troublesome. The darkness absorbs everything we can use. Laser bolts, lightning, Force energy, lightsaber plasma; but there is always a cost in using it. You shave years off your life every time it is used, and the only way to get those years back is to use the same void to take life energy from other people and redirect it into yourself.

It is also something that can only be used sparingly. He did it to keep from having his spine broken just now. He will only use it when he has to, otherwise he would have been using it the entire fight already to just kill us.

It's playing with the very laws of life and death in a way that is abominable. The only Sith to ever truly use the Dark Side to this degree was Nihilus, and myself on very rare occasion. Just the thought of it makes me sick to my stomach. Now there is a new Sith on the block with it. But who?

Stupid dust cloud… this is just getting aggravating.

The Sith stands and raises his hand in a gesture that screams of Force usage. As if that wasn't enough, the energy around him moves and shifts with his silent command. The tank behind him moves around to in front of him, then disentrigrates while shooting at us at once in millions of bullet-size chunks. Kota responds by cutting a part of the street, then lifting up a flap of it to shield us from the barrage. The Sith appears above us in a bolt of lightning and brings a lightning-infused hand down on Kota, but I get in the way and take the attack. The Sith's hand meets my chest and lightning shoots into me.

Thank the Force I am Lightning Incarnate. That would have hurt. The attack does nothing to me other than make my chest hot, and I grip his arm to pin him down. "Got you now."

"Heh…" He responds and looks up at me and what I see stops all thought and time. I'm looking right back at myself. But… how? What? "Unfortunately, Varus, there is more than one way to use it."

He swipes his hand away and leaves a trail of blood on my body as lightning condenses at his fingers like claws while on my chest. The lightning feels different. I can absorb lightning, so why did the attack cut me? Why does he have my face? What's going on?

This singular final question lingers in my mind in a repeated loop over and over as I fall to my knees in pain. Blood pours down my body and I barely register Kota's yell just before he is pushed away by the Sith's power. The Sith who has my face.

The Sith who has given me a bad name, by wearing my face. The Sith who has gone around on a rampage, who has been killing Jedi. Ahsoka recognized him, looked betrayed by him… So they must have had contact recently and… is that why she came after me? She thought I was a fake compared to this guy? Anger burns in my gut at how my friends have been used and toyed with by this imposter. All of the crap I've been dealing with since I was rescued, hell, the fact that the Dominion even came after me to begin with as a slave! All of it was him!

"You're-" Koj wonders out loud, but doesn't finish his sentence because he's too shocked to. Kota raises himself up and looks between us.

"Who are you?" I demand. I've been in better condition. My chest looks like a giant tiger swiped me and my shoulder is still slightly out of joint from the Republic-bastard. The foreign lightning also messes with my muscles and makes me spasm. It's like I've lost all of my immunity to lightning as a whole, his type is so different. It changed to a purplish-color rather than normal.

The Sith-me smirks, reaches down, and grabs my hair. He lifts my face up to his. My brown eyes meet his red ones. "I am what you are afraid to be. I am Starkiller."

Starkiller.

The apprentice to Darth Nihilus.

The killer of Jedi, avenger of the Miraluka, Starkiller.

Ever since the day I remembered my life as Starkiller again, since my mind-wipe, I have always pictured Starkiller as a past alter-ego, a side of me to keep tabs on, to push away, to destroy. I allowed myself to go to prison to erase that side of myself. I endured slavery peacefully, for the most part, for the sake of destroying that part of myself. I found a brother and niece and family again, all as an acknowledgement of the fact that I am Varus Wynn and Starkiller is no more. Starkiller is dead.

But here stands before me a physical representation of my darkest side, the side of me that will go to any length to achieve the ultimate objective: kill Nihilus.

Now it all makes sense. The familiarity, the fighting style, the Force signature, the types of power he uses… it's all what I used. It's all me. I haven't killed Starkiller. I completely failed to do it, for here stands the very physical embodiment of my past and power.

But… "How?" I wonder in horror.

"No, no, no. That's not how this game is played." Foreign lightning ripples across my body from his hand. I grit my teeth in pain as my entire body goes numb and limp. He punches me in the face, knees me, and shoves my face into the ground. "You shouldn't be wondering 'how', but 'why'."

Why. Why what? Why go around killing Jedi? Why do you exist as more than just a phantom or ghost in my mind? Why use and betray Ahsoka?

One of the biggest contrasts between my Starkiller side and Varus side was memory. The mind-wipe decided when one ended and the other began, so if this was a true Starkiller incarnation born of my mind, he wouldn't have Varus' memories, so then he wouldn't have been able to trick Ahsoka so easily. She is a smart girl.

So he remembers. He is more than just from my mind, he is a person who's memory goes beyond what it would if he was bound to his sole existence as Starkiller. There is a Varus in there…

But… why? Heh… there has always been one why. Why kill Jedi? To gain strength and killed Nihilus. Why cause a ruckus with the nations? To make them increase the challenge, grow even stronger, and kill Nihilus. Why betray, use, and trick? To one day kill Nihilus.

Everything points to Nihilus. That is the only 'why'.

So how does searching so much for Tree-Hugger connect with Nihilus?

"Figured it out yet?" He snarls. He lifts my limp body up to force me to look into his red eyes again. The moments tick by as I feel a major piece of the puzzle is moving into place. Something I've missed. Some important. My eyes expand when it hits me.

Tree-Hugger was exposed to Nihilus on Coruscant, and was the only one to live besides me.

Nihilus couldn't kill him! So he did the next best thing! Of course the shockwave from the Ravager entering Warp while in the gravity well couldn't kill a Force-being! No wonder why I haven't heard of Nihilus in the last five years! No wonder Starkiller is suddenly hell-bent on finding him instead of just gaining more and more strength!

Starkiller found a way to kill him! Nihilus is still alive and knows it! He's hiding in Tree-Hugger!

Starkiller is going to kill Tree-Hugger!

Recognition blooms in Starkiller's eyes as he looks into mine and sees my understanding. His smile expands to the point of madness and for a moment the façade of sanity dissipates to reveal the unbridled hatred, rage, and bloodlust barely contained beneath the surface of our souls. "You got it!"

Anger wells up in me and I struggle to lift my hands. I grab him by the wrist and glare up at him. His mask returns to a simple smirk and he throws me aside. I struggle to my feet. Blood and lightning is all over me, but I refuse to just sit here and do nothing. "As if… I am going to… let you! You're not killing Tree-Hugger!"

"Oh, the same man who betrayed you? Betrayed us? Varus, I remember EVERYTHING!" He yells. Energy explodes off of him and pushes me back a step. "HE DISERVES WHAT IS COMING TO HIM!" Silence sets in a moment as we both gasp for breathe. It's almost like he put all of his energy into that declaration.

If Tree-Hugger is truly hiding Nihilus, then he is tampering with things beyond his understanding, and is endangering everyone. But then that is nothing more than speculation. I rise to my feet and ignite my lightsabers again.

"You think they will accept you for it? For defending them?" He demands.

I stay silent as my answer.

He chuckles. "Oh, Varus. Fight me as long as you wish, but look at your wounds. Loneliness and misunderstanding is our reality, and you know this. Pain… death… loneliness… I know your pains, your dreams, your nightmares… and your secrets. Deep down, below all the bluster and confidence and sarcasm, all the words and bonds, behind everything you have tricked even yourself into believing, you know the truth… and you are simply waiting for the day you are once more alone. That is our reality. But you are not alone, Varus… We have each other, and we are now close… so very close to ensuring that everyone is protected and saved from 'him'."

To my amazement, he puts his lightsaber on his belt and extends a hand with a smile. "Join me, and protect your friends and family. They will not accept your path, but they will be safe. Together, we will kill Nihilus."

Kill Nihilus… The Destroyer of Worlds. The Lord of Hunger. The Creator of the Ravager.

It has a pleasant ring to it. No one has to accept that path, no one ever has. But they will be safe for it. Even if everyone hates me, so long as Nihilus is dead, they will-

"You killed them…" A voice whispers behind me, and I bring myself back to cold reality. I find myself having actually walked toward Starkiller. Starkiller growls at the interruption and I turn to see Ahsoka standing. Her eyes are still glued on Starkiller, but what's in them leaves me horrified.

Amidst the tears is clearly defined hatred, pain, and anger unlike anything I have ever seen on her. In them I see memories of recognition as the ones killed are people she knew, people she spent time with, people she cared about. But also madness. There is so much rage building up inside of her she doesn't know what to do with it, and I wonder if she even has enough recognition to realize what she is doing. All of the energy, born of the Light Side, that I am used to recognizing from her screams in fury, whether righteous or not, and she walks forward in a dazed state. "You…"

"Ahsoka?" I ask in wonderment. This cannot possibly be her. She continues to mutter nonsense and starts to walk right by me. For the brief of moments her eyes turn red.

This… no. NO! If she continues… Ahsoka is not a Sith! She should never walk the path I have!

"Ahsoka!" I grab her and hold her back in a bear-hug. She turns her eyes on me a moment, and comes to a conclusion on seeing my face. She punches me and releases waves of energy into my stomach full of all of the power of her fury. She yells and screams and I take it. After a moment or two of allowing her to take it out on me, I tighten my grip, effectively pinning her to me. She struggles madly, screams some more, and barks threats and curses and tells me how much of a bastard I am for what I did. I keep my eyes on Starkiller, but Starkiller, like the royal douche he is, and I was, is content to stand by and watch in barely contained amusement.

After what feels like an eternity of waiting for her to settle down, her anger turns into the direction I expected. Sobbing. Bit embarrassing, but better than attacking me while I'm already wounded. She may be weak, but man does she always know how to hurt. I should get a medal for putting up with her slaps and punches. "Don't do it, Ahsoka." I whisper. "Don't follow the path I have. It's not you."

She shudders on hearing my words. "Varus?"

"Yeah, who else." I snort. I gasp in pain as she suddenly holds me tightly while I'm STILL standing here wounded. I stopped actually bleeding since the lightning has a tendency to cauterize its wounds, but I am no less hurt! Not that I say anything of course.

"You… he… killed them. Killed them all! My apprentices! The padawans and knights!" She sobs.

"I know."

"He's going after Master Skywalker!"

"I know."

"And it's all my fault!"

I roll my eyes. "Okay, now you're just being stupid." She hits me in the wound and I react naturally, being: very much hurt.

"Sorry!" She gasps.

"It's fine." I say through my teeth. She continues to shake. Even though I've managed to hold her back and calm her down, its only on the surface. Inside she is still a raging tornado of righteous fury hell-bent on going after Starkiller. "Ahsoka. Don't fall into the pit I live in…" I glare at Starkiller again, who looks like the only thing missing for him is popcorn to munch on. "Give it to me. Let me be your rage."

I don't know what compelled me to make that promise. But I cannot stand the idea of her being anything less than that Light Side girl who tries to help everyone. She shouldn't be full of anger and fury like this. So, I'll take it. All of the hatred and Dark Side traits she has? I'll take it. I have experience in Sith, so I know how to take it without losing myself to it again. It's a promise to not just execute the focus of her anger, but to be the one to act out her rage for her.

"Alright…" She lets go. She looks up at me, and suddenly it strikes me how we've grown. This isn't a little feeble girl who slapped me around in good fun, this is a woman, just shorter than me, who has grown stronger and wiser and has more surety. Although she might still like to slap me. Wouldn't put it past her.

I guide her behind me and face Starkiller. Kota returns to the area ready to keep going. He's a bit beat up, but in better condition than I am. Falcon groans and wonders what hit him. Ahsoka starts healing her shoulder. "He's mine." I say. I am, after all, probably the only one who can take him one on one.

Starkiller grins madly. "That's not very nice of you! There's more than enough of me to go around!"

* * *

**Note: BOOM! What you think?**

**I originally had the idea at the beginning of the chapter for Starkiller to accidentally grope Ahsoka. To explain, he goes in to stab her chest, but Varus pulls his lightning away, leaving Starkiller with just a hand on her chest rather than lightning claws. Oops!**

**As hilarious as that would have been, I didn't want to take away from how serious this chapter is already. There is a fine balance of emotions I want presented, and that would have messed it up.**

**Still funny though.**


	28. Ep05 - And the Lightning Strikes Part 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, so no sue!**

**Remember to Review. I want to know what you think and how the chapter is to you. Is it good? Is it bad? Anything I need to know? Any ideas or things you want to see in the future?**

* * *

**Episode 5 - And the Lightning Strikes Part 3**

* * *

I am not a man unaccustomed to many words. Ever since I was a child there has been a retort or dry humor on my lips. Living with Nihilus only made it worse, as the only defense I had in my heart was a rebellious nature born of insanity. The only way to fight the darkness and call-consuming silence is insanity on the same level. I've never exactly been the silent type.

But standing before Starkiller, I find myself short of words.

What is there to say to a man who knows me as well as himself?

I promised Ahsoka I would take on her rage. I would be her weapon, her vengeance, her avenger, so that she can continue being who she is. The soldier exists so others do not have to get themselves dirty. The politician, just as much, despite my distaste for their ways. But now I wonder if I can.

All my life I have fought powerful people, but they all have had two traits in common. They have underestimated me and have been slow. Starkiller is neither. He knows me. I know him, and because I know him, I know him to be as fast as myself. His fighting style is a mirror-image of my own, his speed in the same dimension as my own, and the destructive scope of it all just as much.

If anything, I stand in the weaker position because I know Starkiller is an unrestrained beast. He cares little for those around us who will die if he uses too much power, and I don't have the luxury. My power will have to be great, but restrained and focused. I have to use it like spear, driven to a single point, rather than unrelenting and massive.

And he knows it. His smirk tells me so. The glint in his eye is playful and full of mirth because he knows his victory to be assured. To him, this is all merely a game, theatrics, a way to alleviate the boredom while accomplishing the ultimate goal of making the most noise possible to draw his prey out of hiding like a fire to a fox. Skywalker didn't come when his Jedi were slaughtered, and he wasn't in the city when Ahsoka came after me, and he wasn't near when she screamed in pain.

Starkiller could run now. He could go off in search of his prey, because it is quite clear that Skywalker is not here, but no. Starkiller chooses to stay.

And that tells me what his real intentions are here. This battle here, between him and me, is precisely that: him and me. Starkiller and Varus Wynn. The Sith and the one who is trying to walk away from it. The sin versus the redemption. It's all very theatrical and pointless, but then, very little fun isn't theatrical in some way.

Looking at the nature of his power and thoughts, I know him to be a clone. No other way could be this perfect a replica. In that way I know it is more than even all of that.

This is about whether the clone is greater than the original.

It's sad, it really is, because even as selfish as that desire is for him, I can't help mimicking it in my soul. Ever since I remembered Starkiller, I have been haunted with the side of me I have been trying to escape. I cannot deny this battle will be just as eluminating for me as it is for him. I want him dead.

With that in mind I shoot my lightning down my lightsaber, jump through the air at Starkiller, and swing down at him. The Force inside me collides with his own as our weapons collide and the ground shatters around us.

Lightning flows around us like blades, cutting and slicing building walls, and for a brief moment, I win. Starkiller is thrown back through the glass door of a jewelry shop and I follow him in. Starkiller rolls across the ground on his landing and stabs his claws into the ground. The carpet rips. Starkiller leaps to his feet, claws of lightning in his fingers, and glee in his eyes. I step in, blades of lightning forming on my sabers, and I cannot deny the thrill.

The glass shakes violently under our feet and cracks shoot up the walls into the ceiling. We barely register a squeal as a pair of civilians are hiding behind a counter of rings and necklaces. They run out as soon as we begin to circle as each other. Starkiller and I don't give them the slightest glance as they run right by us. Our focus is entirely on each other, studying each other's posture and movements.

My sabers are up in a defensive manner covering my chest and stomach, yet just as ccapable of taking his arms off. His stomach and chest are wide open while his claws extend outward away. It's an obvious trap. If I go in, he'll go in from the outside. However, I still can take his hands off when he swipes in. At the same time, the fact that he is using his hands, and his flickering eyes on my wrists, tells me he is ready to grab my hands and cut my wrists with his fingertips.

We spiral around each other, one step at a time. The glass hovers into the air around us and shimmers violently.

The counters shoot away into the walls. They were in the way... The ceiling crumbles above us, the glass shatters, and we lunge at each other.

* * *

Koj kept the two in his sights, but they moved too chaotically for him to pinpoint a good shot. They've already moved around other and thrown so muchdust and power into the air that he can't even figure out which one to shoot at. Could he afford to fire and miss to scare the enemy, but only distract the wrong one?

A hand suddenly appears in his scope and Koj raises his head to the Jedi Master.

"Don't." Jedi Master Kota says.

"Do not order me around, Jedi."

"Be that as it may, this battle is theirs. Despite the gesturee I made, Varus chose to take the battle elsewhere. The best way we can help is allow him to fight unrestrained, without the risk of getting us involved."

"I refuse to be useless." Koj replied.

"That doesn't mean we are useless, means we have a different responsbility."

"..." Koj glared at the human, but the shifting air and power being thrown all around them forced his decision. A huge burst knocked out a full corner of the building, and Koj saw out of the corner of his eyes that one of the Varus's created a whip, grabbed the other one, and whipped him around before throwing him into the third floor of another building. The same Varus grabbed a car, split it into hundreds of parts, and shot them all at him like a machine gun before following him in. Seconds later, another three successive bursts of wind exploded out of the building taking walls and junk with it. Lightning and darkness collided and the world shook as though two titans were boxing.

Ahsoka Tano stood in the middle of the street watching the exchange with concealed emotion. She was attentive and observant, but otherwise unmoving. Koj recognized it as a warrior. A proper duel of true meaning requires witnessing. This wasn't some random spat, even Koj recognized how much this meant, to everyone.

"What do you need?" Koj asked.

"Free my apprentice." Kota started. He walked to a soldier and inspected him while Koj released Falon Grey's binds. Falon had been snapping his head back and forth at every sound like a scared weasle that was blind. As soon as the bonds released, Koj felt the Good Spirit lay her hands on the lad, and he relaxed.

"What's your name?" Kota pointed to the Ghorfa.

"I am a Ghorfa. You may not know my name." Koj answered sourly.

"Fair enough. Help me get these people up, Ghorfa. FALON!" Kota suddenly barked and turned angrily on his apprentice only to hug him suddenly tightly, and remove him just as quickly. "We have a lot to talk about, but for now, we need your insight. There are two Varuses and one of them is the one we are after. We have been fooled. Its a clone."

"Seriously?"

"Yes, now... Help the Ghorfa get all of these people awake and out of here! We need to evacuate! The people are hiding in the buildings, despite what we already told them to do." Falon nodded and snapped to it. To the Ghorfa's chargin, the teenager had a much better success and getting people awake. Once or twice he yelled random stuff in their ear like names or 'breakfast'. Kota jumped onto a tank and pulled out a receiver. He said, "I'm going to get in touch with local security, Admiral Onasi, and Izthark. We need this situation locked down." Immediately Kota started calling who he could.

"You're having an easier time with them than me. I'll go find people." Koj told Falon. He also didn't want to have to deal with all of thse soldiers trying to fight back because they aren't caught up with the situation.

"There are seven inside that building." Falon pointed. "Second floor."

"How-?" How could he possibly know that?

"Just go! Get back to me, I am keeping tabs on EVERYTHING!"

"No!" Kota yelled. "I repeat, do not send reinforcements to us! All sectors immediately around my coordinates are a battlezone now! Evacuate everyone to the lower levels!"

Koj sprinted across the street, but suddenly a hand grabbed his wrist. "Wait!" Falon yelled. A desk flew out of the building Varus and Starkiller were fighting in and broke into splitters on the ground just in front of Koj.

If he had kept going... he would have been hurt. No, his back would have been broken easily. "Thanks." Koj says, his eyes behind the mask not leaving the pieces of the wooden desk.

Koj entered the facility. Inside were an assortment of desks and hangers lined with clothing. In the corner were the escalators, or moving stairs. Koj ran up them two steps at a time and entered the second clothing store. No one was in his immediate sight. He withdrew his blade and made a racket by tapping the racks as he walked by, but there was no movement. There was a sudden shudder from another room instead.

Not feeling it time to waste on pleasantries, Koj kicked the door down. Now, the immediate sight for all those concerned, was that a large skinny man, with a massive rifle on his back, waving a five foot machette around, wearing camouflage and a skull mask, kicking a door down, with chaos and explosions occurring all around them: was terror. They included five adults and two children.

Koj wasn't as socially inclined as Varus or perhaps Ashley, but after barking out orders for them to run, it seemed it wasn't working. They seemed scared of something.

A hand landed on his shoulder and he looked back to see the Jedi Ahsoka Tano. As unacceptable as it was for him to be physically touched by her, it wasn't the time to be getting into how outsiders fail to understand simple things.

"They're not going to come out with you looking like Leatherface, Koj." She says patiently.

"What?" He asks. He learned much of Basic in his years since Tantooine, but the reference failed to tell him anything.

"Never mind, just hang on." She enters in and stoops down in front of the children who are held back by the adults with a warm smile. "It's okay. He's a little scary, but he's really nice when you get to know him. Just don't get between him and hot chocolate, you know? Why don't you come out. Come on." One of the kids took her hand and walked near Koj. Koj glared at Ahsoka, but otherwise made no moves.

Seeing that he wasn't going to butcher them, the residents fled as the Jedi directed them where to go.

In the distance, the building the two Marek's were fighting in collapsed the three bottom floors, but otherwise still remained standing. From Koj's raised elevation he could see light sabers and lightning and darkness colliding between them faster than he could keep up with. For a moment he thought he saw the one with clawed-lightning grab hold of a light sword by the plasma end and toss it aside.

The two of them looked perfectly even at first, but Koj came to realize that Varus was visibly slower and already wounded heavily. He was barely keeping up.

Koj directed his eyes down to Ahsoka as she finished getting everyone out. "You refer to me as 'Ghorfa' or 'Far Seer'. Not as name." He growled. He was not on good terms with her, or any other Force user. He was being cooperative, but that didn't mean they had to treat him with… familiarity.

"Okay, chill." She put her hands up defensively. "Let's get more. Falon said there are two five buildings down." Why he couldn't just talk to them himself while doing his multi-timeline-insight-trick was beyond her. Perhaps he could only physically move through one of them… Just thinking about it made her head hurt. It would truly take a prodigy to use it and not be driven mad!

The two of them ran down the stairs, out the door, and down the street.

* * *

I bring down another attack, but Starkiller puts his hands up unexpectedly and grabs hold of my lightsaber with his bare hands. Or, at least, almost his bare hands. He creates a Force barrier around his skin.

Of course, he knows Nihilus's little trick… Such a simple barrier skill used in an extremely advanced way. Why am I not surprised?

He wraps his fingers around my lightsaber and tosses it aside. I still have a grip on it, but with my side exposed, I spin around just as his other claw comes in. He grabs some skin on my side, but I return the favor with an elbow to his face. He grabs my elbow with his hand and squeezes while bringing in his fingers, breaking and stabbing my elbow from multiple directions. I scream in pain, but otherwise grit my teeth and Force push him away. The blast sends him skidding back, but he knocks the rest of it to the side and the blast continues on to create a hole in walls all the way out of the building.

I take a moment to flex my arm. He broke my elbow. A small plant, hardly two feet tall, is near me. I extend my good hand, and consume it with darkness, and direct the cells into my arm to heal it. The plant turns to dust and a cold feeling expands in my belly.

Starkiller and I allow ourselves a few seconds to collect our thoughts and breathe. We've fought for a long time now. I've already had to use the Void twice, and I've thrown more lightning and Force power than I've ever had to use. No Jedi has ever pushed me this hard, or taken this much flesh off. This is even worse than the times I've fought Nihilus, because Nihilus simply won, he never dragged it out. Starkiller and I are so close that neither of us have achieved victory nor defeat. At times I've come close to losing, at times close to winning.

I've healed my shoulder, my elbow, and stopped my stomach bleeding with the Void and self-rejuvenation, but I am running out of fuel. I'm breathing so heavy I'm gasping, my body is shaking, and my eyes are blurring. I'm sweating so hard I'm actually dehydrated. I'm past the point of adrenaline. The only thing keeping me going is the Force refueling me with energy, but even then, that's somewhat fake. My body is wearing down, and no amount of energy can fix true rest and recovering. I'm running on empty, fumes, steam, nothing.

Starkiller doesn't seem all that different, but I can tell from the fire in his eyes that he has a lot to go. He's used the Void to either protect himself from a lethal blow or heal more times than I've kept count, at least ten, and the lightning has been a constant thing with him even more than me. Yet while he is getting exhausted, he is still able to keep going for a long time.

In our silent waiting exchange cold reality comes to me. The last five years of slavery and prison has weakened me while he has only been growing stronger since the day he was created. He has not rested while I allowed myself to become aloof and into a drone-mindset. His mind is sharper than a razor while mine is playing catch-up. His power is more practiced, more controlled, and he has expanded on his techniques of how to use his power while I have become a one-trick pony.

With a sudden snap he extends forth his hands and knocks me clear off my feet with a Force blast of his own. I go flying out of the building and land on a bus roof. I see him jumping into the air above me, and I roll to the side just as his claws come down where my head was.

I drop down and land on my feet between this bus and another. Starkiller stands above me and grins. He brings his hands together. The cars suddenly collide into each other with me between them, but I'm already in the air just above them. Seeing his opportunity, being mere feet away from him, he hits me with another blast and I go flying across the street.

I land against a set of stairs by a raised garden. I hear bones crack on impact and a new level of pain hits me. I don't know how much of my body is still usable much less unusable. My right arm is bent unnaturally for one.

Starkiller drops down from the bus and walks calmly towards me. Like a great beast, a mountain, a titan, he walks calmly, utterly, and inevitably towards my death. I can't help the terror inside.

Is this how my enemies have felt all these years? Looking at something that cannot be stopped, cannot be slowed? This isn't like Nihilus. Nihilus doesn't fill me with terror, he fills me with dread while he sucks all emotion out. This is red hot terror, this is emotion, not the lack of.

Starkiller stops and growls angrily as two people stand before me. A hand lands on me and I look up at Koj. He looks down at me, and what I see in the reflection of his eyes startles me. I look like a scared bunny, shaking and terrorized. I close my eyes and will it away. I'm stronger than this.

"How long do you need?" Kota asks me. I open my eyes. Koj and Kota. Both strong in their own ways. Ahsoka and Falcon are running towards us. I glance behind me to the garden.

If I use the Void, I can heal up from consuming it. But it will still leave me exhausted past the point of being able to move. It will take me days to get back to where I need to be. My eyes keeping fading in and out and my body is not doing what I tell it to do. I'll be lucky to crawl into the garden with my last remaining limb I CAN move.

Starkiller blows hair out of his face in aggravation. I know his thoughts. He's getting annoyed at the constant people getting in his way.

"Five minutes." I answer.

* * *

Anakin Skywalker stepped down from his hoverbike. Obi-Wan followed him three seconds later, and Anakin couldn't help a cheesy grin. "You never can keep up, can you?" Obi rolled his eyes. His datapad dinged. Obi checked it to find it is Onasi, but he not only turned it off, he shattered his datapad on the wall. Anakin whistled. "I take it you REALLY don't want to be taking any calls right now?"

"Not right now, not from him." Obi answered darkly, and Anakin raised an eyebrow with clear question.

Rather than answer, Obi entered the Dantooine Temple ruins and Anakin followed. In the distance he heared explosions, and he turned his ear to it. Something dark was out there. "You feel that?"

Obi stoped and turned his attention to where Anakin was looking. "Yes… feels dangerous. Should we do this another day?"

Anakin shook his head. "Nah, it'll be fine. I sense Kota is near as well. Between him and Ahsoka, and the Jedi we brought, I doubt there is little they can't handle. Ahsoka can keep up with Sith Lords now, like you and I used to back in the day."

"Not bad at all. Of course, that was back in the day. Now you could probably do it on your own without me."

"Oh? Inflating my ego?" Anakin laughed. "Aren't you supposed to be deflating it?"

"Right now, we have something bigger to discuss than your self-perception issues. Now, where is this working terminal you found?" Obi returned to entering the ruined temple. Anakin walked in beside him to guide him and they entered the darkness of the lower levels. Out of the darkness came a voice, one heard only by Anakin.

_Oh, this feels homey._

* * *

**Note: Well, Starkiller just doesn't know how to be put down does he? HK, a lot of Jedi, then Varus and Kota, then Varus again, and now Kota and a bunch of other Jedi. He just can't get a break can he?**

**Will five minutes be enough for Varus to enter the fight again? Will Starkiller be stopped?**

**One thing is for certain, someone's going to die eventually. I promise you that.**

**HK is down to 3% power.**

**Varus is on his last limb.**

**Kota is hurt, but standing.**

**Ahsoka and Falon are simply weaker than Starkiller in every way.**

**Cawjinawl is on her way, and so are Ahsoka's 2 padawans.**

**Who is going to die?**

**What is that voice Anakin hears?**


	29. Ep05 - And the Lightning Strikes Part 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, so no sue!**

**Remember to Review. I want to know what you think and how the chapter is to you. Is it good? Is it bad? Anything I need to know? Any ideas or things you want to see in the future? **

* * *

**Episode 5 - And the Lightning Strikes Part 4**

* * *

Anakin followed Obi-Wan through the underground ruins of the Dantooine Jedi Temple. The atmosphere was moody and dark, and Obi's tension didn't help matters. For as long as Anakin remembered, Obi was always serious, but optimistic. Obi was the type to believe that good always won at the end so long as you pressed on to the right course. Anakin believed it as well, but he felt that the course did not always mean being a stickler for rules and the Jedi Code, which, ironically, had changed over time, by the very people who, like Anakin, were not sticklers.

_How I love irony. _The voice chuckled.

Despite the shadow's amusement to Anakin's thoughts, Anakin was less amused. Obi-Wan's mood worried him.

They walked unhindered. Anakin had coordinated efforts with other hidden sects to help clean the Temple and renew it in "shifts". This month was his shift, and over the course of several months, and several shifts between multiple mobile sects, the temple was slowly being restored. What was once a giant disaster of ruin and dirt, overgrown in plant life and wildlife drawn to the energies left behind by the dead Jedi, was now clean and cleared of debris and herds. The halls were still shattered and without repair, but it would soon be openable to tourists and pilgrims who were not looking for something perfect.

The immediate room they passed through had a huge hole in the ceiling and a series of training circles on the floor. The training circle employed by standard Jedi is a series of circles around each other like a bulls eye. The idea was that the more advanced the fight, the tighter the circle, allowing less room to run and move. Kids especially liked to run.

Out of the corner of Anakin's eyes, a shadow veiled in a dark robe stepped into the room and looked around. It was but a pale comparison to how he once was, but the shadow was still frightening to behold.

_Last time I was here, I bombarded this place to ruin. Now, I am here as a pilgrim. If I had known I would be here again, I might have taken the time to see what I would be destroying first._

"We are not here for sightseeing. The working terminal is near." Anakin whispered harshly to the ghost.

"Did you say something?" Obi-Wan asked. Anakin shook his head and his old master left it alone.

_Don't be mad._ The shadow chided as if to a child.

"Do you have any idea how much work it has taken to get this far fixing it? How many lives you took?" Anakin lectured in his thoughts.

Obi-Wan glanced worriedly to the younger man. Anakin was growling, glaring, and walking with more purpose in his steps. His emotions were also shifting without reason it seemed. "Anakin?"

Anakin's attention snapped to him so suddenly the older man almost jumped. He was already aggravated and tense with what he had brought Anakin here for, but Anakin was suddenly being … angry. "You okay?" Obi-Wan asked.

Anikan blinked in surprise and shook his head as if to shake his very thoughts away. He smiled. "I'm fine, just… dealing with some… inner demons." Anakin looked around. "We've spent a lot of time cleaning this place up. It's nothing like it was, but I still wonder how tranquil and quaint this place would have been if Nihilus hadn't decided to go after it."

"You mean Malak, right?"

_Malak might have done the first wave, but his attention was on Revan and Bastilla. His attack ended when they left. Many Jedi hid here, and I came here to finish what he started._

"Right." Anakin nodded. He glanced over to find they had arrived. "Here. This is the terminal we have gotten operational. There are others, but even with all my skill, they are not repairable."

Obi-Wan whistled. This one was barely working. The screen was cracked and constantly flickered between static and the operating system. He very much doubted the wifi or holonet worked. Still, that was what he wanted.

"What did you want it for anyway?" Anakin wondered. Obi-Wan chose to be silent, as his question would be answered on its own. He unplugged his datapads memory and inserted it into the terminal. After going through a couple screens, he found what he was looking for.

Obi-Wan immediately clicked the 'back' button to get away from it, before turning around. "I found something, a lot of somethings, big somethings."

"Ooooookay…" Anakin nodded. "And? Sounds like a lot of big 'somethings' if you are taking this many precautions. What? Is this picture evidence of Mandalore and Dooku having an affair or something?"

Obi-Wan blinked. "What?"

An awkward pause extended between them.

"… The holonet is a creepy place. I'll leave it at that."

"I don't even want to know…" Obi-Wan rubbed his temple.

"No, you don't, but really, what's this about?"

"A conspiracy, where Padme is at the very center." Obi answered flatly.

And like he expected, whatever aloofness, whatever impatience and mild immature Anakin had, all snapped and went away only to be replaced with hot, angry, efficiency, that was just as impatient. Anakin glared at him, but Obi-Wan knew it wasn't him Anakin was glaring at. Anakin was angry at whoever kidnapped her.

Or supposedly, as it might seem. Obi-Wan didn't know what to believe anymore.

"What?" Anakin snarled.

Obi-Wan put up his hands patiently, yet defensively, to keep Anakin from pressuring him like a ticked off husband. "Stop. Truly stop, and listen. Remember your training."

Anakin closed his eyes and, with visible difficulty, breathed in and out slowly. When he opened his eyes again, they were focused and ready for anything. "I'm listening."

Obi-Wan motioned to the terminal and stepped aside. "Click that button." Anakin did so and started to read and analyze while Obi-Wan talked further, "This is a series of holomails I have found in Admiral Onasi's keeping while… ensuring he wasn't compromised by a thief among the Miraluka. As you can see, they go back years, many years. At first it was just Carth Onasi keeping in touch with Revan and Bastilla while they were heroes of the Republic again, but then Onasi still kept in touch with Bastilla and Canderous Ordo even after they left and started the Revanchist and Mando'a clans anew. On the surface, it was just them being friends, keeping in touch, but then Onasi started coordinating with the Revanchist and Mandalorians to keep order in the systems he was tasked with guarding…"

There was more it than Obi-Wan was saying. Onasi was purposefully allowing both Revanchist infiltrators and Mandalorian fleets into the border. While the results always spoke for themselves in keeping the area safe for the Republic, keeping the Sith of Korriban under control, hunting Nihilus, uprooting rebellious Mando'a clans, and more things that benefitted the Republic, the one disturbing factor was the lack of permission. Onasi wasn't allowed to do this, otherwise Obi-Wan and other Jedi Masters at the time might have been apprised of that. Onasi was supposed to safe guard the border and prevent rival nations from entering, not letting them come and go freely.

Obi-Wan understood, and was willing to forgive personally because the coordination kept the Republic safe in that entire side, but it was still a crime of the greatest degree.

As Anakin continued scanning through the holomails, not even bothering to read the contents, Obi-Wan continued narrating the general stuff.

Onasi started taking orders from the Revanchist just as much as it seemed Mandalore was. While the benefits continued to be good, it started to include losing entire worlds without putting up any defense, just because the Revanchist said so because they 'had a plan'. Dozens of instances were logged where the Revanchist coordinated the control of the entire place at the cost of everyone it seemed.

Anakin's composure turned to an almost scary neutrality. He wasn't angry, he wasn't happy. He could barely seem to know what to think, much less be able to grasp it so fast. None of the less, he pressed on.

Obi had seen that a lot of times. They had uprooted a conspiracy or two in their time. Anakin was being analytical. The doozy wouldn't be until later.

Than the loss of Coruscant. That day, as Obi-Wan narrated for Anakin, while the Jedi and Republic were focused solely on Darth Sidius, the Revanchist with their allies were moving to corner Nihilus. They uprooted the Triad from Korriban, sent reinforcements to Coruscant, and prepared for (as they predicted) a war with the Hutt Cartel. In addition, they sent an agent, by the name of Visas Marr to ensure that a number of select targets were rescued from Coruscant.

Anakin recognized many of the people on the list for rescuing. They were powerful figures who were also very passionate about 'staying' when the normal person would think 'run'. Many of them were powerful figures in the New Republic.

Among the list was Padme.

"Wait… wait wait wait." Anakin stopped. He lowered his head and breathed out as if in pain. "If they were rescued WITH Padme, then why didn't they help in the search for her?!" He gripped the terminal so tightly his fingernails bent and bled, but he did not notice.

Obi-Wan said gently, "We know them, Ani. They love her, in their own ways. They wouldn't conspire to hide her from us. They probably did not realize she was among them at the time, or assumed she was taken with them to the final destination."

Anakin grunted in acknowledgement. He knew them too. Obi was right. It was… either an unfortunate lack of insight, or it was purposefully schemed by the kidnappers.

The following few items were of watching and observing Anakin Skywalker's movements. This made Anakin wonder why this was. Why were they spying on him? His composure darkened.

Then he scanned over the last few items and felt his blood freeze in his veins. It… when? How? He could scarcely believe it, it was a simple word beyond his imagining. Yet… it was there. And the simple fact of the words existence was profound in both its power and subtlety.

Anakin believed he had grown a lot in the last few years. He had seen a lot and been in a position that required a lot more of him than ever. He had created a strong shell over his heart to endure the pain plaguing him. Yet, like an arrow, it pierced through everything he had built up, all the meditation, all the endurance, all of the self-perceived attempt to not be destroyed in his slow, constant grief; and skewered his heart.

Obi-Wan carefully held his breathe and watched Anakin's expression for any hint as to his thoughts. The horror in it gave him the impression that his reality had cracked like a broken mirror.

_Report: Mission Concluded. Padme Amidala, her twins, and her escort were safely dropped off at the destination._

The report included minor details such as the utter lack of electronic equipment beyond the most basic necessary to survive, no civilization on the planet to speak of, as well as the fact that the planet itself was isolated. Also a note that the woman had proven too much of a hand full that was no longer a problem.

All of this was insignificant compared to the one phrase that screamed and burned into his eyes.

_Her twins…_

* * *

Again the ground shook beneath her feet, but Cahjinawl pressed on. The air around her was stifling, hot and full of smog. Buildings had fallen and were reduced to nothing more than fiery pits and sparking totems. But beneath it all was an underlying note, almost a sound, not in her ears but in her heart, that told of danger and terror. Not necessary for herself, but for others. Papa and Uncy Varus were both lights and guardians in her nightmares, but for some reason it felt they were being stilled and covered in something dark.

One of her newfound friends, a human boy with a shaved head and staff, said, "The Dark Side is prevalent here… This wasn't like this before! What happened?" He turned to his friend, the annoying one that just glared at her and annoyed her with his annoying refusal to say anything! "I realize that, Aramas!... Yes." He turned his eyes forward again to search out the smog.

How they could communicate, she had no idea. The sky was bright, but the dust and smog was so thick it felt like evening. And the dancing lights were annoying! She swatted at them, but the 'Aramas' jerk just glared at her again.

As for the two droids, HK lead them on while the mini-Ravager fairy was carrying around of the dancing lights in four of its arms, stopping to periodically give it a hug. The dancing light did not seem to appreciate it.

They evaded two patrols of Republic and Mandalorian soldiers making sure the district was evacuated, all the while heading further and further in. HK knew Varus was here. Cahjinawl knew he was here too. They were not going to leave without him.

They were here to find some Infinity House, or something, and yet the arrival of this fake-Varus had thrown everything off. Cahjinawl didn't know what in particular was going on anymore, other than a lot of fireworks and distant sounds of fighting and a growing darkness akin to one of her nightmares, but that didn't matter. All that mattered now was getting everyone together and getting out of here.

She gulped and stayed close to HK. She didn't hold its hand like Varus or Papa often insisted on, it didn't like that. It was a very jumpy droid.

They came to a fallen series of walls and rubble from where a building had been torn apart and scattered across the path. HK scanned the area and they entered into the building to find cover. Distant sounds of battle spooked them.

The building's glass lay scattered everywhere and the ground was scarred black and torn as if with claws of an animal. Metal everywhere burned red as if it had been hit with great heat, yet the area around it was barely warm. They carefully avoided touching the hot metal. Plants everywhere wilted or were in ashes.

A spark of electricity in the distant startled them. Out of the smog appeared a human shape in the distance around whom the lightning flowed. This person moved sluggishly, limping, with his arm dangling uselessly at his side. He dropped to a knee and appeared to be grabbing someone by the throat.

Against everyone's prediction, or ability to control, Cahjinawl ran toward the figure.

She jumped over people, unconscious or worse, to get to him. There was only one person, or two now, that could have electricity flowing through them like it was nothing. As she neared, she found it to be two figures, both Varus in appearance. Both bloody and wounded, but only one standing. The standing one reached for the throat of the other.

The one standing noticed her as she neared, and their eyes met. In that moment, she knew. And all of her fears, her worries, proved true. But somewhere inside, something snapped as well. All of her life she had a guardian, but now that guardian was about to crumble into ash before her.

"GET AWAY FROM UNCY VARUS!" She yelled. She ran at him to punch him.

"How many of you cockroaches are there?!" He yelled in angry surprise. The pretender, fake, abomination of her guardian struggled, and failed, to return to his feet as she approached. He extended a hand toward her. Out of his hand came shadow dark enough to rival the black space between stars, and she returned it with angry fist of her own.

Just before her fist met the darkness, the dancing lights appeared between them and a wall of light appeared between them. The darkness met the light, and both the darkness and light disappeared as if canceling each other out, leaving only her.

Fire and lightning exploded in the pretender's face. The power of the boom knocked the girl off her feet, landing her roughly on her back, while sending the man rolling across the ground. The explosion also pushed away the smog to reveal a number of unconscious or barely conscious people around, all very much wounded.

The pretender yelled in pain as his clothes and face were on fire, before a shadow leaped from his skin to consume the flames.

HK stopped by Cahj with its rifle pinned on the pretender. Cahj raised herself up, struggling not to cry with how much skin she had lost or the mild concussion. The dancing lights fell to the ground with their pretty lights gone.

The pretender struggled to his feet and glared with hateful, red eyes at them. A pair of red light swords appeared in his hands, and him and HK stood at a stand-off. However, it was evident even to Cahjinawl that he was on the verge of passing out. He was wounded, bleeding, burned, drooped over slightly, and shaking furiously. His lightsabers moved in the gentle wind as if he had no grip at all. HK, on the other hand, had described itself as being on emergency power now. It didn't have what it took to fight either.

An explosion in the far distance made everyone jump, and the pretender turned his head toward the sound. Cahjinawl felt… something angry… something dark born of nightmares in the distance. She wanted to get as far away from the sound as she could, but it already sounded miles away.

"Finally…" The pretender muttered only to growl angrily. "Damn you…" He returned his attention to HK, which had not moved.

The red eyes dimmed into a color of both yellow and green, before the man nodded in a gesture of respect and backed away into the smog. The lightsabers turned off, and the man disappeared.

HK lowered its gun and collapsed onto a piece of rubble. "Diagnostic of the situation: He will not return. He is as tired as this unit is, and this unit no longer has the power to lift its torso cavity. Conclusion: Victory."

"How is this victory? He ran off." Cahjinawl asked it. She rubbed her head. "Ow…"

The two Jedi kids walked up and sat down from exhaustion as well. While none of the children had done much, the atmosphere alone had a way of taking its toll.

HK's voice slowed, but explained, "Prevention of primary objective is a victory. He came to hunt a Jedi. He no longer has what it takes to fight even a miniature meatbag. Under my assessment, unless the meat bag is stupid, he will not attempt his primary objective. We have assured his failure whether in his death in the attempt… or the prevention of attempt. Now…. No… more talk… This unit… shutt-" HK's lights dimmed and it became silent and immobile. The plating of it rippled before changing color and shape to reveal a slightly different droid with massive eyes and… it was rather ugly.

"Nighty-night." The Ravager fairy said before fluttering around. It grabbed one of the dancing lights, that no longer had any light, and shook it. It became sad and carried it around with it as it looked at the unconscious people.

The silent Aramas stooped down before a non-human woman and checked her over.

"She alive?" Cahjinawl asked.

He didn't answer. He flashed a hand movement in her direction, and Slavian nodded. "She's fine." Slavian pointed down the street. "There are three more."

Cawhjinawl looked where he was pointing and saw two person on the ground, and a third stooped over one of them. She neared carefully and realized the one stooped over was wailing, screaming in fact, in weeping. It was almost odd how she didn't hear someone so loud until she was so close. Her attention had been so much on other things.

The first one was a figure in green and black colors, Papa! Her heart dropped into her lungs. She dropped down, removed his mask, and gently smacked his face a few times. His eyes fluttered open and looked at her in a daze. "Papa?"

"I'll live…" He said weakly. "You shouldn't be here…" His eyes moved around and he turned his head. "Where…?"

"The bad man is gone, Papa."

"Oh…" He visibly relaxed. He looked over at the soldier clad in white colors and the old man he was crying over. "Is he dead?"

"I think so." Cahj said neutrally. She had seen a fair amount of death at her age. Was she supposed to feel shocked to see a random old man with his throat and chest cut violently?

Papa nodded weakly from here he lay. "And 'Uncle' Varus?"

"Fine. I think…" She wasn't sure. He was bleeding and covered in more wounds than the rest of them, but was still breathing last she saw him. His chest was rising and falling. That had to be a good sign.

"Good… good." He coughed. "Tell the Ravager fairy… we need… help." He chuckled even as blood filled his mouth. "If they… haven't noticed already. Hard to miss."

"Yes, Papa." She jumped up and ran to tell the fairy to tell the Ravager to come.

* * *

Like a grenade of shadow rather than fire or light, darkness exploded around Anakin and nearly knocked Obi-Wan to his feet. He expected a reaction, an angry response, but he was not expecting a full blown inferno! The ground shook and the roof flew away under the rising spiral of Dark Side coming off of his former Padawan.

"Anakin!" Obi-Wan yelled even as he covered his face defensively. The shadow burned like fire and he realized he had been knocked back several feet, whereas before he had been right beside him. Obi-Wan pushed into the tornado of energies toward the figure standing in the center.

Not receiving a response, the Jedi Master yelled again, and again, as he pressed further into its center. He had always known there was a darkness to Anakin. A darkness caged in and a result of the boy's growing pains and isolation from his peers. He was always considered the 'chosen one', the 'champion', the 'prodigy' growing up in the Order, and while he had a large gathering of friends, he was also isolated from all of those who did not know his normal smile to be merely polite. Obi was close to him, but there was only so much he could do when almost everyone else in the Order saw his Padawan as an object to be almost worshipped rather than as a human being.

That was why he didn't mind Padme's role. She saw him as a human, not as a prophesized savior born of the universes' energy. And that was why Obi-Wan found he wasn't entirely surprised by this dark energy surrounding him. He had been lacking that release, that human side for so long, but Obi was surprised as to the intensity of the Dark Side Anakin had caged within himself.

What would have happened if he had truly turned to the Dark Side once? What would have happened if he didn't have those special people to sooth the 'Beast', as Anakin always called it?

Obi-Wan pressed through until he could see Anakin easier, and gasped. Around him was a dark robe, black armor and robotic parts, and a helmet of eternal blackness and hatred on his head. Also, almost like a ghost, there was a skeleton of shadow wearing a white and red mask in his place as well, almost like two conflicting images overlaying the same man. One image felt to be of hatred while the other was of a complete and utter lack of emotion he had only felt in one Sith in his entire life: Nihilus.

Obi-Wan reached in, even though the darkness burned him, and he grabbed Anakin's shoulder.

Anakin flinched and jumped away from the contact as if it burned, and Obi-Wan struggled not to throw up as his eyes were red. Anakin looked betrayed, confused, angry, then shocked as if he realized what had happened. He closed his eyes and growled in effort within himself. Then, just as quickly as the darkness appeared, it disappeared, and Anakin opened his eyes to reveal they were back to normal.

The anger, the resentment, all of it was gone back to the cage he kept it in. In its place was pain, confusion, and now embarrassment. "I'm… sorry, Master."

Obi-Wan let the seconds tick by a moment, unsure what to say, or what could be said. "It's… not okay… Anakin." He couldn't deny. "But!" He said quickly. "It will be. I realize you are confused, you are betrayed… as am I. But now we at least have an idea what direction to go. Just… please. Rely on me. Let me help you. Can you do that?"

Anakin's eyes glazed with tears. There were too many emotions and things going on for him at once, but he nodded. "I…" He choked out. "I'm a father."

"You're a father." Obi-Wan smiled despite himself and hugged his old Padawan. You were never too old to get a hug, and the new father looked like he needed it.

All of his life Obi-Wan had lived under the Order. It dictated rules and laws and set principles for every aspect of life. While under his own master, he had walked the edge of it (Qui-Gon was always a bit rebellious) and Obi had always been the one keeping Qui-Gon rooted. He argued with his old master almost daily about staying true to the Order in every way and doing as they were told. If asked, Obi-Wan would have proudly claimed to be a bit obsessed about following things to the letter.

Then he had been given a young man who again, like his own master, pushed him to the border of the Order's laws, and Obi-Wan did his best to keep the two of them rooted. Obi-Wan was a bit less of a stickler for the Order's rules, but he still was the same way in his own mind.

Yet, he felt something in him had changed since the fall of Coruscant.

The Order was gone. The single 'one path' that all Jedi strived for had turned into hundreds as every sect split up to hide themselves from those that would hunt them. And yet… somehow… that didn't feel wrong.

Perhaps… there was no single path to living a good life with 'super-powers'. The Force wasn't about eternal life, after all, that was reserved for religions of deities.

Perhaps… all of these rebellious people being pushed onto him was a sign that… ultimately… it was okay to be a bit rebellious. To push the boundaries, to do things not exactly as millions of others have done just because a bunch of old people say so. To actually think and find truth rather than have it served to you on a silver platter, provided truth is your goal rather than proving yourself to be truth.

So long as you had someone to keep you rooted.

* * *

**Note: And so ends the first encounter with Starkiller, and true Varus/Starkiller style, things were left in pieces with lots of explosions and making a LOT of noise.**

**Which makes me wonder why he was officially a Sith 'Assassin' when he is so hard to miss! Assassins are supposed to be stealthy, quiet, and more like Visas! Not like Starkiller or Varus who just blows everything up and tears buildings apart and pulls ships down with his brain! But that's just me.**

**So yeah! Lots of character progression on Anakin and Obi-Wan's side, and a massive moment for the others that will impact them and lead to more character progress on their own side.**

**I know this story already feels long. We're looking at a good 25-30 chapters already… if not more. I don't know… I'm not counting, but I am doing this story completely differently. There may be more than 100 chapters before this story is done. There may be 40. I have a lot of select things I want to happen, and I need to work towards each one slowly. **

**One of my reviews mentioned something about DBZ in relation to this. Now, I cannot deny that there is a lot of 'super-power mumbo-jumbo power-level' feel to it at this point, but that is not exactly what I am going for. Strategy, intelligence, information can beat massive power still, and I do want it to. But there is a natural "rivalry" theme here that is based on power rather than strategy, which would, unfortunately, just lead to a DBZ 'power-level and training' feel for some characters. **

**So I don't know if that is a good comment or a bad one. I love DBZ, but that is not what I am going for. Some characters will train up, some will not. Some will play strategic roles, some will play roles of simple fighters and warriors, some will play emotional roles, some will play political ones… I have people ALL OVER the place. I don't want to have 50 muscle-bound-freaks all with super powers blasting crap up.**

**I think one Varus is enough. :P (plus the clone.)**

**So… uh… I hope everyone had a good Christmas! Happy New Years, in a few days, and a good 2014! I am having so much fun with this story, expect it in 2015 to continue updating semi-regurally. :P**

**As always, let me know what you think. What you like, what you don't like, etc. If you have ideas, shoot them to me. I made Varus' lightsabers blue and red because someone argumented the point of it, as a Jedi/Sith, and I've taken every suggestion seriously. The worst I can do is say no. haha.**


	30. Interlude - Loss of Clarity

**Note: It is now January 1, 2015, as I write this. And... looking back, as a writer, I can say that I am astounded at both myself, and at the story I have written, as well as the readers.**

**(skip this if you aren't interested in me reflecting.)**

**I originally started this fanfiction as a practice session for my actual novelization and writing skills. I have been writing since I was very young, but didn't take it seriously until more recently, and I only continue to take it more and more seriously as I gain experience and branch out. That was what fanfiction writing was supposed to be, just... practice. But it has become so much more. I found that I loved writing fanfiction, not necessarily for the attention, but for the knowledge that what I produce is enjoyed and loved. I have said it before, but I don't see why not saying it again. As a writer, if I didn't want anything read, I would just leave it inside my brain and laugh at it myself. I see scenes visually, I see things comically when its comedic, I cry myself in scenes that are sad, but I put things down so that other people can see what I see, and experience what I experience. **

**When I originally thought this fanfiction up, it was born of a simple seed thought. I like Starkiller, but felt he needed more expression. I thought "what if Light Side Darth Vader was Starkiller's master?" and slowly, it grew into how I was going to make that work, how Starkiller's past would be to correlate the events. Would he be a nobody boy just finding his powers or he would be found by a Sith first and THEN be Jedi? (you can't just have Starkiller with 0 Sith in him.) and slowly, it grew. It was... a very difficult ride at first. I was literally scrambling in the dark trying to figure out Starkiller's new personality, and even as I was finishing The Path of Revan, and thinking of In the Path of the Ravager, I was horrified that I had created something that... would not work. I had, genuinely, no idea that the simple thought I had would grow this much inside me into a full fledge new universe in Star Wars with completely new wars, new plots, new culture, and more OC's than I thought I would ever have, each with their own personality, traits, and love from me. I love Varus. I love Ahsoka. I love Anakin. I love Koj, Cahjinawl, Visas, Victoria, Nihilus, Maris, Cupcake, and most others that are in the story, and there are only more to come that will continue to shape this vast world I have born. I don't deny there are plot holes, I am always moving forward with my story, and try as I might, I have trodden over a few scenes that just... didn't quite completely make sense for some people. Could I have a perfect story, even if I spent months on each chapter? Probably not. Can I do better? Probably. But I am also striving to move forward all the time and not look back too much, I am sorry to say, because there is so much more I want to show everyone! Twists and turns and plots and villains and characters that will continue to make Starkiller's life an exciting one. One day he will come to understand love. He will come to understand what it means to be in a war, to protect rather than destroy, to know redemption, to know peace, to help his friends achieve their life goals, to... To be more than just himself. To grow up from the snotty brat whose thoughts were only of killing Nihilus, into a man who, while still being Varus, will be more than just Starkiller. And one day he will end the path he started as a child, only to find that life doesn't stop when he has reached his path, as more paths open up for him. He will overcome obstacles that, even as I recall what I have in store to write, leaves me shaking in anticipation, and it is a journey I am only looking forward to. **

**And looking back over this story, it's almost freaky, but it does feel like a time line. My writing style has changed and grown over the course of this story, in a very subtle manner. Not that I had horrendous grammar originally, or that it is professionally written now, but it has slowly changed. Originally, looking at the first few chapters, it feels a bit choppy. I can't see it being written differently now, as the way it is written is designed to be related to Starkiller's thoughts and personality directly, but just as Varus has matured, so has the writing that expresses his thoughts and personality as well, and it is astounding for me to look back over. I have read my own story a few times.**

**I may not have hundreds and hundreds of reviews daily like some of the stories I read, but I have received comments that mean more to me than hundreds ever could. I was FLOORED to read that my writing, and the joy I brought about, helped someone in a tough time and from the intensity of its comment I was thinking 'I saved someone from suicide o.o?' I don't know the situation the guy went through, and, to be fair, it's not my place to know, but I could not express in words my gratitude when he came to me and showed me how I helped him just by writing. I've laughed at a lot of peoples comments, gotten ticked at a few, and felt my imagination-juice flowing more intensely than ever when people went "OMG THAT IS AWESOME! I love that and that and that!" and I've been right with ya the entire way. I've ticked some people off for killing some characters off, and I share their pain, because those characters were special to me too, because in as much as I have given life to Starkiller in a whole new and exciting way, I have given a bit of love to every character I have touched.**

**This new year, I cannot give any resolution I can keep. I can't promise to make my quality better, I can't promise to write more frequently, I can't promise this will reach its end that I have in mind. My life is only continuing to grow as I become more and more of an adult myself.**

**The only promise I can give is to love my creation, and to do my best to see it nurtured.**

**(done reflecting!)**

**This interlude is my attempt to further explore a character that, I feel, isn't completely fleshed out properly. Namely Visas Marr. She is a woman of many sides, and exploring them properly and how her many sides surround her core character is a difficult one. I want her to be a woman of confused, twisted emotions hidden behind a blank face, a person just as shattered as Varus was by Nihilus in her own way yet with a different way of showing it. **

**For one thing, she is easily 'excited' from bondage, but also this is a T-story. Not an M or adult. So while that is something that will not happen, it is merely another way she is so drastically different, and yet another way she is difficult to express without going into areas that are uncomfortable or unreadable by younger people. At the same time she has chaotic emotions that threaten to destroy her, actually like a Vulcan or... Revan? Raven? Some gloomy girl people tell me from 'Teen Titans' or something. I don't know. I may look her up if there is that much of a closeness between the two characters.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, so no sue!**

**Remember to Review. I want to know what you think and how the chapter is to you. Is it good? Is it bad? Anything I need to know? Any ideas or things you want to see in the future?**

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**Interlude - Loss of Clarity**

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_Darkness. _

_It surrounded, it bound, it hid, it accepted a person for who they were, but it also gave nothing back. _

_A mask of white and red looked down upon her. His sight pierced further than vision, it looked through her naked form into her soul. Every emotion, every thought was laid bare. _

_She hated it. She hated how every piece of her soul was analyzed and tossed aside if it wasn't found pleasing to him, and ultimately, every emotion was found displeasing specifically because it was emotion. In his sight, it was chaos, it was abominable, it was illogical, it was whimsical, it was pointless, and ultimately cast aside._

_There was only one use in which emotions were found… useful. As a lack of logic and reality is the core to a madman, emotion was found by him to be… a very powerful tool. _

_She laid chained in darkness before his impenetrable sight. At a whim, she felt things. Things she did not understand, things she was not experienced in at her age, exciting things that made her body cringe and lash out, painful things, despair. One moment she felt nothing, and the next felt everything. She didn't know whether to cry or laugh, where the heat in her body came from or why it was so cold. _

_A dark hand reached for her._

_Fear. Horror. Screaming. _

Visas jumped awake and snarled. She hated that dream… She hated hated hated hated remembering.

Rather than think on it further, she entered her bathroom. After stripping down, she stepped into the cold shower. With precise movements she finished quickly and dressed. There was no point in wasting time. There was much to do. She grabbed her lightsabers, and headed for the door.

She was needed by the Maraks, and if she was anything, it was a servant.

_Purpose_ fueled her, but she kept it down.

All her life, from the moment she was born, she was a servant. She was betrothed at birth, trained, created, and bred for the purpose of serving the Keeper lineage in every capacity. It wasn't a fate she rejected, but it did provide clarity. She always knew what her future held and she worked toward it daily.

_Pride_ threatened to overtake her, and her heart lifted in… joy? But it scared her and she pushed it down.

Then Nihilus came, and everything was turned upside down and inside out. Was Galen alive? If he wasn't, she had no purpose. Nihilus knew her thoughts, and used it against her. As barely a preteen her body had started going through changes in both body and mind, and he used it to the full extent of his knowledge to break her.

Her blood _boiled_ in fury, but she kept it down.

A part of adolescence is to experience new emotions and come to terms with it. It doesn't necessarily involved a Dark Side abomination toying with it for his amusement. His objective was simple. To turn the servant, the girl with clarity over every aspect of her life, into an insane monster.

_Lust._

In many ways he was successful. Rather than experience the new realms of pleasure opening up, she experienced bondage and torture. Rather than come to clarity in the new found emotions, she found only madness. He… did things to her. Not only did her physical perception of intimacy become vastly different from what her sister says is normal, but her emotional capacity became dangerously high.

He toyed with her purpose. He never lied, he considered himself above such things, but he did hide things. It wasn't until later Visas came to learn her master was still alive. But he was out of her reach at that point, turned into a weapon.

_Depression._

On the outside, Visas appeared, and for all intended purposes claimed she felt next to nothing. But that couldn't be further from the truth. She felt things. Everything. She was only calm because that was the face she presented. She showed nothing because she chose to.

It was not her place to be selfish and accept what her emotions want from her. It was not her place to hold her master down, ravage him, kill people, get drunk and party, go on a joy ride for the sake of it, play pranks on people, or anything else she wanted to do from moment to moment. If she did, she would no longer have a purpose.

She arrived at the door to Victoria Marek's chamber and knocked.

"Enter." Was the answer.

_Kill her!_ Visas entered in. Ash was already here. _How dare she smile! How can she smile with such ease!?_ Visas sat down on her knees, bowed from the door to her Mistress, and Victoria waved her to enter. Visas raised herself and entered further.

"How are you this morning?" Ash said, always with such ridiculously large smiles that Visas felt like wiping away.

"Fine." She answered neutrally. _Jealous. Envy. Indignation. WHY! WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY!_

As the day usually started, they took care of the Mistress and prepared the table for breakfast. Due to how difficult it was to move the Mistress, her personal chambers on the Ravager had to be used for the daily breakfast in the little 'family'. The food was still questionable, as the Ravager's droids kept destroying the kitchen. The ship didn't like being modified at all. It allowed some furniture, but anything plugged into the walls without Varus specifically saying it belonged there now, was met with a dozen droids uprooting it and throwing it out the airlock or into a trash heap. That had nearly killed Victoria, since her medical needs required being plugged into the walls, and was the first case where Varus had to put his foot down for the ship to leave it alone.

As such, the food was crap._ She_ _hated it._ It made her skin crawl and nauseated her. She wanted to destroy it with fire and nukes and-

"Well, this looks better than yesterday." Ash commented on the food. "What do you think?"

"It's fine." Visas answered neutrally. She saw herself beheading her sister for interrupting her, but just as quickly squashed the feeling behind nothingness.

"Alright." Ash said with a bright smile when they were done. She had a bounce to her step and every bounce annoyed her to no end. She wanted to cut her feet off. She bounced out the door. "I'll go wake him up!"

The door closed behind her, but Visas could still see her through the walls practically dancing down the hall.

"She… is in… a good… mood." Victoria said with a gentle smile.

"She is." Visas responded flatly. She bowed her head and sat down on the ground to wait.

Saying that Ashley was her opposite was like comparing light and dark. For Ashley, mornings were not just "nice", they were "glorious!". The food wasn't just "appealing", it was "mouth-watering delicacies!" Neat things weren't just "cool", they were "the greatest thing to hit the universe since sliced bread!" She all but wore her emotions on her sleeve, while Visas had to fight to contain hers. Every thought went through Ashley's eyes, every wish, every desire, every dream and... everything! Ash was the outgoing social butterfly that turned heads while having enough fire not to put up with people's crap, while Visas was all but a social exile, feared by everyone and both loved and hated equally.

The woman in the hospital bed looked down at her. She appeared to be knowing, but did not say anything. Visas appreciated the silence. She wanted nothing more than to sit alone with a book or to work out in the gym. Which the Ravager didn't like either.

Before long more people entered. Koj'Ineh with his daughter. Koj and Cahj she didn't mind. The girl was… nice, and he didn't make useless talking. Unlike the ones to follow. The 'Three Stooges' as Varus called them were a ball of the most obnoxious idiots she had ever met. Every time two of them opened their mouth she wanted to cut their tongues out, and their mouths never stopped running. The three of them ran in arguing over who would get more sausage and then proclaiming one of themselves the winner for getting through the door first. Children… They didn't even have sausage anyway, so Visas allowed herself a brief moment of pleasure in their disappointment. The third one was the only one she could tolerate, and only because he never opened his mouth and didn't do much except stand around. He was like a statue in many ways.

Next, was Varus. He walked in yawning, disheveled, and his clothes only half on as though he had literally just woken up after tossing and turning.

It made her want to do things to him, things best contained even further than everything else. Visas snapped her force-sight in a different direction.

Varus grabbed his seat by his mother, and dropped his butt, arm, and head down, in that order. "Morning…" He groaned into the table. The other's returned the greeting in various ways, before the lizard person entered. Visas couldn't be bothered to remember his name. One person said it was Cupcake, another said it was George, and he claimed it was something different. She would just settle for Cupcake.

Cupcake sat himself down on the other side of Varus and slammed his fists down so hard it made the man jump. The lizard laughed, and Visas wanted to claw his scales off his hide for it. It was one thing for her to mess with him and tease him, but seeing another do it made her blood boil in anger.

Not that she showed even the slightest bit of it, of course. She kept her face carefully neutral, her body in complete control, and looked straight ahead. Control was easiest when there was a lack of movement to begin with.

Varus practically leaped across the table to tackle Cupcake, and the next few minutes involved them wrestling before Koj and her pried them apart. Her fingers tingled as she gripped Varus' shoulder. Once the room was calm again, she pried her hand off and sat down very quickly. Ash was the last to enter. She closed the door and they had started eating.

Conversation picked up from every direction. Usually it was between Koj and Varus, as they seemed to have a brotherly bond. Or it was between Cupcake and whoever was up to taking on one of his stupid challenges or believing his ridicules stories of triumphs in an attempt to gain an ego trip. Or it was between the Three Stooges, with regular intervals of "SHUT UP!" from Varus added in like fine salt. Everyone talked with Cahjinawl or Ash, and there was some reserved as well for Victoria. Victoria, being so high on drugs and wounds that she could only get a word or two out between gasps, and always was out of breathe for it, could only talk to one or two people for a few sentences before needing a break. No one talked to Visas, and she didn't mind that. Talking influenced emotions and allowed expression. Both dangerous things for her to allow. She ate in silence, listening on the edge of her perception. She ate the same thing almost every day. Toast, eggs, and tea. Sometimes she would add variety in the forms of ham and cheese.

So it took her completely off guard to be under everyone's direct and undivided attention.

"What?" She asked.

"Varus asked if you wanted anything from the market while we are here. We can't stay long before we are noticed, but we can still buy some supplies." Ash explained.

Ah, so they were making a shopping list for a planet they were stopping by. She wasn't even aware they had the funding for personal items, but then again, that was a part of morale. Not every credit had to go into food and toiletries after all.

She wanted a lot of things. She wanted everything, yet, at the same time, she wanted nothing. She wanted to be girly, and she wanted to be left alone. She wanted to laugh until she cried, and she wanted to meditate in silence. So it was best, as always, to not test the dangerous waters. "I'm fine." She said and returned her attention to her eggs. Hopefully they would be content to drop it now and return to their own versions of insanity.

They dropped it and the chaos continued anew.

The breakfast ended, and Visas returned to her regular duties. Varus assigned Koj to watch the ship, and for Ash to go help him shop. Apparently he was bad at numbers and finances, and she simply knew what they needed.

Visas's position was one of security. A number of officers under her ensured the peace from the shadows of the ship and made sure people did not act up. Today was a special occasion it appeared. A homicide. A person reported a man dead and a number of witnesses claimed it was the man's wife.

Visas entered the scene and looked over every detail with her Force-sight, as did every other Miraluka there. She wasn't a detective, that wasn't her role. There were one or two in the crew who could be trusted to be neutral in finding the facts efficently, but her's was to detain the woman. She took her and withdrew her into the shadows, and from there teleported into the prison ward.

The prison ward was a small part of the ship isolated from the rest. Varus knew about it, Koj knew about it, and Visas knew about it. No one else did. It was a section with almost no life support, no access corridors leading to it, and no exit. If anyone tried going through the walls on any side they would only be exited out into space. The only way in or out was the technique Visas used called "Shadow Step". She made sure her officers knew how to use it to get here as well, but even then, there were few that did.

Visas dropped the sobbing woman off in her cage and used Shadow Step to go through the bars to her desk. The area lacked any lighting, as Miraluka did not need them. The rest of the Ravager had lighting simply because Varus insisted; but here, where was there was none, Visas was in complete control. It was her domain in every essence of the word. She was left to her books, her meditation, and her isolation, just short of prisoners moaning in the distance.

She picked up a book, sat down, and started reading.

Time passed in gentle reading where Visas lost herself in the fantasies of written classics. The chaos in her mind and heart settled into a rhythm that flowed gently in tune with the plot of the novel. Clarity and sureness returned in its own time, punctuated only by the annoying taunts of the prisoners with their cries of innocence. In The Witches House she felt great pity for the young girl, whose kindness was returned with betrayal. In Amnesia: The Dark Descent, she understood and followed the easy, almost casual fall from a good man desperately seeking salvation from his demons into a murderer. In A Machine for Pigs, she recognized the insanity of seeking to save people from a great evil by being one of your own making, even going so far as to kill your newborn children because you considered the world they were born into to be too evil for them, only to find it is evil because he made it so.

While Ash cringed at her sister's choice in story plots, Visas paid it no mind. She had an understanding of the insane, the seeking of clarity and truth in what could not do so, only to inevitably be deriving it from yourself because you could not find an acceptable teacher. The insane were not insane because they were necessarily mad, but because their clarity and truth was founded on things that were not understood, things twisted and perverted from a lack of foundation in reality and a shared social perspective. Could a true man be considered mad by his peers? Yes, simply because they all saw it as twisted. In Visas, it was a simple thing that kept her from that insanity, from being truly broken by the Sith Lord.

Because her clarity, her truth, was founded not on a foundation of her own design, but of another. She was but a servant, and, no matter her own truth, that servitude offered clarity.

Finishing a chapter, she checked on the prisoners before she shadow-stepped back into the primary hull of the Ravager to work and train. A quick report from the Ravager 'fairy' maintenance droids told her that Varus, Ash, and the traders from the ship were concluding their business, and the Ravager was on route to pick them up. It became a tense moment for the crew, as they could not say if the Ravager would be caught and placed under assault or if they would evade their many foes. The Miraluka were well hidden, but the Ravager, as a ship in similar mind-set to Varus Wynn's, was not content to sit and hide. It thrust itself into danger with a single-mindedness that reminded Visas very much of the captain.

Ironic he was officially the captain, yet he was the one leaving the ship at every opportunity.

Visas sat in the higher walls of the Ravager's primary hanger, a place the crew dedicated to the ship's personal promenade. A place dedicated to open market, a bar for drinking, a small restaurant, sight-seeing for those few not born Miraluka, and other curiosities. Officially, Visas' main office was here, as was the higher balcony leading to Varus's office, as both were necessary public figures from their position as Security Director and Captain, respectively; yet neither occupied them. Varus spent all of his time either training in his own personal gym from his days as Starkiller, off ship, or the 'Throne Room' at the head of the ship. Visas wondered if it was because of a connection between him and the Nihilus Holocron, but dismissed it. It did not matter.

Her clarity disappeared over time to raving emotions as she watched people. Anger at how people treated each other, fondness for children, curiosity, shyness too leading to self-depression and self-chastisement. Yet no single emotion stayed long enough to truly be understood, felt, and made clear before another appeared. It felt like she was many people at once trapped inside a single flesh.

Finally having enough of people, she shadow-stepped to the gym she used under Nihilus and trained, and after returned to her private chambers meditate. Meditation brought some clarity back, but not enough to give peace again. She was exhausted from working out, but her mind did not settle in its torment.

A knock on her door disturbed her thoughts and in surprise she failed to restrain herself properly when an emotion came up. Angered at the disturbance, her power lashed out and pushed the door so violently it flew off its hinges into the person on the other side, squishing them against the opposing wall.

Now thoroughly embarrassed, she gulped, squashed it down, put on her blank mask, and helped him. She took the door away and Varus slumped to the floor. "Oww..." He rubbed his face. She had hit him? Now she was even more embarrassed.

She felt like a stupid teenager... What a fool. She should go curl up and die!

"I take it you don't want visitors?" He grumbled.

"My apologies. Your approach was unexpected." She struggled to keep a strong voice, but a bit of her nervousness leaked out.

He stood and stretched and rubbed his sores. "It's fine. Don't mind me. I'll just suffer brain damage all my life and die because I couldn't lift my lightsaber properly. Or even better yet, not be able to use the Force anymore!" He gasped in fake horror, but Visas only felt more humiliated. She slammed the door back in its place. "HEY, I WAS KIDDING! Open up!"

Visas did not open it immediately. Instead, she chose a squishy ball in the corner and crushed it with all of her contained anger for a moment. It compressed into a tenth of its normal size while its very atoms screamed for release for she loosened her jaw and let it drop. She opened the door. "Perhaps I should have gotten you a couple spare doors..." Varus commented with his eyes toward the broken frame before turning his attention to her. He picked up a box off the floor and handed it to her. "Here." How it wasn't crushed, she couldn't guess.

Curiosity and joy at a box, inevitably containing some as yet unknown object, flooded her, but she kept it contained, as always. Rather, the occasion itself felt... misplaced. There was nothing he truly needed to apologize for with a gift, she asked for nothing, she needed nothing, and it was not her birthday. Even if it was her birthday, she very much doubted either of them would be celebrating birthdays. What joy in there in being born when you live with Nihilus?

"What is this?" She asked, not yet taking the box.

"It's for you." He answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Apparently there was some holiday going on in the main fleet, and you know Ash and mother... they INSISTED" he rolled his eyes, "that I participate. It apparently involves gifts. Some crap called Krisstmass or something."

"Yes. Ash enjoys the holiday greatly." Visas acknowledged.

"And you don't?"

Visas shook her head. "I see no pleasure in her giving me objects of affection that are sorely misplaced or mean nothing to me. If the object is to predict the gift off of what you believe the other will like, all it shows is how little you truly know them." No, she did not like pony dolls, or cute hamsters, or dancing, singing hats. All of those gifts only annoyed her. Suffice to say, she also did not buy anything for anyone herself.

Varus gaped in mute horror. "Oh... that's not good. Koj won't be happy."

"What did you get the others?"

"I got Koj a scope for his rifle, as well as a miniature desert-planet globe and Ash picked the biggest teddy bear she could find for Cahj."

"The globe may only exist to remind him of what he has lost." Visas chastised. "Or he may take joy in the nostalgia. I cannot say. You are his brother."

"Yeah..." The horror and uncertainty still was on his face. "He's going to kill me..."

Out of curiosity, Visas asked, "What did you get Cupcake?"

Now Varus grinned like a madman. "A baby pacifier."

"A taunt if I have ever heard of one." Visas allowed herself a smile. Teasing and messing with people was one of the few emotions she had a grasp on without fearing a loss in control.

"So uh... yeah. Here." Varus shoved the box in her arms again before stepping out and thinking. "I think that's everyone... Oh! Mother insisted on taking a picture with me... I just know I'm going to hate it." He sighed.

Before Visas could think of how to tease him about that, a roar echoed through the halls, followed by what reminded her of a stampede. Varus gaped in horror down the hall before running away. Seconds later an angry Cupcake followed passed her door like a train. Seconds later Varus was squealing like a girl while trying to evade and run. Clearly the lizard had found the pacifier.

She shook her head and closed the door. Varus could easily crush the lizard, even if he was twenty-five feet tall when angry. He found too much amusement for his own good in constantly provoking the lizard.

Visas turned her attention to the box and allowed her curiosity to open up in the privacy of her own room. The box was torn apart in the spiraling energy, and in its place was a small box and miniature speaker things. The instructions were in braille, thankfully. Sloppily done, probably by Ash as a translation from whoever was reading it out loud. It was a music player and the speaker things went in her ears. Curious, and elated, she tried it on. It did not stand out when wearing the hood. In fact, it was impossible to notice unless you were looking for them, and after fumbling around with the buttons a bit, she found it had reasonable library of classical orchestra as well as a number of oral novels.

She sat and listened in silence, and while focusing on the music, she found the world around her disappeared into the background, clarity returned to her just as her books did.

And whether she knew it or not, she smiled without restraint.

A good master was one who understood his subjects.


	31. Ep06 - Aftershock Part 1

**Note: I have a new beta reader. So everyone give a round of applause to WarorPeace! :D**

**Also a second beta reader, CubedDimensions!**

**He is still reading this entire episode, so even while I upload this one, there may be a change or two later after he does an in-depth look over. **

**Thanks to CubedDimensions and WarOrPeace for beta reading and helping me improve this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, so no sue!**

**Remember to Review. I want to know what you think and how the chapter is to you. Is it good? Is it bad? Anything I need to know? Any ideas or things you want to see in the future?**

* * *

**Episode 6 - Aftershock Part 1**

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While the entire away-team was as yet dealing with a fight of their own, they were not aware the crew was dealing with problems of their own. Days had passed since the various Miraluka crews joined the ship, reaching a population in the lower thousands, and despite best efforts on everyone's part, there was too many problems to just let lie. The ship refused modification in every form. All electronic equipment, with specific exception from Varus's lips, was unplugged, removed, and tossed in the trash heap. Furniture and belongings were, at times, treated in the same manner. Repairs done to the inner hull were undone by the ship's own hand, and oddly enough, the damage inflicted by various accidents were repaired. The ship refused to be changed in any way and this left the crew in a quandary.

Another matter was the lack of a voice. Varus was an unnaturally isolated captain. Varus appeared to have no desire to interact with his crew beyond the specific officers he selected. He failed to select managers over proper positions. A few positions were filled, but when there were thousands of people looking for work, and only a few jobs to provide thus far since there was no one to work for. It left them with little to do but delve into boredom. The crew did its best to cope, and built a makeshift market or promenade of sorts in the largest unoccupied hanger. Most of the ship, being over half, was closed off and unusable. Due to various degrees of damage the rooms was either full of toxic chemicals, vent atmosphere, explode in flames, or have so much exposed wiring that they would be electrocuted on entry. This left the number of routes to take few, the number of rooms occupied just as few, and the rest cramped.

After all the awe and interest of being on the new ship, under the would-be-Keeper, had gone away, all that was left was entrapment and claustrophobia due to a ship that caged them in and refused change. Out of the crowds came voices demanding for things to be fixed, and the loudest voice was the Chief Engineer. Amongst the fleet, he was considered the best in his position, and was assigned to the Ravager from the Fleet Mother out of her great need for retrofitting. His position was unofficial, as while Varus knew about him, there was no proper paperwork done. His position was inevitably more about respect on the ship than actual documentation.

And he was the loudest because he was the one who knew how royally doomed they all were if changes were not made. The ship needed fixing and she needed to stop holding them back from their work. The people needed representation. The people needed work. The people needed to know they actually had a captain, whether that meant him interacting with them socially or from a command perspective, they simply needed a perspective of him as a whole. Varus was acting more as a leader of a team going off the ship than a captain, and this in and of itself, unintentionally, would lead to dissention.

And it didn't help that Varus was not there to even hear them. He was away having fun and strolling around doing whatever. Instead, the Marr sisters and a massive lizard were the only ones left behind, and the lizard stayed isolated since anything that didn't involve smashing with his fists wasn't something he dealt with. As for the sisters, Visas had a voice of authority, as both a long respected member of the Miraluka Council, heir of the remaining Marr House, and Chief of Security on the ship; while Ashley was considered the voice of Victoria Marek, with Mrs. Marek was the widow of the previous Keeper and Mistress of the Miraluka as a whole.

Negotiations was established between the Marr sisters and the Chief Engineer. He discussed the people's will, and they listened and discussed the matter. Ashley spoke not on her own part, but on the Mistresses. Victoria spoke through Ash directly.

The problem came down to a number of specific points. Varus needed to take a more commanding presence by establishing a proper 'government' within the ship. Second, they needed to stop the ship from destroying itself, making temporary repairs, and sabotaging the crew. And third, they needed money to begin an economy of sorts and supplies. The supplies loaned to the ship would only last so long, and the people were left with no payment since they had no jobs, and there was the fear that even if they did work, there was no money to pay them. The only work were ones invented by their own design unofficially as if a small city inside the ship, but without input of any kind from the captain, this was but a temporary fix that would inevitably be taken advantage of by criminal minds who saw Varus's lack of input for a lack of caring.

They were not yet at the point of mutiny, but it was clear that if changes were not made, that mutiny would eventually be the end result.

The negotiations were cut short by the Ravager's screaming. All of the faeries were suddenly making a racket, and the ship changed course for Dantooine. They had been hidden behind the dark side of a moon, but the ship had other things in mind.

The lights flickered violently in the room and the Chief Engineer looked angrily at them. The two Miraluka could not see the light, but his expression was enough. The ship shook violently as she entered the atmosphere. "This is part of what I'm talking about." He said. "The ship moves of her own accord, and we are just prisoners. If neither of you told the ship to do this, and no one is at the helm, then we are left at the whims of an animal."

"Even animals move with purpose. They are not capable of evil intention." Victoria said through Ash.

The man considered this. "Then what purpose do we have to return? We will surely be caught, if we are not already."

The Ravager, on the other hand, did not seem to be all that willing to enlighten them as she acted in a state of almost terror and fear. The miniature floating droids rambled and screamed. Even the one floating around the negotiation table in a state of childlike curiosity changed to flying in circles in clear panic.

"This ship is not designed for atmospheric entry!" He yelled. He gripped the table tightly to keep from being shaken off.

Visas left him to his panicking and turned her attention to beyond the ship. If she focused, she could see out beyond her, even as large as the ship was. She knew the ship could handle atmospheric entry fine. She had done so many a time, and more wounded than now, but the intensity of the dive left her wondering. "Ravager. Make sure to keep the shields operational. We don't need them failing and sending half the crew flying out." She commented dryly. The man paled in fright from her words, even as she did not seem affected by their current problem.

The ship shook and from the window flame could be seen on the hull where it wasn't shielded. The clouds gave way to green grass and gentle greens before the ship turned toward a smoking pillar in the distance.

The city in the distance which the Ravager was heading for had been under attack of some kind. Most of the city was intact, but there was an entire portion of it reduced to rubble and ruin. Above it the dreadnought rested, now pointing towards the Ravager as if to stop her. The Ravager shifted violently to the side to bypass the Republic vessel and the enemy ship returned fire. The cannons pounded the Ravager, but she paid no mind. The only reason they were all still standing against the shaking was the artificial gravity. Without it, everything would be upside down.

The Ravager flew over the city and droids flew out. They flew out of every orifice, every hole, every open port in the ship only to merge into a stream of fairy droids rushing to the planet. It would have been a beautiful sight to behold, almost like a great hand reaching down, were it not for the enemy dreadnought unleashing fury down upon them. Fire erupted on the Ravager's higher levels, but she did not budge.

Almost as soon as the stream of droids touched down on the planet, they returned back. Whatever the ship was going after, she had found it. A few stray bolts of red cannon fire hit the stream of droids, and a large number of them retaliated by erecting a kind of wall while their brethren returned with her catch. All of the droids returned to the Ravager, and without a moment of hesitation, the Ravager turned her nose to the heavens and ascended. The Republic ship gave chase, but it limped along, wounded in its own time and way. Its lights flickered as if it was having power issues, and many of its shot fired wide. Only half of its engines were engaged and there was a massive gaping hole near the front of its nose.

The Ravager was far more wounded, a result of her natural state, the sudden descent, and being fired on, but like a real creature, she pulled herself together out of pure willpower and returned to the stars. The NR ship gave up its chase to return to the city. What little gravity on the ship that pulled them to one side on entry, now pulled them in the other direction as she flew up. "Are you well, my lady?" Visas wondered. She put a foot on the table to keep herself stabilized.

"I am well. This bed is firm. Check on the rest of the crew, they were not prepared for such gravity shifts."

The gravity returned to its normal place and the atmosphere outside the window disappeared. The flames died on the hull. The Ravager, once more free in open space, opened a Warp window and jumped in.

Visas had no idea where the ship was going, and had a feeling the ship didn't have a specific place in mind. Only thoughts of blind panic and fleeing.

"The ship retrieved something from the planet." She stated, returning her attention to the compartment around her.

The man looked to her curiously, before Ash and them left to go see what it was the Ravager was so desperate to grab. "What of the Captain? The others?" He asked.

"We should head back to get them, but the Ravager has a mind of its own... It may be difficult to reverse course, but first, let's see what she was so desperate to get." Visas had a feeling it was Varus. The Ravager was like an animal, true to Victoria's statement. She had no material desires or wants, only the will of her master. Only Varus being wounded would send the ship into a blind panic like that, or Nihilus telling her what to do.

What they found what was tornado of Ravager bots around a load of bodies. All of them were wounded and bleeding to some extent, one was dead, and another was critical. Among the crew there were no casualities either, little more than a few bruises and broken bones. All were rushed to the makeshift hospital, but with the Ravager refusing proper operational equipment being set up, their only option was to return to the Nomadic Fleet.

It was several days before any of them woke. The first being the Ghorfa followed soon by the Mandalorian Jedi, Falon. The two Jedi children refused to leave their masters side, and under the circumstances, were kept at minimal guard. The Miraluka, being a race of pure Force-users, could handle a few Jedi without much difficulty. The Ghorfa's daughter also spoke very loudly, and rudely, about the need for them to be guarded at all, to which Koj agreed it wasn't necessary. The dead old man was kept in stasis until such time as proper burial arrangements could be made based on the individuals culture of origin.

Which left the alien Jedi in critical condition and Varus barely any better. While Varus's injuries were far more numerous and covered a larger portion of his body, they were less lethal. His primary problem was a loss of blood.

The Mandalorian Jedi, the alien Jedi, and the two children Jedi were all kept in a quarantined place. Visas and Admiral 'Ribs' stood in a nearby room looking in through their Force Sight. There were no windows, and only one door with a ray shield.

The Admiral pulled up information. "According to the holonet, our guests are not your everyday Jedi. The dead one is one Jedi Master Rahm Kota, leader of a sect given official sanction by Mandalore. The blind Jedi teenager is his Padawan, and is considered a Mandalorian Jedi. The alien is Ahsoka Tano, Padawan to Anakin Skywalker, and while, officially, that is not a rank allowing her to have Padawans of her own, the mute and bald one are both Padawans assigned to her." He finished scrolling through it and sighed. "The Ravager leaves for a day to get information. The mission required secrecy, and instead, correct me if I am wrong, there is now a city in ruins, a lot of dead Jedi, a damaged dreadnaught, and a giant bull's-eye on our heads because the Ravager had to grab a bunch of people for us to hold on to just after we dealt with a hostage situation of our own. Yet, in all of this, did you succeed in getting what you needed?"

"Negative."

"Negative..." He repeated to himself. "Negative... nothing... zero... failure!" He slammed his fists down. "Explain to me why I am putting up with this?! Our life was quiet until we decided to go after the Keeper's heir, and we are going from one complete problem to another! Not to mention, Varus is in critical condition himself!"

"His recovery will be soon, his biggest problem was loss of blood. According to Koj's daughter, a witness, there was an imposter Varus."

"Yes... I read the file." He ran his fingers through his hair in extreme aggravation. "As if one Varus wasn't enough of a handful! There's another!"

"It would be best to wait until he wakes up to know what happened." Visas reminded him.

"Yeah, yeah. I know... But still, its hard to believe. How can there be another. I heard nothing from Victoria about a twin! This report wasn't just some simple Sith with a mask, supposedly, the 'other' one had powers equal to if not greater than Varus', while having all of the personality, quirks, and explosiveness that comes with it!"

"... How bad is it?" She inquired. She knew things would be bad after the condition she found them in, but it sounded worse than she thought. He was always a collected man.

He pinched his nose. If he had eyes, they would be slammed shut. "It's a political nightmare. Mandalore is demanding the body be returned, our 'hostage' be returned, and the Republic is doing much the same for their own Jedi. They haven't found us, yet, but we went from a very shaky neutrality to right back where we started when they came after us for Varus. And this time, there won't be miracles and tricks pulling us out of their gun sights."

"That's bad... They blame us, don't they?"

He nodded, still pinching his nose so hard it was starting to change color. "I'm a half-second away from cutting off all ties with that brat. 'Secret mission' he says. 'I won't make any noise,' he says. 'Quiet as a mouse.' 'No one will know I was ever there!' Well, I'm sorry! But Varus is painted all over the holonet! Again! Video and all of him throwing a lightning bolt down on everyone and running around like a chicken with its head cut off!"

Visas chuckled. "Funny. Wait, you can't be serious?... You're serious..."

"Very."

"Why didn't the same camera show the fight between the two Varuses? Unless..." She snarled for a brief moment before shoving her emotions down. "The lightning bolt short-circuited the cameras..."

"Yep, cut off the light show right there. The only ones who know there are two Varuses, are currently, the ones who's very presence is dooming us. They won't listen to a Ghorfa. If anyone is going to free us of implications its the Jedi. I can't turn them over, that will expose us to a preemptive strike."

"They already know we are in the neutral zone."

"Perhaps, but I would rather keep them guessing even as much. The time table given to us is too short for me to have a vessel come out at just any border."

"How long are they giving us?"

He scoffed. "The Republic, five days. Mandalore, one hour."

"One hour?" Visas could scarcely believe it. "It will take us that long just to REACH the border with our fastest ship! Not to mention discussing it and arranging transport!"

"Exactly. Which is why I cannot send a ship to another border and throw them off. The only option we would have, which I bet is his plan, is to have us come out at the border closest to where we are, thereby letting him pinpoint our location. If not exactly, then at least enough to get an idea. It also means we have no time to discuss the matter. We are literally cornered, and I have no intention of taking the bait."

Visas collapsed in her seat, no words came to her. She knew Mandalore, worked with him once. He was the definition of the phrase 'Greatest friend, worst enemy.'

"But still." The Admiral continued, "Varus is a kind of miracle-worker, able to accomplish things few can... And he did pull us out of a corner before... I am out of options. I need a miracle, Mrs. Marr."

* * *

Anakin stood solemnly in the firelight. The bonfire burned the corpses of all the Jedi killed by Starkiller, and around it was thousands, family, friends, acquaintances, concerned strangers, and a few from the surrounding Naboo cities Gungans and humanoids among them. He had seen gatherings like this, but not since the war. Many battles in the Clone Wars ended in the clones having their ceremonial burials, and for a subculture of clones and brothers in the millions, the gatherings were massive; but there was one striking difference between then and now. The clones had internal strength, the endurance, the belief that respect for the dead came in silence and remembrance. These people were quite the opposite. They mourned and cried and screamed out their pain until the ground under his feet shook.

It was... painful. Every cry threatened to undue his heart because that it was another mother mourning her child. As a general before, when people died, all he had to do was... remove a pin from the wall. He endured silent mourning and funerals. Rarely before had he had to hear the cries of the mothers.

It reminded him greatly of when he lost his own mother, how much he cried and screamed after reducing the Ghorfa camp to a black smoldering ruin.

_Both then and now, it is your fault._

Anakin flinched against the words of Nihilus. "Now is not the time." He snarled quietly.

_You chose to hear out Obi-Wan rather than help your students._

"I trusted in them. I did not know it was Starkiller."

_You didn't have to. The explosions across the horizon were enough. You may not have seen the destruction, but you knew._

Yes he did. He heard, but he chose to trust his old Master rather than turn back.

Out of the crowd Obi-Wan appeared walking to his side. "Stop looking so down, Ani. This wasn't your fault." He said.

"You a mind reader now?"

"No, but I know you." Obi-Wan stood by him and gazed at the fire with him. "... You had no way to know this would happen."

"Right, I'll just tell them that... Obi, I am the Jedi Master here. I am their leader. It is my responsibility and I promised them I would watch over their younglings and husbands and fathers. Yet, what do I do? I walk off at the first chance for a private chat... Nothing I say can fix that."

"And no amount of guilt can fix it."

"You want me to not feel guilty then?"

"No." Obi sighed wearily. "I would be afraid if you didn't feel guilt, Ani. Force knows, I have my share in this; but you have a nasty habit of letting it get to you as though you are something to be fixed, as if you are a mistake that bred the problem you're guilty of. Perhaps there is something in us that needs fixing, perhaps there isn't; either way, we are leaders among our kin, and we cannot let grief wear us down so that we shut down."

"That sounds amazingly like something you would have said in the old days." Anakin murmured darkly.

"In the old days... Jedi would have taken that to such an extreme that we wouldn't have mourned much. We would acknowledge it and move on, without giving the occasion its proper due. What I am trying to say... is.." Obi looked to him and his closed expression. "I'll be quiet."

Anakin flinched, his mask dropped. "No... I'm… I'm sorry. I am just moody right now. I understand what you're trying to say. There is a time to mourn, and there is a time to not, but that will never get rid of my failure..."

Obi-Wan stood by him in companionable silence. He could lecture him, he could pound it into his head, but beyond what he already said, it was not his place nor was there anything more to say. Anakin would brood and process this for days and days, but he wouldn't be alone.

So while he let Anakin had his moment, Obi-Wan processed in his mind what needed to be done. Padme was out there, and was somehow linked to a massive conspiracy between the biggest powers in the galaxy. Unfortunately, as they were the 'good guys' right now, that made his position very difficult. If he came out with this information and exposed the link between the hidden Revanchist, the Mandalorian Clans, and a number of the highest politicians and Admirals in the New Republic before the Fall of Coruscant; then it would look as though they plotted against the Republic and created a power vacuum just as much as exploiting it to establish themselves. But the problem was that not only would it potentially shatter the only 'good guys', and leave the galaxy in the clutches of the Cartel, but the odds of using this information was small, considering the Jedi Master would have to fight against the galaxies biggest players to do it.

Not to mention, was it even the right thing to do? The Republic had its share of secrets (not that playing BOTH sides of the conflict was something that he could imagine) and that is the nature of governments to scheme and plot. Governments act as the shadow so normal people don't have to. The abduction of Padme was not something Obi-Wan agreed with, but the fact that Admiral Onasi, Mandalore, and Mistress Shan were so close was... no longer as repulsive a fact as it would have been five years ago.

But the situation with the Revanchist was separate from his immediate concern. Anakin needed his angel back, he needed his children, and he couldn't tell his former Padawan to sit back behind a desk and let him do it for him any longer. Anakin needed to get involved, if not for their sake, then for his own sanity. But then what of running the sect? Obi-Wan didn't believe for a second that the sect, with its oddity, could continue down the path Anakin started without him. Could he take them with him? No, they had grown far too much. The sect of a hundred had sprouted into a village of thousands, Jedi and non.

Which meant either getting a ship large enough for a few thousand, or Obi-Wan taking Anakin up on his offer to run things for a bit, even if it was originally just a joke. But that would be a discussion for another day. Perhaps tomorrow. No wait, not tomorrow. Anakin's first thoughts after beating himself up would be toward Ahsoka and the news that she was captured by the Ravager. Kenobi would have to be ready to go off with him at a moment's notice to get her back, if he wasn't up to just letting the Republic handle it, which... he wouldn't be.

* * *

All his life Falon was told he was special, unique, different, smart, a prodigy... other crap. Right now, he didn't feel a bit of it.

His first thought after waking up was that he was still asleep. In a nice bed, comfortable sheets, tubes sticking out of him. It was a place he wasn't unused to being in, given his life occupation as a Jedi focusing on combat, but that didn't change the denial. Yes, denial. He knew he was in denial, but that didn't change his attempts to deny reality.

He had to be dreaming, he was where he was years ago when Kota first started teaching him how to use the Force to see things before they happened. He was where he was years ago, when, as a child, he cut a finger off and needed the small limb grown back. (Something as small as a pinky can be regrown. No need for a metal limb.) And any moment, his old master, always the grandfatherly man with the easy tease or discipline in the next breathe, would walk to his side and tell him how stupid he was for fumbling around with things beyond his control. That, despite people's whispers and praise, that he was only human and could only do so much.

Or, perhaps Kota was asleep in the chair next to him with a gentle snore. Kota always preferred sleeping in chairs. Came from his life as a soldier always on the move or ready in a moment's notice.

But there was no snoring. There was no large hand grasping his shoulder. There was nothing.

Kota was dead. His throat was cut, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Falon saw it coming, but no matter how many different realities he looked into, how matter how many changes he saw, or methods he tried to make it work; there was not a single one where Kota lived. He went through hundreds, and in every one the Sith overpowered him, wouldn't listen, wouldn't be deterred, and wouldn't be distracted. The Sith was like an arrow set on its course that would not be shifted by the wind, aimed for his master's heart, and already fired.

Falon had heard of some people seeing death in slow motion, but he saw it not only saw it in slow motion, but over the course of hours in a single second. He saw it from every angle.

Jedi Master Rahm Kota was dead, and it was all his fault. He was a fool. He let his pride take over. Pride in his ability. Pride pushed into him by the Mandalorian culture he had started living in. Pride of being a foolish teenager.

He hated the fact that it was physically impossible for him to cry…

Grudgingly, he forced himself to sit on the bed. After a brief usage of his technique to explore his surroundings, he found a number of things. He was being held here along with Ahsoka Tano and her two Padawans. A doctor was with her.

While Falon was technically a prisoner, he doubted it was hostile. They did, after all, take him from the battlefield and heal him; but whether or not there was an ulterior motive or not, he couldn't say.

Wincing at the pain in his torso, Falon stood up and strode over to where Ahsoka was. He could have used the Force to stay where he was and find what he needed, but he needed to move. He needed to keep from thinking. Thinking was bad.

The doctor stood up at his approach and moved back. "How is she?" Falon asked.

"Recovering. If she was to be taken to a normal hospital, they wouldn't know what to do with her. Cuts, bruises, broken bones, others can fix, but her Force related injuries would be left. Her exposure to Void has left her internal… 'force-network', for lack of a better explanation, crippled."

"Isn't that a myth?" Falon recalled hearing a theory of there being a connection with the body and the Force, in a way similar to blood, but it was something Kota never taught, and… if he remembered correctly, it was something the Jedi as a whole put down.

"To you Jedi, perhaps." The man said. "But we know it to exist. We can, after all, see it inside of you."

Falon conceded the point. He wasn't up to arguing medicine or theoretical Force right now anyway. "So… she won't be able to use the Force anymore?" Her students looked up, horrified, at his question.

"If left untreated, no she won't. Thankfully, our healers got to her in time. She will be strained for a few days, but so long as she doesn't push herself, she should make a full recovery." Her students breathed sighs of relief to the explanation. The doctor walked around the bed to Falon. "You have also suffered similar injuries."

"Really…" Falon wasn't sure what to make of that. He was a bit apprehensive. He didn't feel injured… physically not included.

"Yes, but its scarred. A very old injury." The man stepped closer until he was practically breathing down Falon's neck. Falon leaned away from him. "Tell me, do you have difficulty using the Force?"

"No…"

"Does the Force seemingly… disappear without explanation?"

"N-" Falon recalled there actually were times the Force didn't help him. He just figured the Force was saying 'no' those times. Such as when he fought Varus, the real one, the last time. The Force simply seemed to leave him alone. "Sometimes…" He conceded.

"Hmm…" The doctor mused.

"…"

"The injury is localized to your upper facial region. Have you ever had contact with Void energy in your face?"

"The Fall of Coruscant… Darth Nihilus touched me."

"Oh, you have my sympathy. My people have also suffered greatly at his hand, death and… otherwise. Injuries such as yours are not uncommon to anyone who survives his attack. Perhaps that's why we have been forced to learn how to heal it to a degree."

"You can fix my eyes?" Falon found himself hoping, captor or not. They seemed to be genuinely concerned with their care.

"Pft! No! You have no eyes to fix!" The man walked away as though Falon said something funny. Falon rolled his eyes… so to speak.

The door released a racket as though it was opening, and the man was walking in that direction. He must have been leaving. Falon found himself speaking before he thought anything. "How's Varus?"

"Fine." Was all he got. The door slammed shut.

Okay, good. He thought… He wasn't sure where he stood with the man. There were too many things that didn't add up; but despite that, Varus didn't mistreat him, 'tried' to give him back freely, and Master Kota seemed to believe in him. Over the last five years, while Kota may have been disappointed in what he heard in Varus doing (only it turns out there was a second one) he never denied believing in him to a degree. He saw something in Varus and Falon… was too caught up in the fact that Varus was involved with Nihilus to allow that to mean anything.

But now Falon was remembering something, something he should have realized a long time ago.

When Varus laid eyes on Nihilus, he was horrified because he _knew_ Nihilus, yes, but the key to it, the part Falon was skipping, was the simple fact that Varus was horrified. People on the same team don't tend to get to the verge of wetting themselves at the sight of their allies and screaming 'run' to the enemy.

Varus wasn't on the same team as Nihilus.


	32. Ep06 - Aftershock Part 2

**Note: Whew… I have been doing a lot of editing lately. I didn't realize how bad my grammar had gotten. I've changed almost every single your and you're at this point in one direction or another. xD**

**Thanks to my editors for pointing out so many!**

**This is bound to be one of the central character-development points of the chapter. I felt it was about time a certain subject was approached between Visas and Varus. There are points where I feel I made Varus a bit too understanding, because even though he has matured a lot in the last 5-6 years, as the tone of this story is supposed to show in his lessened "jokester/disrespectful" attitude, he is still supposed to be Varus in that he lacks understanding of a lot of things we take for granted, and he doesn't like being an authority figure.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, so no sue!**

**Remember to Review. I want to know what you think and how the chapter is to you. Is it good? Is it bad? Anything I need to know? Any ideas or things you want to see in the future?**

* * *

**Episode 6 - Aftershock Part 2**

* * *

Bastilla Shan sat in a chair overlooking the globe room. It showed the planet she used as her base of operations. The new station's globe room was different, this time she opted for a glass floor with the globe being just beneath her. With a mere gesture she could rotate it, and lights implanted into the glass allowed her to place symbols where she wanted. The globe could also shift from a planet view to a galaxy one, or into anything she wanted. She considered it a good upgrade from Revan's design.

The nature of the room also allowed for holographic transmissions to appear anywhere in the room, and to move. In this case: Mandalore and Admiral Onasi.

She fumbled with a chess piece in her hand and rotated it. It was the Knight piece. Across the room were other pieces positioned, but no knights. The only knight was in her hand. But now, she considered the fact that she needed more. Varus was a knight piece. Unpredictable, able to move in any direction, and strike from angles you don't expect. It was his fighting style, his personality, his very nature. And now she was hearing there were more of them. Before, she had considered Varus to be neutral, possibly even a potential ally in the future due to his integration with her husband's memories, and that had not changed. But these… clones. They were clearly black knights.

"I understand your personal code of honor requires you to seek further hostilities, Canderous, but shouldn't your focus be on the Cartel? Don't get me wrong, your soldiers are many times superior, but the Cartel still has twice the systems and resources, and a stronger economic foundation than you. The NR and USA may be able to deal with their counterparts, but you fight outnumbered ten to one."

"My focus is stronger than it has ever been." The armored man stated firmly.

"And having a number of your most famous generals lead a hunt for the Sith, and losing one in the process, is helping? This attack on Dantooine requires us to think, not lash out. We don't know why the Ravager chose to appear on Dantooine of all places, but Carth's reluctant eye-witnessing account clearly shows that there are multiple of these Sith. How do you know you are going after the right one?" Bastilla said patiently. Onasi chose to stay silent and let the two of them go at it.

"I am going after several of them simultaneously." Mandalore answered.

Bastilla continued. "How do you know you are choosing the right side? There are clearly two different sides between the various Starkillers. One that chose to help us. One that chose to attack us. There is more going on here than we think."

"I fully understand what is going on." He snapped angrily. "The Ravager kidnapped our men! Varus kidnapped my wife and held her hostage!"

"And again we return to the fact that you will not let go of a grudge! Are you a leader or a pissed-off husband!?"

Mandalore's hologram walked up to her and glared down at her through his helmet. Were she a weaker woman, she might have been affected, but holding on to Revan's legacy had toughened her greatly over the years. "Varus is a danger, _my lady_." He spit. "One I intend to rectify."

"And how do you know it wasn't the clone who did that? The existence of multiple Starkillers helps explain the conflicting reports we had. The original, the true 'Varus' may be the one held as a slave for the last four years. If you look at his life since his mind-wipe, he seeked redemption and peace, and this is the same one that didn't cause any big problems as a prisoner, and the same one who didn't try to escape as a slave until he was bought and freed by his people. This is a pattern, Mandalore. Just as there is a pattern in the other instances we are putting together to reveal a number of clones rampaging."

"…"

"We need information, Mandalore. Not more rash decisions."

"Oh! I'm sorry." He put up his hands in mock defense. "I'll just let them continue to rampage across the clans. Of course. Let's stop and think and sit in pretty halls. THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT YOUR JEDI DID AGAINST US IN THE MANDALORIAN WARS AND IT NEARLY COST YOU EVERYTHING!" He roared down at her. "I will not sit back and let them continue to kill the Jedi I have given refuge to, or my clans, or the conquered systems! If a single innocent Starkiller dies because we cannot tell the difference, then that is a price that will have to be paid to ensure they all do not murder millions!"

Mandalore turned on his heels and his hologram disappeared.

Silence hit the room like an explosion, leaving them shocked in its wake.

She sighed. Onasi said, "As loathe as I am to admit it, he is right. Until we can figure out which Starkiller is not the one to go after, and be absolutely sure of it, we can't afford to trust any of them. The attack on Dantooine was impossible for me to stop, and he destroyed a large region of the city with ease just as collateral damage to a more focused fight on his counter-part. They aren't just simple Sith. They are the apprentice of Nihilus. The only relief we have is that they have yet to consume entire planets of all life as their master did, but that is a small relief. We cannot afford to hold quarter against Sith like these."

She conceded to his point. "Do what needs to be done. I'll see if I can see further into the conflict between the clone Starkillers."

Onasi, however, did not depart. His hologram stayed. "Was there something more, Admiral?" She inquired.

"A… personal concern… really. It's nothing."

She smiled. "Nonsense. Tell me. It is never 'nothing' with you men."

"Obi-Wan Kenobi has taken a sudden dislike for me, and it seems to have spread to his apprentice."

She raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

He shrugged. "Our contact was brief, short, abrupt, and I felt like I was looking up at a very angry mountain."

"He probably blames you for not assisting more than you did with the conflict. From what you said, he lost a lot of younglings."

Onasi flinched. "Yes… I feel sorry for him, but I didn't know what was going on until the attack had already moved to the city, and you know opening fire with the dreadnaught would have cost us a lot more lives than we actually lost."

The losses weighed heavily on him. It showed in his shoulders and dimmed eyes. Shen recognized it. Onasi was growing weary of conflict. He was still strong and resolute, but she didn't want to see her old friend broken in the process. "Have you considered retiring, Admiral?" It wasn't like he had problems with money. He was paid handsomely, and Bastilla remembered him to be a very light spender. He lived on simple needs.

He shrugged. "I'm sorry for putting my concerns on you, my lady. I think some sleep is in order, and maybe some R&amp;R."

She smiled. "Good night, Onasi."

He nodded and disappeared.

Alone again, she peered at the knight piece in her fingers. She knew she had a lot of black knights on the board, but wondered if she should get a white knight as well. Was there a Starkiller that was on good terms with them? One they could use?

* * *

The days passed with the Miraluka. Treatment of the Jedi continued, and everyone was making wonderful recovery. They stayed mobile and hidden incase Mandalore would follow up on his threat, and the fleet as a whole turned their focus inwards in concern. Varus had yet to wake.

They didn't want to say anything, but he took the most internal damage of all of them, partially self-inflicted from pushing himself too hard. He would be dealing with a lot of Force-Addiction, and it wasn't helping his recovery.

The precautions made against the Jedi were held, but due to good behavior, the younglings were allowed to walk and move around the _Fleet Mother._

Visas spent most of her time meditating by Varus's side, and Ashley helped keep tabs on the Ravager's internal politics. Thankfully, the Ravager's politics had stalled to wait out the captains awakening, but the sisters had a lot of problems to smooth out, and lacked the authority to ultimately fix them.

* * *

Dreams are a funny thing. First I'm fighting my opposite, then I get help, and ultimately we fail. Then he is about to finish me off, but instead lowers himself down to whisper to me. I barely remember what he said… something about a home… that 'they' had found a way to finally defeat Nihilus. That 'they' were hired by the masters of Nihilus himself, the ones that made him, and he hoped I would come around to helping 'them' even if I didn't agree with 'their' methods. Okay, so clearly I remember more than I thought; but then it gets weird. There was screaming and… fire. Then bright light all around me.

It was like… the afterlife had come. And being who I am, I had to get lost on my way down the stupid tunnel… really… so typical. I see the light at the end of the tunnel and I get LOST! It's a one-way street!

And the first thing I notice when I wake up is a hospital room and Visas sitting patiently next to me.

"Have I mentioned how much I hate this place?" I groan. I should be getting used to hospitals at this point.

Well, the fact that I'm in a hospital means that what I dreamed probably was real. Yippee.

"No, you have not."

"Oh, pity. Then it's time I started that trend." I look around. My body feels beat up, bruised, partially numb, my arm is in a kind of metal-frame cast, and there are tubes of red fluid going into my veins. Overall, I've been in worse.

"How long have I been here? How long before I can leave? How bad was it?"

"Five days, as soon as you are checked out a final time, and the worst of it was blood loss and internal Void damage. While your bloodline is special, it doesn't mean there can't be blood transfusions. You are better now, and the Void damage to your network was less than expected. It healed quickly." She frowned briefly and gulped.

"Probably comes from so much exposure to Nihilus. I'm used to it." A sudden movement grabs my attention and I look over to see Visas is on the ground bowing her head.

"What the-"

"I failed you, Keeper!" She says resolutely, but her voice quakes slightly. "I should have been there! I should have been by your side! I am a failure as a guardian… and a Seeker!"

"…"

"And as a…"

"Oh, don't you start that crap." I snatch the needles out of my arm and sit up with some difficulty. Fire goes through my veins as the blood fights the numbness. After a few moments I get feeling in my legs again, and I drop my feet to the floor. I'm limp on the first step, wobbly on the second, and by the third I'm stable. "I don't know what is expected of Keepers and Seekers and to be fair, we do need to talk about where we stand after the last twenty years, but I do know that I was, and still am, captain of the Ravager. I ordered you to get supplies, get information, and return to the ship. I didn't plan to have any encounters the first day, and most definitely not with a clone of mine that was in more shape than me. You didn't fail me. I didn't fail you. Crap happens."

I slowly walk by her to the closet and find my clothes in it. I grab them and head into the bathroom. "Besides. We're former Sith, Visas. No one knows better than us that we have a tendency to ruin people's plans. It seems my clones like to keep up that standard. They certainly ruined mine. Do you think I planned to destroy a city and end up in a hospital?"

I walk back out fully dressed. The doctor can sue me. I am not getting back in that bad unless my heads blown off. "Do you understand?"

She nods, but there is a slight frown and her fingers fidget. I sigh and sit on the edge of the bed. I pat it, and she hesitantly sits next to me. She becomes more relaxed once she is no longer on the floor looking up at me like some lord and king. "What's wrong? You did what you were told to do. It must be more than not being there."

She continues to fidget with her fingers and clothes.

"Don't start telling me-"

"If you die, so do I." She says flatly.

Okay. Not what I was expecting. "What? Did Nihilus do some kind of Bonding thing?... Is this a Miraluka life-bond thing?"

"No, not literally." She shakes her head. After a brief hesitation, she says as calmly as she can be, but she still whispers. "You know I was chosen at birth to be a Seeker, specifically a special kind of Seeker reserved for chosen woman. What that means is that I am your guardian, your teacher, your student, your servant, your… lover and mistress. Everything. Your mother was chosen for your father. So as your grandmother was chosen for your grandfather."

"Why?"

"'Why'?" She returns.

"Why is it required of me to have a woman chosen?" I'm amazingly neutral on this subject. I don't feel anything yet, so I'm not sure how to react.

"You are the Keeper…"

"And that tells me nothing. You were raised and have spent years with our people to learn this stuff, so explain it to me. Be that teacher. Is it tradition?"

She clears her throat. "It is tradition, but the purpose is real. The… core of the Miraluka society is a network of bonds that is far stronger and more complex than anything the Jedi have ever attempted. They use Force Bonds to trade cold thought, but we can merge together into… a single feeling. Similar to a hive mind, but without the enslavement. At its strongest, the Network allows all Miraluka to feel the 'Will of the Keeper' and the 'Heart of the People'. This creates both purpose, a direction to move towards together as a people, and the feeling of never being alone. All Miraluka are united inside. It's a network that was established thousands of years ago, with the core of it being the Keeper. The Keeper is the center, the core, the 'will', the 'heart'. The Keeper, once he enters the network, becomes the network's champion. I don't know the specifics, but the network is tied so closely to the Keeper that it is affected by his mental and physical health."

"Wow."

"Unfortunately, the burden of the network has killed many Keepers and broken the rest, until it was found that a Mistress was added. The Mistress enters a Bond with the Keeper on a level that surpasses even that of the network, so the Mistress shares a portion of the burden from him, and no matter how deeply the Keeper goes into the Network there will always be that one bond, a lifeline, that can pull him out. Sometimes, the Mistress can even take up the responsibility of the Network completely to keep it from dying, just as your mother has done for years, or take up a large portion of the burden from the Keeper as needed; but that requires a strong mind. Which is why the Mistress Seekers are always chosen, trained, bred, and prepared from birth."

"…"

She bows her head in clear shame, and her shoulders trimmer. I feel Force energy explode from her, but I contain it. She's a powder keg trying to go off. Not stronger than I am, but her control is slipping. One of the bags of blood explode. Red goes everywhere, including on us, but I choose to ignore it. My concern is on her.

We were both raised by Nihilus in a sense, and that tends to lead to being devoid of emotion and a lack of understanding of in what you do have. I don't claim to have feelings for her. I don't even know what 'feelings' are like. She sees whatever relationship we have as a responsibility, and it is, but that is also something colder than I like. Yet, I cannot say differently. I do not love her. I doubt she actually loves me. Not that she may not have 'feelings', but can she understand love?

As a child I had a simple love, that much I know, but that is not what I feel for anyone anymore, not even my own mother. Under Nihilus, there was no love of any kind. Under Tree-Hugger, I had friends, but is that a love? I cannot say. With Koj, I found myself with a brother and niece, and Squirt practically forced me to love her. But the relationship and love associated with men and women? Rather than looking up to her, or down, but across as equals? I have no experience with it, nor anything to base my learning on.

She struggles to contain herself, and she does after a few seconds, but she is still whispering and clearly guilt ridden. "The Mistress's bond provides stability to the Keeper, so the Keeper can provide stability to the whole. I have been trained my whole life and… and I'm a wreck. I can't protect you, and even if you don't need protecting from me, I cannot be your strength. I have failed you and our people."

"I'm going to call bullshit." I tell her straight up. She laughs weakly even as her head-cloth around the eyes becomes damp. "There, a smile. You're not a complete statue, but then I already knew that… Visas… I don't claim to be the most… accepting of responsibility and traditions and other things. I want to do right by everyone, but the fact is that both of us are broken. Neither of us may have the strength to bear such a burden, and even if I can, I don't want it like that."

"Wha-"

"I refuse to say that you are going to have your whole life tied to me to the point that you don't exist. You are Visas. You are not me. If I die, I die. You still live, and you will still have your sister. If you die, you die, while I live and I still have my brother and niece. Besides, do you have any idea how guilty I should be feeling to know that your entire life has been turned into slavery just because we were both born? I'm too busy trying to be neutral and factual to let myself think, but I do know I didn't like slavery. I don't want a slave. If I do come to know love and/or get a…" I cannot believe I am actually saying this. "a wife… then I would be miserable knowing she was chained to me as a slave."

"…" Now it's her turn to be silent.

"Besides. I don't love you, hell, I don't even know what love is. Sorry if that is a bit blunt, but I have been raised by a psychopath for twenty years. The only thing about love I know was pounded into me by an infant, a brother, and parents, with the 'parents' part being so long ago it is just a dream now. My mother feels like a stranger to me, Visas, and I hate that; but at the end of the day if you sat here and said 'I love you' (now she's blushing like mad) then I would have no idea what that even means. The only thing I know about love is that it turns something miserable into something joyous, or at the very least, tolerable, and if I do get married to someone and have to spend my whole life with them, I don't want to be miserable for a hundred years, and I wouldn't want to subject you to that."

"You want me to love you?" She asks.

I roll my eyes. "I'm not telling you what to feel or not feel, Visas, and that's the problem. You have been told what to feel because of your birth, and I am not going to accept that. If you love me, love me. If you don't, then don't. But either way, do or don't based on what you want. The problem with the tradition is that it doesn't accept that there are other woman out there who can carry the burden just as much as you."

"Name one."

"Ahsoka Tano." I answer without hesitation. "One of the most stable girls I've met. Perhaps a little fun-loving and dare-devil a few years ago, and may have tried to capture me recently, but she is quite strong mentally."

"And you love her?"

"Again, I don't know what love is." I remind her.

"…"

"So, here is what I am going to do." I stand up and look down at her. "I relieve you of the engagement."

She stands up in shock, but I put my hands on her shoulders and push her back down gently, and I work to contain the energies exploding off of her. Wow, she is containing a lot in there. "Visas. If you truly want to be in a relationship with me, then it must be because it is what you want. Not because your parents told you, or mine, or because its written in a raggedy old book by a couple of geezers, but because you want it. I won't accept anything less. I don't know what love is, but… I can't believe I'm saying this… I am not… closed… to the idea… that I can learn. I will not take you because my dead father said I should. If I am going to have you, accept you in the way your 'birth' demanded of you, it will be only if I truly want it."

She sits there a long time in silence and I stare down at her. I said what I feel I needed to say, but she also needs to know I'm serious. I was a slave once. I won't accept her being one by her own people like this. In the background I have to work to continue containing her energies with my own. She's like a sun trying to have solar flares all over the place. I don't claim to be emotionally stable, I'm way too crazy for that, but I genuinely worry how stable she is. This doesn't feel natural. Nihilus did things to her to make her this way, and that just infuriates me more.

As a boy raised by Sith, I cannot believe I am thinking this… but she needs a Jedi's touch.

"I…" She swallows. "I could use some time. I don't know what I want."

"Take all the time you need." I pat her on the shoulder. "We're friends after all."

* * *

A shuttle bearing an aged mark of the Miraluka found the fleet. Admiral Rebhorn contacted the old ship, "Who is this? This ship is not registered in our fleet."

"O' -static- not." A statically broken voice responded. The ship was quite old. "This is the -static- Leland Marek. -static- returned home. Requesting permission to -static-." The communications halted.

"Admiral, the ship is breaking down. Its sustained heavy fire. Life support is on the verge of failing. Shall we let him board?"

Rebhorn said nothing. One of his greatest fears had come to light. Leland Marek had returned home.

"Sir?"

As much as the people hated him, and as much as Victoria feared him, she still loved him. Leland had, technically, concluded his punishment half a year ago, but the Admiral still feared bringing him back. He was a unpredictable piece much like Galen. Only, Galen was working his way toward being a person worth trusting, while Leland had no such trust, neither on their part nor his.

"Sir? The ship won't last more than a day out here."

He closed his eyes and cursed reality for being so full of crap. "Notify the ship: he may board." He finally said. God help them… The abomination was back.


	33. Ep06 - Aftershock Part 3

**Note Sorry this took so long to update. Been having computer problems. **

**Anyway, this is going to be the end of the episode. I am finding myself have an easier and easier time delving into the relationship between Visas and Varus, now that I have taken the proper time to work on it. Now come the more... complicated ones. xD  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, so no sue!**

**Remember to Review. I want to know what you think and how the chapter is to you. Is it good? Is it bad? Anything I need to know? Any ideas or things you want to see in the future?**

* * *

**Episode 6 - Aftershock Part 3**

* * *

"So, how's my favorite little Jedi doing?" I ask as I enter the quarantine zone. Visas stands guard at the door. She is a lot better now than she was. Its faint, but she seems… happier.

I crushed all of her life ambition and dreams and she's happy? I don't get girls.

No response to my entrance. Falon sits on the chair thinking, Ahsoka is unconscious, and her students are worried. I walk up to the Falon's bed and glance at his medical sheet. I can't read a word of it. I don't know braille. "Is this the first time you've been pregnant?"

"What?!" He coughs. THAT GOT A RESPONSE! One of the Jedi kids laugh, but stops abruptly and the other one is just silent. Still a tough crowd but at least I got Falon's feathers raised.

"You going to have a little hawk there, Falcon?" I ask him.

"It's Falon! And no I'm not pregnant… Where do you get these ideas…" He sighs.

Honestly… I have no idea.

Falcon doesn't say much, but he seems to be in good health. There is a tension in him, and I know the source. Kota… That magnificent bastard is dead… Out of all of the Jedi, dead or alive, the only two I can tolerate are but a small handful, with Rahm Kota being up high. He may have been annoying and make me scared at the sight of him, but it was born of his training perception and male bonding ideas. Behind it all was belief, true belief, in me despite the fact that he knew I was a Sith. He wasn't scared of me. He didn't try making me something I wasn't. He helped me. Not to the extent that Tree-Hugger did, but enough to be in my top-ten list of people.

I can't even imagine how affected Falcon is. He's spent most of his short life with the man.

I walk to Ahsoka. She looks like alright, but the doctor said she is suffering from mostly internal damage. If its anything like what I can imagine, it is because she doesn't have the built-up power inside of her to resist Starkiller's attacks. The Jedi's discipline and strength may help their minds, but it doesn't protect against things like this.

"How long will we be here?" Falcon asks.

I shrug. Visas answers, "It is not clear, yet. You may be given a spare transport of your own once the woman is better. The Ravager may drop you off on a world that won't attack us on sight. Ravager chose of her own will to pull you up and bring you, and Varus, here to us, but your people are not seeing it that way. In addition, the body of Kota is in stasis to be delivered with you. Its only right you decide what to do with it."

Falcon flinches slightly at the words. He's definitely shaken up. "Thanks…"

Falcon snaps out of his emotions and stands up. "I need to talk to Mandalore. He needs to know there are clones of him." He gestures toward me. One of the kids, the bald one, adds Anakin Skywalker to the list of people who needs to be informed.

"And you may have that chance once we can figure out how you will be given passage off." Visas explains to them.

The door opens and a guard informs us that visiting hours are over. Visas makes to leave, but stops and waits for me. "You don't always have to be standing behind me." I tell her as I walk by.

"I prefer it."

"Varus!" Falcon calls.

I stop and gesture for the guard to hold on. He has his hands on the door, and Falcon runs over, but keeps a fair distance. "Before we leave… can we talk?"

"Sure."

Content with that, he seems to have nothing more to say, and I walk away. The door shuts behind me.

"We were there longer than we should have been. We will be late for the meeting." Visas tells me as we walk.

"Ah, yes. Meeting. I don't see why I should be present. I want to see Koj and Squirt…" I pout.

"You're the heir to the Keeper line, the captain of the Ravager, and Admiral Rebhorn requested your presence personally." She lists them off.

"I'm honored…" I say sarcastically. Fine! If he requests me personally, I might as well. We enter an elevator and Visas selects the floor.

Am I the only one who is annoyed by elevator music? You can't make anything this cheesy by accident.

"The boy… the Mandalorian Jedi." Visas muses. "There are no eyes in his sockets, and his face has extensive Void damage…"

"Yeah, kid was touched by Nihilus while we fled the Jedi Temple. He's a friend." I didn't know specifically he had his eyes removed, but I expected as much. Nothing Nihilus touches like that lives.

Visas's eyebrows shoot up into her hair before immediately recomposing herself. Not expecting that answer? "How does he move? How does he see? Was he taught of Miraluka ways?"

I shake my head. "No. Kota is… was too military minded and straight forward, not to mention not a Miraluka to begin with. They must have found another way. Hearing perhaps?"

"…"

"I don't know. The kid's smart, and Kota was smart. They must have figured something out between them. Why do you ask?"

She frowns briefly. "Falcon-"

"Falon. I just call him that to annoy him." I smirk.

"Falon." She corrects herself. "Has moments where he does not seem to see, but then does. When he does seem to see his surroundings, it is always following a massive spike of Force energy inside of him."

"So what? The Force flows up and down all the time."

"Not like this. The amount he uses is the amount I would expect in intense combat, and the spike is far too frequent. His body is not resting properly."

"What are you saying?" I ask. I don't like the sound of this. If he is constantly using the Force in huge bursts, then…

The door opens. She motions for me to go. I roll my eyes and walk inside. If she doesn't want to elaborate on her thoughts, that's up to her. There are a lot of people here. At least a hundred, maybe more. In the center is a man on a pedestal standing, and he immediately draws my attention. He has a drape over his left shoulder that covers his entire arm down to his waist and he has a mask over the left side of his face down his neck. He's in the middle of talking loudly and clearly to whoever asked him a question last. Looking at him… something nags in the back of my mind. It's like I've seen him before, but I… I can't place it.

Visas grabs my arm and leads me through the back of the room to a place with an empty chair and I sit down. She stands behind me. "Who's he?" I whisper. I don't know what they are talking about.

"His name is Leland Marek… Your brother."

* * *

Anakin Skywalker stands in his office. The room is slightly ominous in a gentle dark serenity broken only by the chiming of a clock. Trees periodically beat on the window as they shake, but the only thing that shakes more is his own hand.

He looks down at his hand as it shakes and clenches it painfully, halting its movement. Out of the corner of his eye he sees a mirror, and in it a shadow fills the room and a skeleton looks at him.

_Your plan is pointless._

"Is that fear I hear?"

_Hardly. You have done well containing me thus far, but how well do you think anyone else can? You are the first I have encountered who is not completely consumed by my presence immediately. I have not tasted true hunger in more than twenty years. As… irritating as my position is, I find myself fond of the tranquility and peace of a simple teacher. It encourages proper meditation, unlike the constant intrusion of the Revanchist._

Anakin shakes away the voice and gets in front of his desk. His decision made. "I'm sorry, but the parties over. I can't let the Sith get a hold of something like you."

He pulls into one of the cabinets, reaches in, and pulls out a chess board. For the last few years, that chess board has been one of the few hobbies he has had the time to have. Tinkering properly took hours, but playing a nice game of chess with the children, or with Ahsoka, offered both a social life and a proper brain teaser.

He also played 'alone' with Nihilus when he was truly bored, and when Nihilus was being particularly noisy. Ahsoka found it amusing… If only she knew. If only she saw how the creature ate at his dreams and turned his nights into nightmares. If only she understood how he had to struggle to stay optimistic while feeling this blackness inside, almost like a corrupting organ, sit and drain away at what joy he had in life. It was a struggle just to smile.

Anakin knew something was going on with Varus, and he was getting the distinct impression that it was deeper and more complex than he knew. He may not have the information, he may not have the pieces, but he could smell a complex conspiracy of some nature in what little he had been hearing. His gut told him to continue listening and prepare for the worst, because whatever had come and killed his precious Jedi on Dantooine had used lightning, and Varus was elsewhere at the same moment, caught on camera, and there was only one person he knew who could use lightning to such an extent. So either Varus was in two places at once, or something else was going on.

Not to mention what remained on Dantooine. Anakin knew Varus and how powerful he was. He knew Kota, Ahsoka, and the Mandalorians. If Varus had truly returned to his old ways, he would have left a lot more dead bodies in a much shorter time frame. Instead, there were few bodies, a massive area of destruction, and a lot of time passing.

It wasn't a fight of a titan squashing a couple insects and moving on, it was a battle of titans against titans.

And where was Ahsoka? Where was Kota? If Varus was a Sith again, he would have taken their sabers as trophies after killing them, not the bodies; but if Varus was not a Sith, but was still the Varus Anakin hoped he was, then he would have helped them. And helping in this case implied running away or being taken to a doctor or being in hiding either on Dantooine or elsewhere from whatever it was they would have been in conflict with. Either way a Sith was on the loose and as much as his gut wanted him to jump on the soonest ship in search for both of his former Padawans, he needed to take a few precautions.

He removed the chess board and dug further. His hands clasped around the mask of Nihilus. He felt its energy, not unlike a black hole, sucking on him. It was painful and alien. This mask was more than an embodiment of the Dark Side, it was an absence of the Force entirely, draining both Light and Dark to satisfy its hunger.

And she wondered why he started drinking to get any sleep?

There were Jedi sects disappearing all over the galaxy. Whether someone was targeting specific ones, or just going after all of them like the Triad did, this 'someone' would be Sith Triad in nature. Triad tend to have that agenda. Sith Lord rising to take up the collapsing mantle of the Triad? An agent of Count Dooku and the Dominion? Perhaps another secret apprentice of a Triad member that got loose? A new generation of Sith on the rise? There was no telling.

If that Sith was after Jedi, he would eventually come here, to this desk.

Anakin didn't know how the mask got into his possession in the first place, and it was too much of a hope for Nihilus to simply be dead after they entered Warp on Coruscant's soil.

_Ha. No. I am a being of the Force, physical means and energies cannot injure me. I did not want to see my apprentice taken nor one of the last remaining ships depart. That would have made my journey off __Coruscant__… difficult._

He took a hold of the mirror and put it down on its face. He didn't want to see the creature anymore nor hear his words. Was he going mad? Was he somehow under the influence of the Sith Lord? It was a scary thought, because it would explain how he was in possession of it to begin with, and the growing influence the Sith Lord had on his senses.

For both the sake of his sanity, and Nihilus' continued imprisonment the mask needed a new home.

He knew where to take it… There was only one place secure enough to keep out Sith, because the places architect had war-born experience in that subject. The only problem was getting there discretely. Too many people would be after the mask.

He stuck the mask in a sack and turned to leave. He looked back over his desk one last time. Obi-Wan and him had discussed it, and Obi would stay to carry the burden of leadership in his stead. Obi understood… There was an unspoken agreement not to get into how much control Anakin lost on Dantooine, how much darkness is caged inside him, and Obi understood he needed to start taking action lest he be consumed by himself. Obi would not change the direction Anakin wanted to make for his sect, but rather continue in. However, Anakin chuckled, Obi wouldn't be able to help adding a little "smidgen" of increased discipline in just in case. Which was fine.

Anakin turned down the hall and started his journey to the transport warehouse. He knew exactly who to contact. The person would have to be on good, strong terms with the one he ultimately wanted to see, understand the roles of leadership, and the decision to keep some very dangerous secrets locked up. Funny enough, he was also a man for hire, if the job was honorable and worth his time.

The leader of Clan Voda, Boba Fett.

* * *

**Note: Before anyone complains about Boba Fett not being called Boba Voda, as per the Mandalorian code, it is a sucky name, and he recognizes that. I'm sorry, but no self-respecting man will call himself Boba Voda. Try saying that out loud and you will be astounded how stupid you sound.**


	34. Interlude - Abomination

**Note: In case anyone hasn't noticed a pattern I have started having, I am having interludes between each episode. The purpose of the interlude is to provide a small story, contained within a single chapter, that expresses in detail an aspect of the story outside of Varus' immediate perception. I do have scenes intermingled in the episodes that drift away from perception of Varus, but the difference between those scenes and the interludes is that the interludes are meant to be mostly self-contained independent episodes, while still having something to offer to the whole.**

**Bit complicated, and I may never get that purpose down every time, but it is still meant to step away from the primary story and tell another one to help give depth to the universe or characters.**

**If there is a specific aspect of the story, outside of the main plot, that people want explored, I can consider doing it as an interlude.**

**I am sorry this is short, but I wasn't trying to make the interlude longer than necessary to express it properly, yet not shorter than needed either. I wanted to stick to the plot of this chapter and not drift away.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, so no sue!**

**Remember to Review. I want to know what you think and how the chapter is to you. Is it good? Is it bad? Anything I need to know? Any ideas or things you want to see in the future?**

* * *

**Interlude - Abomination**

* * *

Leland Marek was a man said to be born not of a mother and a father, but of a mother and a monster.

His tale began with Victoria Marek's pregnancy. She took a journey on a transport to seek peaceful trade negotiations with a nearby planet. It was then that Nihilus struck. Darth Nihilus wiped out the planet's population, all vegetation and life, and struck at the outlying ships that tried to fight back or find survivors. In the battle the Sith Lord touched Victoria, and while he did not kill her from the brief exposure, it left her permanently crippled at an early age.

The pregnancy survived. Leland was born… and the midwife nearly dropped him right there.

The left side of Leland's face, neck, shoulder, and left arm was skeletonized, his left eye was a black orb with a cross shape as the iris. Black mist surrounded his exposed bones like a steamy skin and burned away at anything he touched. The midwife lost her hand in the process.

Victoria loved him, despite the flaws, but that didn't change anything. The abomination had been born, and the doctors came to the conclusion that the child she had in her womb had been hurt by Nihilus as well, or was a demon spawn of the Destroyer. Victoria was pitied, and the people felt sorry for her, because of him.

Growing up was not any better. Leland grew up isolated, hated, spat upon, mocked, and chastised. He covered his body, but to his peers, that meant little. He was called monster, abomination, vile creature, spawn of Nihilus, son of the Sith Lord, demon, and many other instances of awful things. The adults made his life hell, turning him into a target on which to inflict their pain of loss. He returned home broken, injured, and bruised more times than not.

He was denied the Network, and therefore exiled his entire life within his heart.

The only three in his life who did not hate him were Rebhorn, his mother, and Ashley Marr. Rebhorn tutored him, gave him a private education, and acted as the boy's father figure. Victoria loved him no differently, and refused for him to wear his mask in the house. Ashley Marr, a girl they had rescued from Nihilus, became his older sister, and eventually girlfriend.

But they could not stop his fall, and in some ways only accelerated it. Victoria, being crippled, could do nothing against the abuse inflicted on him, and Rebhorn could not balance his responsibility as Admiral and father-figure properly. As much as Ashley was there for him, she was too weak-willed to say what needed to be said, nor the strength to stand up against the abuse. They did not take proper action against those on the ship who tried to kill the boy on a regular basis, rather believing in the Network to show the people how much Victoria was hurt by their actions.

But the people's hatred would not be deterred. The boy's innocent fears and rare smiles turned to hatred and hostility. In a short time he turned from a person to be hated to be one feared. He hated them. He hated Nihilus. He simply hated. His only smile was reserved for his small family. His power grew at a staggering rate.

Rocks and words continued to be thrown at him, but he ignored it, as he had his whole life. Then, when he was a teenager, one rock hit Ashley and he snapped. Blackness extended from his hand and consumed four people, while crippling another two.

Leland was put on trial. It was a mockery of justice. The jurors were rigged against him going past fifteen years, at least, and no truly neutral judge could be found. Rebhorn himself was forced to take up that responsibility, and seeing the murder done, and the released and open hatred in Leland's eyes, he found himself with no choice but to exile him.

It wasn't just the hatred, it was something else in his eyes. The boy had stopped reacting to pain as though he could not feel it. When he was apart from Ashley and Victoria, his emotional capacity was scary in how empty it had become. The boy had turned into a teenager with unbridled hatred, yes, but also a complete lack of anything else. Rebhorn saw the coldness and emptiness in his eyes of a psychopath, and try as he could to deny it, Leland was truly his father's son. He was the son of Nihilus as much as the son of the Keeper and Victoria Marek.

Leland was their ultimate failure, a sign in the Admiral's eyes of how weak they had become without true decisive action, how dependent they had become on a Network based on emotion to deter problems. They needed law. They needed order. If they did, Leland might have not become what he was.

In the end, even Victoria and Ashley feared him as much as they loved him.

So it was with great tension that Rebhorn found himself sitting in the Council proceedings with Leland in their center now, years later. Ashley Marr sat next to him for what little comfort he could provide, because, as tense as their relationship had become, the grief of Leland was one thing they shared.

In a way, Rebhorn hoped there was a chance this time. He had taken great measures with the Miraluka to root out the core of the hatred against the boy, and found staggering charges against the abusers. Evidence was locked away against him, but he found it. Information was hidden from him, but he dug for it. In the end, several hundred were found guilty of attempted murder on dozens of accounts of a child, and punished therein, and the people came to fear and respect their Admiral.

The people would still see Leland as an abomination, but now they would know Leland had an ally of sorts in the law. If only Leland would see it that way, and had regained some of his humanity in his journey beyond the fleet.

"Leland Marek." Admiral Rebhorn stood and spoke up, starting the meeting. "You were found guilty of manslaughter and exiled for seven years. You have paid out your sentence. However, there are some among the Council who wonder if your return is an apologetic one."

"Yes." The newly adult Leland responded from where he stood. He looked to be eighteen. "I make no excuse for what I did, and, while I am hesitant to be integrated into my people once more, considering my prior treatment, I can only hope that my people have had the time to reflect as I have."

'Good answer.' Rebhorn thought. 'Almost practiced.'

"They have. I assure you. We were nearing anarchy those years ago, but measures have been made to reverse that course. This Council is a step towards that end." While a few on the council would despise Leland, most were loyal to either Rebhorn or Victoria in their little political rivalry. The rivalry over the Keeper-line itself was nothing more than a byproduct of the larger problem he had been working to fix since Leland's exile.

Various members of the council spoke between themselves, and Leland and Rebhorn both fell into silence to allow it. Initial words had been spoken. It was at this time that the door opened and Varus Wynn and Visas Marr entered. Varus found his place with some minor confusion. His suddenly nakedly shocked expression made Rebhorn wonder how much he knew about Leland, or was learning. Had Victoria ever mentioned her youngest child?

Varus's shock was not a good sign. If Victoria had not brought up the subject of Leland, then there was a deeper emotion within her on that subject that could only damage the relationship Leland had with all of them.

The talking quieted down, and Leland took that as his opportunity to speak. "In a gesture of good will, I bring a peace offering."

"Oh?" Rebhorn couldn't help inquiring. This was much unlike him. He wasn't the gifting type. In truth, Rebhorn did know about it. Leland had brought onboard a capsule. It had been analyzed thoroughly for security purposes and was found with a body inside. (It wasn't plagued either, he checked.)

A couple guards brought in the capsule and laid it out on the floor before him. Leland gestured to it in an exaggerated and theatric manner that made Ashley giggle despite herself. The capsule opened, but unfortunately it wasn't close enough for anyone to peer directly inside.

"I give you the body of Starkiller, apprentice to Darth Nihilus."

And in one sentence Leland successfully sent the Council into chaos. Yells and arguing, and in it all, Rebhorn felt all the more troubled. Varus Wynn's repeated shock did not surprise him, the man did take on a look-alike and lose. Leland was not a fighter at all, so he must have obtained the body by other means. But it was not these things that troubled him most, it was the fact that the body existed to begin with.

Of course it would be checked and proven for accuracy, and Rebhorn knew that Leland was expecting that, and he also knew that Leland knew he knew that. Leland smirked in his direction, knowing he won. With the body, if proven right, they would be able to prove the existence of clones, free Varus of his bounty, and give the Miraluka a way to get out of the gun sights of all the major powers, and also get a lot of money from Starkiller's monumental bounty in the process. The money alone would pay for the Ravager's repairs, maintenance, full supplying, back-up supplies, allow an inner-ship economy to bloom, and possibly allow upgrades to hull and infrastructure or a major system.

It was a gesture toward Leland's enemies for them to redirect their hatred and to see him as an ally in their silent fight with the Sith Lord's still-present shadow over their history.

It was a gesture to his allies and enemies both of his skill, whether that skill lie in connections, scavenging, fighting, or whatever.

It was a gesture of a major victory against the arch-enemy of the Miraluka race, won single handedly.

It brought hope and favor and glory to the Marek House, undermining a good portion of Rebhorn's efforts to remove his people from that ancient system.

It was a move worthy of a true rival. It wasn't 'checkmate' for Rebhorn, nor 'check', but it was an unexpected strike that shifted the entire board on its head and left him scrambling to secure his defenses before returning to the offense.

Despite how much damage Leland did to his personal agenda, he couldn't help smiling, looking into Leland's eyes, and nodding in respect. He may wonder where Leland's emotions stood with his people, but it was not in his hands for the moment. Leland had successfully secured himself a place in the Miraluka.

In a way, that was probably all Leland Marek ever wanted.


	35. Ep07 - Securing the future Part 1

**Note: I'm sorry this took so long to upload! I have been busy with life and working on future episodes. All this time in The Path of the Ravager, I had been uploading just as fast as I was finishing them. I wanted to get an episode or two written entirely before uploading again. Also my mind has been stressed in dealing with… stuff. And studying in college. **

**Finding the time to write and upload has been difficult of late… so I've just been writing as a stress-relief. **

**As always, I have appreciated the reviews and been amazed by people's thoughts on various matters, no matter how small or insignificant you may perceive them to be.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, so no sue!**

**Remember to Review. I want to know what you think and how the chapter is to you. Is it good? Is it bad? Anything I need to know? Any ideas or things you want to see in the future?**

* * *

**Episode 7 - Securing the Future Part 1**

* * *

Naboo was a welcome home. Its lush valleys, gentle rolling hills, little rivers, gardens by the window of every home, and an eccentricity to build cities near waterfalls and crystal clear lakes were all regular sights for Anakin. The peace and quiet eased his mind, much unlike the troubles of Tatooine. It was practically a planet designed to give peace of mind, and not a half-bad vacation spot. Its people were peaceful, but strong. Strong because of past conflicts between two rival races occupying the same planet, yet learning that there were ways to coexist. It reminded him much of Padme every day. The gentleness, the diplomatic approach, yet also the strength to not be pushed around. In a way it also gave him a perspective of where to take his sect. The peace, the gentleness, the love and cooperation, yet also the strength to know there are foes out there that may seek to destroy it.

Naboo had shaped the Tatooine-born desert rat into a more at-peace mindset, and for all of it, it still didn't feel like home, nor did it have what he needed. Padme was gone, and in order to get her back, he needed to go into a form of strategy that Naboo as a people, and as a world, was too noble to consider.

After Boba Fett hung up his bounty hunter license and turned to his Voda clone brothers to lead them as a new clan, he had gone from rogue to a kind of public spectacle. The way he was put on the spotlight on almost a daily basis reminded Anakin almost of himself in the clone wars. Contacting Boba Fett wasn't the hard part. Something Anakin chuckled about.

The hard part would be contacting Boba Fett, discretely, staying hidden, and securing the mask of Nihilus to a safe place without anyone knowing, without a single trace. If it was some simple trophy, he could take it to him publically, hand it over, have a nice little show about it, and be on his way; but this wasn't some simply trophy. If one person, a nerf herder even, came upon it. A calamity could transpire that would rival the loss of Coruscant. The Mandalorian home world did not have the level of economy, infrastructure, governmental structure, nor fame of Coruscant, but it was no less the center of the free world now.

So Anakin chose a nearby planet with a less shiny background for the rendezvous. Boba agreed to meet, and all Anakin could do was wait. He chose a table from where he could see all exits, entrances, and be out of sight near the corner. Years ago he would have ordered a glass of wine and stirred it a bit rather than drink it, now he drank it and ordered more.

_I dislike having a sense of smell again… _Nihilus' voice was little more than a ghastly whisper in his mind.

"Get over it." Anakin whispered.

_Please cleanse the room. I cannot take much more of the stench._

Anakin chuckled. "No."

_These people have not bathed in months. Pathetic. Pity I missed this world in my hunt. It would have been worth exposing myself to these… vagabonds if only to purge them if this foul odor… You are enjoying this. _Nihilus muttered after a pause.

"Yes, I am."

Nihilus growled, but moved to the back of Anakin's mind. It was a small victory, but it still felt good. Anakin raised the glass to himself and took a sip.

When he put the glass back down, he saw that a Mandalorian had entered the room. Now, this wasn't all that peculiar of a sight. Mandalorians were not afraid to be in bars with scum, they practically bathed in them and dared the people to take them on, or they would be others who put on Mandalorian armor as trophies. What made this sight peculiar was the man's bulk. Every Voda clan member that Anakin knew had a massive bulk, and most other Mandalorians for that matter. This one was bulky as well, but not near as much. He was angular and looked more athletic than strong.

The Mandalorian took one look at him and pointed. "You!"

"Uh-oh…" Anakin muttered.

_This should be good._ Anakin all but envisioned Nihilus with a bowl of popcorn. He knew Varus would.

Without further ado, the Mandalorian was jumping over tables, pushing aside people, and tossing aside chairs in his singular objective of getting to the suddenly frightened Jedi. Anakin leaped up, knocking back his own chair, to meet his adversary. He couldn't pull out his lightsaber without drawing too much attention and had to resort to hand to hand combat.

Seconds later he found himself face down on the floor with an armored man holding his arm behind his back. Anakin tried to put up a fight, but the spry man was as fast and nimble as a tusker! "Give me back my ship you piece of-"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Anakin yelled back, but only found himself with his nose to the dirt floor.

_Try a little Jedi mind trick. See if you can make him more confused than he already is._

"You think you can betray me?!" The Mandalorian yelled. He slammed Anakin's face into the floor, again. "You think you can take what is mine!?" And again. "WE HAD A DEAL!" And again. This time, Anakin heard a visible crack and knew his nose was bleeding.

"Come on!" The Mandalorian roughly grabbed him, threw him half-way across the room, over a table, and onto the floor. Anakin groaned in pain on impact and the crowd dispersed. The Mandalorian stomped over to him, picked him up, and stopped long enough to slowly, very slowly, turn his visor on every single scared person in the room as if he only just realized anyone else was there. He punched the lights out of the nearest alien in one hit who had the misfortune of gaping at him. "Anyone else want to have a staring contest!?"

Everyone immediately found their private conversations to be of infinite fascination.

The Mandalorian dragged Anakin out, found a shadowy corner away from the main path, and dropped the Jedi. Anakin could have whooped him if he used the Force, but didn't want to draw attention. Instead, the Mandalorian took off his helmet and extended a hand. "Here as requested, Master Jedi. I hope the mission you spoke of is not as grave as it sounds."

Anakin could only gawk at him and his outstretched hand. Nihilus burst out in laughter. The man Anakin assumed to be Boba Fett continued, "I must say, Master Jedi, your acting skills were excellent. You truly seemed confused and taken off guard at my outburst."

"Because I was!"

Boba opened his mouth, then promptly closed it. "Oh."

"What was that about?! Why not just sit down and have a drink!"

"I needed to extract you, Master Jedi, without causing curiosity. If we tried to be invisible as you did in a place like this, we would only draw attention to ourselves by showing we have something worth being killed for, information or otherwise, as well as a healthy dose of fear. The fact that I pretended to make the confrontation a personal matter, that has been dealt now with vengeance, and drove fear into the witnesses, therefore they will not see you as a target with anything of note any longer, nor I as someone worth noticing."

_He knows his scum well. _

Anakin looked him over closely, during which Boba lowered his hand back to his side. "I assume it was also to send me a clear message that, if it came down to it, you can easily beat me in combat."

Boba shrugged, but had a pleased smile. "You understand us well, Jedi."

"Unfortunately." Anakin snapped his nose back in place with a wince.

"Oh, yes. Sorry about that."

* * *

Boba Fett and Anakin returned to Boba's ship, the Slaver One. It contained a small crew of five Voda soldiers, and at his utterance, left the two of them alone in the primary conference room. The ship itself was small, but had the rooms necessary if you were cramped. Over fifty-percent of the ship was made up of a hangar where a number of hammocks were hung as clear signs of living quarters.

"Just think, this ship was firing pit shots at my old master back in the day." Anakin commented. "Hard to believe it is still functioning."

"It has had its fair share of upgrades to keep up with the growing standards of war."

Boba removed his helmet, and, piece by piece, did so with his armor as well. He kept the pistol on his side and a knife on his chest. While the removal of armor may appear to make him more vulnerable, in his case, it only eased his movements. Anakin couldn't help but calculate inside the sheer number of pounds the plating had on his already fast, athletic form. Still, he understood the gesture to be as non-threatening as a Mandalorian can have. In turn, he placed his lightsaber just out of reach.

Now that the Mandalorian was without his coverings, and was left in his tight under-armor suit, Anakin was able to get a good look at him. The last he saw the 'boy', he was a preteen hell-bent on vengeance with Mace Windu. Boba had destroyed starships, clone brothers, and anything else on his way, but at the end of it was captured because of his morals and growing guilt of what he had already done slowing him down. After his escape, near the end of the Clone Wars, the last Anakin heard of the aspiring Bounty Hunter was his oddity for selecting missions based partially on their honor and morality and less on payment alone.

Now Boba appeared to have grown into a strong, viral young adult. He had to be eighteen or nineteen by now. He was definitely his father's clone. The resemblance would be frightening were it not for Anakin's experience with so many of the Voda in the clone wars. Except now those Voda were older.

Boba reached into a wall-cabinet. "Whiskey? Beer? Wine?"

"Water will do." He had already had a fair share for the day.

"Suit yourself." Boba pulled out a pair of glasses, the whiskey, and some water. Pouring himself the whiskey, he passed the water to the Jedi.

Boba sat down and sipped his drink. "So, what's the nature of this mission of yours?"

Anakin glanced to the door left open, and shut it gently with the Force. Boba merely raised an eyebrow in growing curiosity. Anakin presented a small sack on the table.

Somehow, even with the object covered, Boba could feel something was either very wrong or very right, not unlike looking at a covered crown's hidden symbol of power. He could not mistake the chill down his spine, and it made him wonder.

"What is it?" Boba asked worriedly. He unconsciously fingered his pistol.

Anakin uncovered the mask of Nihilus. The Void was so strong you could see it around the mask.

Boba immediately jumped up, stepped back, and aimed his pistol down at it. "What is that accursed relic doing on my ship!?"

"As a leader, I hope you can understand the danger this object imposes! I have done well in hiding it, but what if the Sith find it? I know you have seen the pattern. Even with the Jedi sects in hiding, we are being picked off one by one. Whether it is the Sith's goal to find this mask, or not, it is in danger with me. At the same time, if anyone gets it, even you, it can destroy everything. It must be secured in safety. A place where no one will find it. Not the Sith, not the Hutts, not some greedy thief, and not the Czercha."

The Czercha's innovation combined with the Trade Federation's supplies was a fearsome combination, especially when Czercha don't understand that some technologies are too volatile in the wrong hands. They do science for the sake of science, and forget how many lives can be lost if a field test goes wrong.

Anakin is half waiting for the day Czercha accidentally creates a galaxy wide black hole.

Boba kept his eyes trained on the mask and his pistol in his hand. "The Czercha are too curious for their own good…" He raised his eyes to the Jedi. "So why trust me with it?"

"I'm not." Anakin covered the mask again, and Boba visibly relaxed. "I am trusting you with me. I am the only one to have resisted the power of the mask this long in years, if ever. The mission is to take me, in secret, to Mandalore. No one is to know. Not his personal secretary. Not your crew. No one. Once there, I will negotiate with Mandalore to have a safe place secured, where I will place it with my own hand."

Boba kept his eyes trained on the mask as he seemed to mull it over. "Mr. Fett, this mask is the Force version of a galactic nuke. It doesn't belong in the hands of anybody, and must be placed in a secure vault where no one will be able to tamper with it. Lives are at stake."

Boba muttered curses, but none of the less, holstered his pistol. "Fine! I'll do it, but I need something in return if I am going to take time doing errands for you when I should be leading my clan."

"Name it."

"It will not be in credits…" Boba sat back down, albeit more tensely than before. "Rather, I want a favor. You want me to help you in helping the galaxy, so I want the same in return."

"Alright…" Anakin nodded slowly. A mission for a mission. Sounded reasonable… depending.

"As you know, the clones were given a place in the Mandalorian Clans as the newly born Voda clan. Your Padawan is credited for having helped in that endeavor."

"I'm quite proud of her for that. I couldn't be happier for your brothers."

"Thank you. However, a number of… complications arose. Mandalorians have a strong tradition of purity through action, choices, strength. The old ways even went so far as purity of blood and soul. As irony would have it, the original Mandalorians were native to Coruscant, and exiled from their home world by invaders. They established a new home, only to die and leave behind their culture and ways to a colony of humanoids they were watching over like a child-race. Hence, us humanoid Mandalorians."

"I had no idea." Anakin mused. So Mandalorians were the original inhabitants of Coruscant? At least non-human ones? Mandalore might stake a claim to Coruscant then.

"Our archeologists found that out recently. We have the Duchess to thank for insisting on funding such… trivial things." Boba chuckled. "Women, it seems, can find values in things men can't be bothered with. So the whole philosophy of purity in blood is less valid than it used to, and the Duchess has been pushing this philosophy and movement to help bring acceptance of my Voda brothers. It has done well. After all, we can hardly claim homage to a philosophy of true perfection in Mandalorian blood, if we are not even the originals."

"I can see that. Where is this going?"

"You will see. One of the complications that arose with the Voda clan was the idea that my brothers are imperfect and will taint and corrupt the Mandalorian line. It was a problem Mandalore himself predicted, but the Duchess has effectively headed off most of the problem. It became a minor social controversy at most. However, the controversy sparked up again recently, and has gained strength."

"How? Wasn't the argument settled?"

"The 'argument' changed completely. Hundreds of millions of Voda, in their twenties physically, strong, young, fit… were suddenly single and available. The Duchess went so far as to alleviate taxes on married couples in the Voda clan with three or more children. Women by the millions flocked over for prospective husbands. Not just humanoids, but Twi'lek and… other races." Boba cringed. "Now it has been five years. Take a wild guess what we are looking at."

"A lot of children." Anakin smirked.

"Five-hundred million Voda men can prove to be quite..." He smirked. "Virile. In one generation the Voda will have twice the population of even the largest clans, and four times the population of most others."

"That is one hell of a baby boom." Anakin laughed.

Boba sighed. "Tell me about it. Happy as I am for my brothers, for the Voda, we have become a major threat in the eyes of the other clans. The controversy has sparked up like never before, and a terrorist faction has risen. They claim the children are spawns of impure Mandalorians. That me, and my brothers, are not true Mando'a because we were born in a test-tube, and that my father, Jango, was the most dishonorable man in Mando'a history. They strive to make a singular statement: Remove the Voda from the Clans by either exile or genocide. They have gone as far as to capture and/or kill children of my brothers to do it, publically denouncing the children as less than animals, little more than hunks of flesh not worth living."

Anakin felt his blood boil. As a newly-found-out father, he could only imagine what the Voda were going through. He may not have seen his twin children, but by the Force, if anyone touched them… he would even let Nihilus have his way with them.

Boba, seeing he had Anakin on his side now, continued. "As a former hero of the Republic, and still highly reputed by the Voda as one of the most sympathetic generals of the time toward them, you are kind of a legend. I find myself almost having to compete with you at times, your presence had such a strong impact on them. If you help me put down this group at the source, you will have earned enough points in the eyes of the clans to request for a moon of your own if you asked it. In this case, take your request to Mandalore, and while my brothers will have no need to know of the specifics, you will have the full backing of myself, the Voda, and the Duchess; but… most of all… the Voda, the soldiers you served with for so long, will have their children safe."

"Name them."

"They call themselves the Death Watch."

"I'm in." Anakin said without hesitation.

The plan Boba came up with was simple. First Anakin left the ship openly, followed by Boba sending his crew on shore leave, then Anakin returning in secret and the two of them lifting off. They left the system and entered Warp. Considering the distance between the Mandalorian Clans and New Republic, it would be a day or two before they neared the destination. With the need for stealth, they opted for the lengthy route.

On the second day, Anakin sat in the cramped pilot chamber behind Boba. The red lights detailed information on their surroundings and prepared to lock onto specific targets and provide information on them. "The target is Vizla and his traitorous pet, Spar. Captured or dead, I don't care. Either way we are bringing their flesh to Mandalore."

"Alive for trial would be preferable." Anakin commented.

Boba nodded. "If we can, but I make no promises. Vizla was a powerful clan leader until they suffered a major loss in the war against the Cartel. Even in disgrace, he used his position to great effectiveness in starting the Death Watch. He is also a strong warrior, I don't expect him to fall easily nor willingly. Spar is a clone."

That raised red flags for Anakin. Boba sounded like he took it personally. "A clone?"

Boba nodded. "Spar, or Alpha-02, was a clone that accidentally inherited the memories of our father, making him unnaturally dangerous, cunning, and independent. This knowledge also allowed him to know of a hidden compartment on the Slaver One, where he hid and escaped in one of our father's trips. After the death of… father, he took it upon himself to find and train a group of clones into super-commandos in order to try to take the mask of Mandalore."

"Wouldn't that only secure the Voda clan's position?"

"Yes, but that was years ago, while your Republic was still intact. Mandalore was not finished uniting the clans when Spar invaded the Harbinger. Spar's assassination attempt failed. He took Mandalore's arm and barely escaped with his life."

"That's why it's robotic."

"Mhmm. When the Voda were given a place among the Clans, there had to be a lot of give and take. Just as Mandalore gave much for us, we had to make gestures of good will to show allegiance. Spar was blacked out."

Anakin whistled. The two worst punishments for Mandalorians were being whited out or blacked out. It was almost a religious execution in their eyes. Not having their name allowed to be used by future generations, or having their family name considered criminal until the family could prove themselves of honor again were not things Anakin really understood. His views of law was much like Coruscant's, Jedi's, and Naboo's. Mandalorian law and punishment was foreign to him, even if he knew the details. "He must not have taken that well."

"No. He has not." Boba agreed. "Now, be warned. The Alpha class clones were Advanced Recon Commandos. Genetically stronger than their brothers, faster, smarter, and… a little crazy."

Sometime later in their journey, Anakin wondered, "What's your personal stake in this?" Boba growing up was an unusually independent clone, and while his rap-sheet may have gone down a more moral path in his choice of missions, he still didn't strike Anakin as the type to do things purely out of the good of his own heart. He needed something in return or was assigned to this. But then, a few terrorists were small fries compared to the entire Hutt Cartel. Mandalore wouldn't have assigned this.

So it was personal, or he was hired by someone besides Mandalore who had a personal stake in this. Most likely the former.

Boba said nothing.

"You sound like this mission is more personal for you than your trying to let on."

"I'm a leader trying to protect his brothers." Boba replied flatly.

"Perhaps… But then non-personal missions like simple protection don't usually involve two people going solo into a hornets nest."

Boba snarled and Anakin grinned as a thought came to him. Now it all made sense. "How many?"

...

"One. A son. Named him Jango."

"Wasn't that name-"

"Yes." Boba snapped. The name was whited out by Mandalore long ago. "But is it not the duty of the son to honor his father?"

Anakin shrugged. Boba turned in his seat to look at him for the first time the whole day. "How'd you guess?"

"You sounded a lot like how I would sound if I were in your position."

"I could say the same. You agreed to join a bit too fast."

Anakin blinked. "Damn."

Boba smirked. "How many?"

"Two, twins. Haven't met them yet."

Boba simply nodded and turned back to piloting the ship. "That sucks."

"Yea."

The Slaver One dropped out of Warp on the outer edge of the system. Anakin knew a thing or two about stealth operations, but Boba seemed to have something bothering him, and left him to do his thing in silence. Boba hit the stealth systems and kept as many objects between them and the destination as possible including the sun, moons, and planets.

"Taking us through the asteroid belt, it should keep us hidden until we are closer." Boba said.

"Sounds good."

Anakin half wondered if he should be manning the guns or something, but it wasn't his ship, and he wasn't in charge of the operation. The Mandalorian seemed to have everything under control.

The asteroid belt could more specifically be described as a dust cloud. The pieces of rock varied from the size of millimeters to a full inch at most. He felt like he could jump out and swim in it. The way they collected dust from space, and little bits of water vapor from the peak of the atmosphere, combined with the sun's rays, made it a beautiful sight.

The window was covered in the particles right up until the very top of the ship peaked up over the rock ocean and they peered over it. The planet in question was too far to see clearly with the naked eyes, but it was practically inches away as far as the sensors were concerned.

The planet appeared on the screen and indicators of large concentrations of life appeared in different colors. With most of the planet's life focused in a few areas, and only one having civilization, it wasn't hard to guess where the enemy was. Why wasn't the planet more inhabited? It was close to the center of the Clans territory.

Anakin chose not to voice any of that. It wasn't his business. "Do we have intel on planetary defenses, scanners, facilities, ships at their disposal, blueprints, and the like?"

"The Death Watch stole the colony for its mining and weapons manufacturing. It was planned that the manufacturing and like would generate enough local income to allow easy expansion, but we haven't heard anything of the workers since. They may have joined Death Watch for all I know. I wouldn't expect anti-air guns, but they have a sizable military and space presence to worry about."

"They're probably using the main facility as their headquarters, or they're hiding underground."

"My thoughts exactly. I have the blueprints to every building in the city, but I wouldn't be surprised if they heavily modified the important areas. Unfortunately nothing shows up underground caverns except for the last update the Clans had on the mine." Boba pulled up a map for them to glance over. "The mine will be my best bet. With a little extra work it can have everything an underground terrorist organization could ask for, including access to the important areas of the city and seven separate escape routes in every direction."

"And those are just the ones you know of from old intel... They may be blocked off too."

"Yep. We will need to do further reconnaissance when we land. The scanners I expect will be half-way decent, but then I can beat decent. Getting to the planet won't be a problem."

"Sounds good. Do what you need to do, I'm just along the ride." Anakin smirked.

"You better hang on then, I don't fly as dainty as you." A mischievous glint appeared in the man's eyes as he took hold of both controls and launched them forward.

Anakin gulped. Suddenly the ship shook and he griped the sides of his seat until his knuckles turned white.

_Now you know how everyone else feels when you fly, Jedi._

* * *

"Keeper, if I may have a word with you." Rebhorn stopped Varus. While, technically, Varus was not a Keeper, until he took on the role properly, it was a statement of respect. No need burning bridges with the Ravager's captain until truly necessary.

The Keeper had been on his way to see Leland Marek and the stasis chamber. He looked like he still wanted to, but he kept his feet back. "What is it, Admiral?"

"I wanted to speak with you before you find yourself enthralled with the possibility of a growing family. I'm sure you must be... curious. Has anyone ever spoken to you of Leland?" He suspected not, judging from the Varus' blatant shock earlier.

"No, no one has mentioned anything about him." I rope my arms together in annoyance. Whether at him or people not telling me about a brother, I'm not sure yet.

"With good reason, unfortunately." Rebhorn motioned for Varus to move with him, and they walked to the side of the Council chambers away from others that would listen in. Actually, there would be plenty who could hear them, but Rebhorn had their loyalty in his pocket. He supported many areas of the fleet and gained support in turn. Visas stayed by her Keeper's side, and the clear sight of her hand hovering near her lightsaber was ample statement enough, even with Varus not seeing it behind him.

Rebhorn explained Leland's story from birth to present. Visas may not have been around at the time of Leland's life, but she had the power of the Seekers, the Marr House, relationships with many who knew the story, and enough perception to find the truth anyway. There was no point in lying or holding back facts. He presented everything as events, factual and unbiased, for the sake of Victoria and everyone involved. He could easily take the truth and facts and spin it to make Leland look truly monstrous, but doing so would hurt the Marek family.

It may be his agenda to remove the Mareks from power, but not necessarily his plan to hurt them.

Rebhorn felt that telling the story may be too much though, and would hurt his agenda. He was an enemy of Varus, politically, and the story revealed the Admiral to be more human than he would like to be seen. Being human made him vulnerable. The story told of his past failures, but also where his resolve came from, and why he chose the path he chose; and that was the most dangerous thing. He was taking a massive risk trying to help Varus. The story of Leland was not only of Leland, but of where his decision to rid the Miraluka of the Keepers was born. He tried to sway away from this, but Varus somehow saw through to the core of the whole matter.

"You blame yourself, don't you?" Varus asked sympathetically.

"Blame has little to do with what he is." Rebhorn evaded. Yes, he blamed himself. He was Leland's teacher, but a teacher is only as good as the student. "I cannot keep you from him, he is, after all, family, he paid his punishment in full, and he returned with a prize. Just be wary. Trust him only with what you are willing to lose. We can sit here and play the blame game and be sympathetic as to his circumstances all we want, but that will not change what he is, and what I fear he may do."

"I'm a former Sith, Admiral." Varus reminded him. "Yet you trust me, despite how hard you try to show not to. How bad can he be?"

How bad can he be? "Honestly." Rebhorn turned his attention to Leland. He may not be able to see the boy's eyes like others with actual eyes, but he still felt chills when he looked at them through the Force. He wasn't afraid of Leland because of how bad he knew he was, but because he didn't. Leland's inner coldness may be similar to Visas' in nature, due to pain and hurt, but it didn't change the feeling that there was something... missing... in his eyes. "I don't know."

They stood in silence as both of them process the information in their own way. Rebhorn suspected that Varus would be sympathetic and believe Leland to be no worse than himself, and be just as worthy of redemption. If anything, Leland may be better off, since his crime was one time and very much building up over the years, while Varus's past crimes are too numerous to count.

The Admiral hoped Varus was right.

* * *

So, I have a brother.

He has a history with my people, and he was abused until he lashed back and was punished for it. He also happens to have been scarred by Nihilus since he was in the womb. There is a lot to process, but in all of it, the only fact that remains is that he is my brother.

My younger brother. The brother mother was pregnant with at the time of my fall into the Sith ways.

I... I had never dreamed there would be a brother. Sure, I may have imagined at times what it would be like to have a sibling, or a mother, or a father again... But to actually have it. It's... different from how I imagined.

What does one say to all this? I have no experience in male bonding of any kind, or sibling bonding, or brothers in bonding or anything of the like. I have Koj'Ineh, but that is a brotherhood born of time in slavery together and a vow after he saw how I protect Squirt, and we simply have worked our way into a kind of brotherhood. Leland and I... it's like trying to take a square peg, stick it in a circle hole, and use a 2-ton Varus-Hammer (and rubber band of doom) on it.

Okay... let's take this a step at a time. The 'Galen' in me says to run over, hug him, and see what he likes to do for fun and if we can go have lunch. 'Starkiller' says to not give a crap that it doesn't matter since we are wasting time standing around when we should be training to deal with these dangerous foes that have appeared. 'Varus' doesn't know what to do.

'Revan' was a single child, but he did have a childhood friend who was like a brother to him: Malak, who was originally nicknamed 'Squint'. I call my niece 'Squirt'... Is that a coincidence?

And anyone who knows history of the Revanchist and Triad Sith's war knows how that went. Malak and Revan betrayed each other, Revan reached out to him when he regained his sanity, the gesture was rebuffed, and Malak ended up dead at the end of his blade.

That's not... exactly helpful.

Visas though... "Visas, what did you and Ash do when you first returned to our people?"

Visas frowns briefly, and her feet move around a bit. She's uncomfortable with the subject. "We... did nothing. It was very awkward."

Well, that doesn't help me. "And?"

"That's it. I was far less social back then and I said nothing for weeks. I was too nervous inside to let it out. If it wasn't for the Mistress, I never would have opened up a single crack."

"Then what do you suggest? Because you and I both know I am a hell of a lot more talkative than you." Except, she has been talking like five times more today than she usually does. Guess our talk also opened her up a lot more with me. It's kind of nice. "I have a thing with boredom."

"Why don't you try starting with mere acknowledgement that you are siblings? Then... depending on how badly you want to get to know him and be around him, see where he will be staying, arrange to talk sometime, and present simple interest. You don't know him, so you do not know if he is someone to get to know or ignore."

Damn, that actually sounds like good advice. Visas is more socially aware than she gets credit for. The quiet ones are scary...

"But Rebhorn said-"

"Keeper." She stops me. "Remember, Admiral Rebhorn's agenda is to ultimately remove the Marek's from power. Everything he says is to be taken carefully, and considered just as carefully." I also get the sense there is an unspoken reference to the talk we had earlier about me telling her to decide for herself what to do with her life.

"Alright..." I smile in thanks and force myself to walk to Leland.

Leland has a stronger resemblance to mother more than I do. He has an intelligent, almost girlish look to him. I could see wearing a robe, having long hair and long nice finger nails. He would still be a man, and look like a man, but one you would describe as beautiful more than handsome. I don't remember my father, but mother claims I am the spitting image of him with her spit-fire, untamed personality in her youth. This might mean that Leland has father's personality. I don't know how this crap works. If I have father's looks and mother's brain, does he get the opposite?

His head is covered in a mask that loops around form his nose to the back of his head, and there is no eye-hole or mouth-hole or ear-hole. All of his senses come from his right side seemingly. Also, the fact that he has an eye, brown one, is very odd to see in a people of blind ribbon-wearing monk-hippies. He has a bandage over his entire left arm that is a little disconcerting. It covers each finger and goes up around his shoulder and neck to the bottom off the mask.

Before I have the chance to say anything, Leland smiles widely and extends his (good) hand. "So, this is the prodigal son! I would say I've heard so much about you, but five years is an awfully short time to base tales on." His smile is unnaturally warm and polite, and his posture is open to me. I never see people this exposed and vulnerable. They're usually guarded either from respect or fear.

Uh... okay? How am I supposed to take that? I take his hand anyway and shake it. "Yeah, that would be me. I would say I've heard so much about you too, but then... I haven't." I'm sorry, but I'm not as eloquent as him. That came out rather flat. None of the less, the smile is still there. "And yes, I would be the 'prodigal son'." Whatever that means... "Spent one too many life-times with Nihilus, then Jedi, then slavery, and was rescued by our people."

"Ah yes... Well, someone had to be." The smile dims slightly, and I get the feeling there was some kind of hidden meaning in there. There is too much... I don't know. He sounds like a politician in some ways.

"I take it the Admiral took you aside to tell you about me?" And now... the awkward.

"Uh..."

He waves it off. "I take no offense. He is doing what he believes is best, and is actually making the effort to take action this time around, and he would be right about everything, knowing him." Okay... again, sounds like a double-meaning. He does sound offended about something, but I'm not that good at communication to pick apart the meaning of his words and figure out exactly how he really feels or is saying.

At least I'm the stupidly honest type. "I take it you're as dangerous as I suspect?"

His smile goes from fake, to real. "Very, but then, so are you and a full discussion of what I am probably should not be had in such a public venue. Another time, perhaps?"

I nod. I'm sure we will be seeing more of each other if he sticks around, and now that his smile is real, with a slightly dangerously intelligent tone, I actually feel more relaxed. I see the true person now. He is capable of handling me in a fight of words, of planning, of thought and politics. He may not be using it fully against me right now, but he could if he wanted to, just as I could completely overpower him in a fight right now. I shouldn't be so comfortable around dangerous people, but this is what I'm used to. I grew up around Nihilus, my only friends were a broken ship and training droids designed to try killing me, and I am most comfortable in chaos (despite my freaking out verbally). So it's only natural.

It means we have something in common. I won't have to worry about how to deal around some fragile twit who doesn't have the self-respect or strength to look me in the eye.

"So this is Starkiller." I change the subject. I peer down into the stasis cell, and the guy definitely looks like me. Except he has an old scar, and I know the 'Starkiller' from Dantooine didn't have that scar. That's troubling. Just how many of me are there? "How did you come by him?"

He stands beside me and looks down with me. His smile left behind for a pensive look. "If you can believe it I found him a little over a year ago. He died of heart-failure and has been in that casket ever since." He glances at me out of the corner of his eye. "It is nice to see he is merely a fake."

"There's nothing fake about him." I argue. "He had his own life, his own friends and ambitions. He isn't me."

"..." Leland's face is blank and observant.

Yeah, I took that comment personally. "What are they going to do with him?"

"From what I have heard, our people are in a tough spot with the surrounding nations. Everyone has their bull's eye on you, and believe you to be the only one. This proves there are clones out there, and information like that can change everything. It creates an opportunity to give us some political points in the galaxy."

"But not enough to secure a future..."

"Nope."

In truth, I know what can. The Star Forge. It lies in a part of the galaxy still unmapped, and that is the important part. If I can find the last piece of the puzzle, and we can get there, we will be safe. No one will be able to find us. It is less about the Forge itself and more about the place on the map. And Leland has given us time to use to continue looking, a second chance.

I can't put it into words, but I get the sense that I can trust Leland to be family, even if I have to watch my back. It's like Koj when we're wrestling or sparring. He won't hold back on me, but he won't take it outside the spar... Perhaps that's simply a male thing.

I don't have an agenda in the Miraluka, no real goal beyond the sixth sense that both Rebhorn and Leland have made the first blows in a silent game of honor, loyalty, and respect for control of the Miraluka. I don't want control of the Miraluka. I wouldn't know what to do with the loyalty of my people. But that doesn't mean I won't give them a fight in their own game. Because... that's simply my nature, to pick fights even when I don't want the reward. I don't need a reason. It's family.

Welcome to the Mareks, please be sure to step off at the next crazy.


	36. Ep07 - Securing the Future Part 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, so no sue!**

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* * *

**Episode 7 - Securing the Future Part 2**

* * *

"Master Plo…" She murmurs.

Ahsoka Tano lay in the hospital bed, still in the process of recovering. The Void damage to her organs and body is healing and she should be able to wake up sometime tonight. The presence of friends has helped in her recovery, as though she knows we are there. I hope so. It means me sitting here won't seem as creepy.

I just sit here and think. I haven't been able to sleep since I woke up myself. My mind just keeps running over and over all that happened on Dantooine, because while I know I am ignorant at times, I am far from stupid. A situation has been growing under my nose that exploded there. All the deceptions, the hiding, the conflicting forces at work, and I feel I have only scratched the surface of how far it goes. Starkiller described "they" and "them" a few times, hinting that he was in league with an entity of some kind, or working for people. People strong enough to defeat Nihilus, and possibly send the Sith Lord into hiding, because even as strong as Starkiller is, I know Nihilus is still many times stronger if he was serious. Starkiller is dreaming if he thinks he can pull it off, but then… that's just a trait associated with that side of myself.

Starkiller was a dreamer too caught up in his fantasy of being an avenger to notice anything. Once Starkiller, or rather me, set on my path after that first murder, there was only one time where I saw what I had become and had true regret. I saw how far I had gone. I saw what I had become, and I decided that I was too far gone to turn back.

"Koon…" Ahsoka whispers. She tosses and turns as though she's having a nightmare.

I pat her arm and she relaxes, but continues to murmur the name of her first master.

"Have you had any sleep?" Visas asks me when she enters. I shake my head. It's 21:00. The two Padawans are asleep on mats and Falon is asleep. He whimpered a bit here and there, but beyond that, there has been no visible sign that he is in mourning. Poor kid. I wonder what he wants to talk about. He was asleep when I walked in. He may want to think himself tough, but the pain is evident in the edges of his eyes and mouth.

Visas brings me a cup of something, and I sip it. I cringe at the bitter taste and force myself to swallow before putting it aside. "You really should get some sleep. It won't do you any good to run yourself ragged. The meeting had to have done something to you."

Ah yes, finding out I had a brother. "In fact the opposite. I don't care." I return neutrally with a shrug. "Yes, it's a surprise, but then again, mother had a life for twenty years, Visas. Ashley, you, mother, my brother… you all had a life, and I can't complain about that." A part of me wonders if it's normal to feel so little from this, but then, that doesn't matter. I know I'm not normal. I'm most relaxed in chaos and my records of friends aren't the most noble of sorts. If I put them all in a list (assassination droid, twenty-foot lizard-devil-rhino, a broken ship, a Ghorfa terrorist, a bunch of Jedi who have tried to capture me, an emotionally unstable Seeker) it has to reflect on me somehow.

"But, it's a brother. Doesn't that complicate things?"

"Not really, no. Mother could have married again and had given Leland a father. She could have stayed single and done her best. I remember now that she was pregnant when she left father and me at the festival, and you were happy about having a newborn sister going off with your mother." Visas smiled gently in nostalgia as I spoke. It almost made me stop. She has a nice smile when she isn't caged up. Almost makes her appear… normal. "But she didn't. Father died. I was taken away. Mother had to do what she could with what she had left. If anything, it answers one big question I always asked myself."

"What?"

"Master…" Ahsoka continues to murmur.

"Why she never came after me." I answer. "I know Nihilus was an impossible obstacle, but you can't blame a kid for crying for his mother in the dark corners of a ship haunted by a phantom. She didn't come after me because she was had to move on. To her… I was dead, and she had a new family she couldn't just abandon to search for a ghost."

Even as I say it… I find myself realizing something. A simple truth, a fact that is both undeniable yet powerful in its simplicity.

I forgive mother.

Ahsoka jerks, and I tighten my grip on her hand. She quiets down. That doctor sure knows his stuff. Even if she isn't saying anything, she knows I'm here on some level and she is physically reacting to my presence.

That's just freaky...

Visas stands there quietly, and for a moment she seems oddly… disturbed or angry about something, but then it all disappears into the blank face where she hides everything and leaves me wondering if there was anything there at all. But pity for her, I'm good at reading her. I lived with Nihilus, I can read blank faces. There's a fire in the edges around her lips and eye-covering.

Still, she doesn't say anything and I let my observation be. If she doesn't consider it important enough to bring up, then that's fine. "How long has she been like this?" She asks.

"Hours. Her Padawans, the doctor, Falon, nobody has been able to bring her out of it except me. She keeps saying 'Master Plo Koon'. The doctor says my being here helps."

"A Jedi Master then?" Visas pulls up a chair.

I nod. "Her first… She doesn't usually have nightmares. Something brought this on, and I can guess the events on Dantooine caused it."

"What happened?"

"Well…" I explain what happened on Dantooine, and Visas listens quietly. It's not everything. I don't know how Starkiller fooled everyone into going after me instead of him. All I have is what I witnessed, which is what Visas probably read on the report I gave her and the Admiral.

"So…" she says after I finish. "She nearly lost herself for a moment, but you stopped it and asked her to give her rage to you to bear in a duel between you and your darker side."

"Yep. Sums it up."

"Can you think of any other time she has felt rage like that? Powerful emotions can trigger memories no matter how deeply you bury them."

I just stare at her. Despite Visas' claims to being a short-fuse and nothing but a little ball of chaos deep down, she has a remarkable understanding of emotions that she doesn't realize. I… I didn't think about that. She doesn't give herself enough credit, and neither do I.

But another time Ahsoka felt rage like that? How about the time with Maris and me? No, that wasn't rage. That was… a kind of sadness and loss. She understood. I mean… she did understand right? It was self-defense. We had a huge conversation about it those years ago. Back then I was younger… I was impulsive. I don't deny being the same person, but I don't feel that overwhelming energy to constantly be moving and thinking and talking like I did either. I've matured, whether I want to admit it or not. (Boredom doesn't count.)

I continue thinking about it. I can all but feel the answer on the tip of my tongue, like an itch on my mind.

"You want to turn me into a monst-" Ahsoka murmurs again.

And like a splash of cold water I know the answer.

"Varus?" Visas asks worriedly, and I look down at my shaking hands.

I chuckle gently. Of course… Plo Koon. "I remember now… Plo Koon. He was the first Jedi Master ever assigned to me by Nihilus..."

* * *

_Ahsoka, only a preteen at the time, ran through fire and ash. The city was an inferno of a battleground. Rebels and terrorists had hit the city hard, and she and Master Plo were assigned to help get people out._

_But where was Master Plo?! He was supposed to be helping her! "Master Plo!" She yelled._

_No answer, the smoke got into her lungs and made her cough, and she returned to her task. She sensed life nearby and lifted a fallen shelf off of an elderly woman in her home. "You shouldn't be here, ma'am!"_

_The alien responded in a language she didn't understand, but the appreciation for help was obvious. Ahsoka helped the lady to her feet and out the door. From there, a few more refugees tagging along with the Padawan took her burden. "Let's check that block over there! I sense someone!" Ahsoka pointed towards a hotel with its top half blown off. Booms and rumbles of battle continued to shake the world and a random cannonball hit a distant tower, knocking it down. _

_The team jumped to action. They entered the hotel and searched. Meanwhile, Ahsoka continued to wonder what was keeping Master Plo. He had only said he would be gone five minutes to check on something, but he had been gone two hours! The place was full of so much Dark Side from the people's natural auras of dread and fear and pain that it was almost blinding. She could feel the people's pain and were she not trained properly, it might have crippled her emotionally._

_They pulled everyone out of the lower hotel floors not yet evacuated, including a young boy with cute bouncy curls on his head._

_And a huge bolt of lightning struck in the distance. Even as far as it was, it shook the world so violently Ahsoka fell to her knees and her ears whistled. Her stomach churned suddenly and she threw up. Her heart was bleeding, so to speak, she was bruised, afraid, alone on a battlefield, having a burden of keeping people alive, and was at the end of her rope. Having the whole world shake around her was not helping!_

_She wiped her mouth and grit her teeth. "Get to the bunkers!" She yelled. Her eyes turned toward where the lightning struck, and a sense of dread entered her._

_"What about you?"_

_"I'm going to be fine." She smiled to them and ran off._

_Despite the smile, once she was alone running through the empty streets again, she was afraid. The world itself seemed on fire and filled with black clouds of soot. Death and screams was all around her… And she felt something when the lightning appeared. Something painful deep in her heart. She could still sense her Master, but the connection was small._

_Too small, and it was dimming._

_"Master Plo!" She yelled but received no answer. She entered the clearing where she estimated the lightning struck… and halted in horror._

_There, Master Plo Koon lay on the ground. He had his head raised up against something and his mouth-piece moved slightly as he talked quietly. He was talking to a man in dark robes with a red lightsaber. At her approach the man turned and peered at her with red eyes that glowed in the darkness…_

_Ahsoka was terrified. She couldn't move. This person stood over Master Plo, and Master Plo was holding his chest as though he was bleeding. The city around them was demolished as if a great battle had occurred and a giant black scar was in the earth beneath her master. _

_The lightning was centered on him directly._

_"Master Plo!" She cried. She ran to him._

_"HOLD, AHSOKA!" She stopped in her tracks. Never before had Master Plo talked like that to her. It was demanding, absolute… and afraid. She couldn't go against it even if she tried._

_Master Plo turned his weary head back to the robed man, and continued to speak. This time, Ahsoka could hear what he was saying, "… her. Please. She has nothing to do with this."_

_The Sith said nothing, but continued to stare at him. His red lightsaber burned bright in her eyes._

_"You've… already won." Plo coughed hoarsely. "I ask it, as my last request."_

_"No…" Ahsoka whispered. He couldn't be dying!_

_"Interesting." The Sith said. His voice was far younger than she expected. "You could be using your last breathe for meditation, transcending, desperate healing, or even striking back at me. Yet you use it to beg?"_

_Plo Koon opened his eyes slowly. He was in a clear daze, but still managed to stay conscious with blood seeping out of his chest. "Such is… compassion. If losing… my pride… saves someone I care about… it is a good… trade."_

_The Sith looked down on Plo Koon for a long moment as if contemplating something. "Very well." The Sith nodded._

_"Thank… you." Plo Koon closed his eyes._

_"MASTER!" Ahsoka ran to his side and held him. He wasn't dead yet, but whether it be a blessing or curse, he saved that part for the seconds after was close enough to feel death ripple through his body. He drew his last breathe, and blood poured from his chest. "No…" _

_The Sith reached out his hand and Plo Koon's lightsaber felt into it. Ahsoka couldn't see his face in the darkness, and it didn't matter anymore once the man turned and started walking away. An unbridled fury poured into her blood stream like boiling water. It literally felt like her blood was boiling in her veins to the point it hurt, she heard her heart pumping in her ears, and her entire vision condensed to focus on a single object, or person._

_"YOU BASTARD!" She yelled. She whipped out her lightsaber and charged him, but the man simply put out his hand, and she felt herself lifted off the ground as an invisible hand held her throat. And just like that, she was defeated. Useless…_

_All of her rage and anger dwindled away in her helplessness. She could barely breathe._

_The Sith said, "I am sparing your life because your Master found it worth his own, yet what you do after today is on you. If you wish to die a useless death, go ahead and try again. But if you truly wish to end me…" His red eyes dropped down for a moment in what could almost seem regret, then snaps back up at her and dares her. "Then hate me. Despise me. Train yourself to be stronger than I, and seek me out. Then we will see if you are worthy enough to end my path."_

_The Sith dropped her and turned away. Ahsoka rose to her feet, but made no more moves to go after him. Instead, she found herself in a cross roads of sorts. What was there to say? Would she accept the challenge?_

_No… Master Plo died for her! He died filled with thoughts of mercy and helping someone! She would not spit on his memory! More than that, she hated the Sith! "I hate you." She hissed. "I hate you so much, so much so, that I refuse."_

_The Sith stopped walking and turned to see her out of the corner of his eye. She continued, "I refuse! You want to turn me into a monster no better than you! Well, your mechanism and scheme won't work! You want me to fight you! Fine! Then I will do the one thing you cannot accept… I will not__** become**__ you! My greatest revenge will be… that I'll __**forgive**__ you."_

_The Sith looked awestruck, and she knew she won. Even if he may be able to kill her, it was truly the greatest revenge she could think of, to simply not do what he wanted. To show compassion to his hatred, and forgiveness to his scheme of vengeance on himself._

_She simply wouldn't let him get to her. Even as much rage boiled in her gut, or hatred in her heart, she wouldn't let them have a place in her. She would become the Jedi her Master would be proud of._

_"Your forgiveness is wasted on me…" the Sith murmured, almost sadly if her ears weren't deceiving her. He turned again and walked away._

* * *

Visas watched Varus carefully. The tale was… troubling. Not necessarily in the fact that he killed a Jedi, she couldn't say killing Plo Koon was any better or worse than any other, but in the fact that it bothered him. There were many aspects of his path as Starkiller that could be troubling. Plo Koon didn't sound like it was his first kill, so the first one would be special in its own horror.

Perhaps the troubling part was how desensitized he became with death, how little life became for people like them, then for him to stop for a moment and look back on it all and see how far he had gone.

"After that…" Varus continued, his troubled eyes never leaving Ahsoka. "I decided to not kill any Padawans, not that they were important anyway to my master. I killed forty Knights or Masters in my time, and I left behind forty Padawans, or more."

"Because you felt guilty?"

He nodded. "But it was too late, I couldn't just turn around and become some model citizen, even now, I don't know how I can. But it wasn't out of some misplaced sense of compassion, Visas. Master Koon told me just after I beat him that my path would never end. After I find my vengeance, there will be nothing left except an empty shell that knows only hatred no better than the Sith Lord. So I left behind… seeds. Padawans to hate me, hunt me down, and eventually, when I had my vengeance on Nihilus and slowed down, I hoped they would catch up and end my path for me. Maris Brood is the only one thus far to do as I wanted… I made her."

Visas didn't say anything at first, the line of thought too troubling, but she had to voice it. "How is that any better than what Nihilus did with you?"

Varus looked up at her, at first not in understanding, then realization and horror. "It's not… I… damn it! Is that why Nihilus found me? Out of guilt and a need for someone to put an end to him!?"

"No, I doubt anyone can understand his motives, even us. Remorse, a legacy and heir, perverted pleasure… Every Sith has different motives."

Varus sighed. Visas may not have been able to see in color, but he looked flushed and exhausted. It wasn't just the last few days catching up with him, or few weeks, but years. She could see a weary soul in him. He was only twenty-four or twenty-five, yet he looked as weary as an old soldier in his sixties.

Visas wished there was something she could do to show him or tell him that it was in the past. He wasn't Starkiller anymore. He was Varus Wynn. The Jedi had, despite his view of being mentally raped, given him the greatest gift anyone could offer him. He had nothing to prove to the people around him. Most especially her…

But she couldn't say any of this. She couldn't even put it into words for herself, and if she couldn't believe even these things about herself, how could she say them to him and mean it?

Rather than give empty words, she stood up and tried to focus him. "Come, at least eat something. Ash is worried about you - we all are." She found herself adding.

"Alright… just… give me one more minute."

She walked out and stood waiting outside the door. If he was hell-bent on torturing himself, she couldn't stop him. She would need to speak with Ash about his mental condition and help keep an eye on him. His defeat at his clone's hand had hit him hard.

To her surprise, Varus stood up, leaned over, and tenderly kissed Ahsoka on the forehead before walking out to join her.

* * *

To Anakin, the landing was remarkably smoother than the flying, all things considered. Boba claimed he managed to evade the sensors and the ships orbiting the planet, but that was in the eyes of the beholder. Anakin's idea of stealth wasn't nose-diving in the narrow gap between the enemy's eyes! Only a Mandalorian was crazy enough to consider an orbital dive like that could have any element of stealth.

Of course, they did have a reputation for loving their orbital dives.

Anakin Skywalker stepped out of the ship and measured the time by the sun. About... ten in the morning, going by this planet's time. He stepped back onto the ship and stooped over a bench next to Boba where a map lay. "What's the plan now?"

"Well, we need to move fast. There is only so long they won't know we are here. To set up a proper capture in this territory we will need them exposed and underestimating us."

"If the troops fall in on us, it won't be for naught... So naturally, a distraction."

"They aren't stupid, if we make noise, they will hunker down to protect the VIP."

"What if we make it look like a small army?"

Boba glanced around at what was in the hanger. It was filled to the brim in containers of various purposes, but not as many weapons would be necessary for something of that scale. It was a valid idea, but needed proper execution. If the enemy suspected assassins, they would turtle up. If they suspected a small battalion, they would likely fight back.

"Not enough guns, and I don't have robots on the ship, Jedi. How do you propose we do that?"

"Leave that to me." Anakin smiled. "What concerns me is how we will nag the two of them when my yet-to-be-made-plan explodes. There are a lot of routes to the inner bunker, and places they could be."

"Finding where they currently are won't be hard. Snag a couple Mandalorian suits with the proper IFF code, and we're in."

"That's phase one." The Jedi thought out-loud.

"Which leaves us with three phases to a proper capture. Distraction, capture, and escape. Escape will have to be the Slaver One, this ship can run on auto-pilot."

"It's that good of a program?" Anakin found himself curious, like a kid in a candy shop. Boba just smirked. That would be a yes.

"Everything about it can be on auto-pilot, including the guns. So we can add that to the shock-and-awe."

Anakin nodded while his brain worked. He felt the pieces rolling into place for how the distraction would be made. He needed to fake an army. The Slaver One as air support would go a long way towards that end, however, pull that card too much and they risked losing their ride out of there, and Boba would undoubtedly be miffed with him.

So the capture... Anakin did his fair share in the Clone Wars that involved storming the ship, taking the ship, and capturing the captain of said ship. This was a bit different. Ships had only so many ways out. "You know how we are going to pull off the capture phase?"

"Not yet. I need to get a feel for the place, but I will hold up my end if you can manage to fool them all into thinking there's an army. Have you considered the fact that if this 'army' is too strong, they will turn tail and flee rather than defend themselves?"

Anakin grimaced, he hadn't thought of that. The air support card would defiantly be overplaying it right now.

They decided that, rather than beat their heads over information they didn't have, they should head in and see with their own ways how they would go about it. Boba lifted the ship and moved it into a nearby ravine, and they headed out toward the lost colony of Kipio.

To enter Kipio, they needed the proper set of armor, proper identification, and an excuse for returning. Knocking out a patrol, using the Force on their minds to give up information, then claiming to have an all clear on their patrol to the gate officer got them a couple of tickets in. "Make sure to never use your lightsaber." Boba told him discretely. "If you have to pull a weapon, make it your blaster rifle. You do know how to use it right?"

Anakin pulled the clip out, put it back in, and checked the safety. "The gun is standard issue. I'll be fine."

"Good."

There was a fair amount of information and things to take into perspective as they infiltrated the city. For one thing, they didn't know where these two 'suits' were sleeping, who their commanding squad leader was, who they knew, and other small details that could possibly make their lives difficult. In addition, they needed to remain unseen at all times. Being famous made espionage difficult. Their time window was limited.

"Any idea yet how you are going to make them think we're a full army invading?" Boba asked in a private channel.

"Simple, by going after the same objectives an army would. The gate and the local turrets. It will be better if I have a small stash of guns in the hills that can go off remotely. If you can have your ship hover around the fake army and fire a few shots randomly into the fray, it should make the illusion full-proof."

Boba chuckled. "Not bad. Not bad."

"How about you?"

"Not saying, yet. I'd rather leave you in suspense."

In other words, the Mandalorian didn't know yet and wasn't about to admit that. Which was fair, he needed more information on where the targets were, the routes they would take, and all possible scenarios analyzed to be pinpointed down to the most likely one. Anakin's idea was far simpler since it was just about putting on a show with an audience, not unlike saying nice words in front of a camera.

* * *

I'm bored. Bored enough to slam my face into a desk, or pick the whole desk up and hit myself with it just to liven things up.

Patience has never been my strong suit. Anyone who knows me can testify to that. Something always needs to be happening, I always need to move or think, or just generally moving forward. Moving is what I am good at. Never stopping, never just sitting and thinking. I think too much, and too many of my thoughts drift in direction that leave me full of regret.

So the sight of me sitting by Ahsoka's bed watching her, her apprentices, and Falcon sleep might be a bit surprising. (At some point Rizzo checked on me, and I explained to him that I am here to watch over her and get to know the new her, or something along those lines.)

I don't move. My eyes observe them, their faces, their expressions, and I peer into the void of my memories. Its times like this where it is no longer about moving, evading my past, and pressing forward. As antsy as I am, all I can do, or want to do for that matter, is sit here and wait and think.

I know what I need to do. I need to get back out there. I need to find the Star Forge. I need to find a home for my people. Then I need to turn around and end Starkiller. I need to take responsibility for my darker side and all that I have created.

I don't care what people think of me. They hate me, and I can't change that. The Miraluka don't hate me, and so I am willing to help secure a future for them, despite how much they are dooming themselves with my involvement. But even that, I don't care about. They are merely giving me an opportunity to help someone without them trying to shoot me. If the Miraluka turned on me, I would be... upset (they are my people) but I would move on and either find my path in life or fall into the 'drone' personality I had as a slave. Or I die, which, I can live with.

So why am I here? Because I'm scared, I'm frightened, nay! I'm terrified.

All my thoughts drift to Ahsoka and Falcon, because, as little as the opinion of a bunch of random people mean to me, the opinion of the only true friends I've ever made mean the exact opposite. It means everything. Kota and I had a respect that I saw in his eyes, and his ability to deduce the situation on Dantooine and choose my side even to death. We may not have been close. He was little more than the crazy man who took it upon himself to toy with me and train me harder than Tree-Hugger ever did; because that was the way he showed how much he believed in me. He wouldn't have wasted his time with me if he didn't believe I had potential. He all but said so a number of times. But Kota and I were not... emotionally attached. I will respect Kota, I will honor him, but his death won't bring me to my knees like it did Falcon.

Which leaves Tree-Hugger, Ahsoka, and Falcon. Tree-Hugger is the master I wish I had instead of Nihilus, a good father-figure, and a good man-friend. Falcon was the kid who was a good friend, so innocent and fun to mess with. Ahsoka... I don't know. I know we were friends, but I can claim to be friends with the Three Stooges and I sure as hell do not trust them the same way I do Ahsoka. She... she saw me at my darkest hour. I killed her life-long friend. It also wouldn't be a far stretch to say my entire existence and friendship was a lie, for both of us.

And that's the truth of it. The last time we had a real talk was before my existence as a lie was revealed. We never had a chance to talk about it. If anything, she cracked. I cannot blame her for that. I need to know if it's because of me... I need to know that... us, whatever that means, wasn't a lie. If she wants to hate me for what I am NOW, that's her choice. I'll hate myself in the morning, but I don't know what I will do if the only person this close and this... forgiving cannot accept me for who I was as the Jedi's puppet.

I wouldn't be able to live with myself. Tree-Hugger tried excusing my actions or lecturing me, which feels... like some kind of avoidance, no matter how well placed and necessary. But Ahsoka, she looked at the core of what I was, what I had done, and she forgave.

I need to know this is the Ahsoka I know.

Not to say that she hasn't matured, in more ways than one. It's hard not to notice the chest rising and falling with her breathing, and her eyes aren't taking up a third of her face anymore. Her energies as a teenager was always bursting and full. In one breathe she was just as crazy as Tree-Hugger and I, riding by her luck alone, and diving into dangerous situations. With the next breathe she was understanding, helping everyone she could find, and had an unnatural trait for forgiveness that was both borderline stupid and yet all that matters. Now her energies feels calmer. Still with an exciting fire to it, but one that is tamed.

A part of me is worried that rage and anger might have left a seed inside her though. I didn't make the promise to take on her rage for her if it wasn't there deep down. It's been there a long time, things like what I saw on her face don't just appear overnight. Yes, she realized the death of a lot of Knights and younglings, but I saw a lot of history in her emotions, not just the events of the last day we had down there.

Could I have been the one to originally plant that seed the night I killed Master Plo? Could her ability to forgive be a way of getting back at evil in some kind of vengeance in an 'I'm not going to let you affect me' kind of way, yet that in and of itself was?

If I did, then my choice to take on her anger and give her retribution for the crimes dealt against her is only proper, and should partially be directed at myself.

And will you look at that? I sit for a few hours thinking, and inevitably my thoughts go into a dark, regretful place. I might as well tell myself 'I told me so'.

A spike of Force power in Falcon is immediately followed by him sitting up. "Oh, it's you. I was wondering who was here." I stand up and walk over. "Not that I mind you being here, but why are you here?"

"Visiting. Ahsoka should wake up soon."

"You couldn't just wait till the morning?"

I shake my head... wait, he can't see that. Or can he? I don't know how his little trick works. "I want to be here when she wakes up." I don't think I can trust Falcon enough to admit my fear, yet.

He frowns briefly, but nods. We sit in silence a moment. My eyes return to Ahsoka, but Falcon draws my attention again. "Is now a bad time to talk?" He sounds... unsure.

"No, what is it?"

Falcon turns his head away and fidgets. Is it just me or does he have the same tells as Visas? "I don't know what to make of you, Varus. I don't even know how to put it into words, but I don't know what part is real around you."

"Huh?" I respond dumbly.

He clears his throat. "When we met, you were just another Jedi Padawan, albeit a lot older than usual, but you were one of the few people who didn't think I was special or different. Next thing I know, you are looking at Nihilus with familiarity and fear, at the very day I lost my eyes. That was the last thing I saw. When I woke up I heard you were imprisoned for being a Sith."

Oh, crap. That has to be messed up from his perspective. Does he think I betrayed him?

"Then, when I find you, you have taken the duchess prisoner right under my nose, dealt blow after blow to the Jedi sects, and taken the Miraluka prisoner. I confronted you, and instead of death, pain, or trying to twist me, you immediately set out to release me. Now you're healing and taking care of me, while having clear concern of us... Is this all some kind of messed up game? Is all of this that Starkiller person? Have I ever known you? I don't know anything, and I need facts."

"What do you want to hear?" I whisper.

"I don't know... whatever can explain this."

Yeah, sounds hard to know what information to ask for when you hardly know what the problem is to the question that could be asked to fix it.

But... is he in the same boat I am? Trying to see if our friendship was a lie?

"I don't know how to explain everything, Falcon. These events are messed up, and I can barely wrap my own head around it all." I hear Ahsoka stir behind me. "But... how about this, Falon. Let me start from the beginning."

The beginning... Twenty years ago... "I was born heir to the Keeper bloodline of the Miraluka. My birth name is Galen Marek. I loved the outdoors, the grassy plains, and just wandering for the sake of it. Rivers, trees, laying in the grass sleeping. I saw beauty in things the Miraluka took for granted. When I was five, I was sleeping under the sky, and woke up to a cloaked man who showed me little 'magic tricks' and a lightsaber. These were things father wouldn't let me have, and I promised to show him where the festival was in return for them."

I take an unsteady breathe. This is nothing more than what I have seen in my nightmares and memories thousands upon thousands of times over, but while it has become easier to tell, I haven't had an audience to it more than a few times. "His name was Darth Nihilus." Falcon raises his head in shock, but says nothing. "He wiped out everyone. I still remember him holding my father's skull in his hands in a curious manner. For the first time, I understood true hate, guilt, rage, and the desire to kill, but found myself powerless to do it. He promised me power if I gave myself to his teachings, and I did. I believed I was to blame for what happened, just as he wanted me to, and I became his apprentice."

"I was hidden away on the Ravager and devoted every hour of every day to training. I focused on power and strength and speed, but he told me he would never give me the chance to fight him in a true duel until I proved I was mentally ready to kill him. Turns out, his way of making me prove it was to kill a random person he was using as a host at the time. It was my first kill. I murdered a man, slit his throat, and was named Starkiller for it."

"Why? Why did you murder a man?"

"Nihilus was using him as a host, and I was under the delusion still that killing a host would kill Nihilus. The fact that the host died was merely..." I sigh. "It was worth it in my eyes. Anyway, from there, he made a deal with me. For every successful kill of a specific target, I would receive a duel with him. Every duel was more serious than just normal training, where I believed he was putting his life on the line. I killed Jedi. Those were the targets assigned to me. One Jedi Master after another, followed by one duel after another, where every time I was defeated easily and felt like I needed more power afterwards in order to catch up to him. It was a vicious cycle.

"Then Nihilus moved the Ravager to Coruscant while I was away, and I believed he had either taken Palpatine as a host, or Palpatine had defeated him. Either way, Palpatine took my vengeance from me, and offered me a duel to finally have an outlet to complete my journey. I would have been happy with a simple trophy of Nihilus's death, possibly." I shrug. "I don't know. I was little more than a ball of anger at that point. I didn't even consider the mistake of walking into the Jedi's arms.

"Then it all ended when the Jedi wiped my mind."

"What?" Falcon asks flatly, not quite sure he heard it right.

"The Jedi did a Force mind-wipe on me. Took most of the Council to do it too without permanently injuring me. When I woke up, my name was Varus Wynn, and I had no memories of my past. I was assigned to Skywalker along with Ahsoka, and... met you and Kota only days after that."

Falcon says nothing, but I know he is processing this. It has to be a lot to take in. It was for me at the time. "I never lied or pretended to be anything different from what I was, Falon." Yes, I'm using his actual name. "I had no idea what I was before. It wasn't until later, when my sins caught up with me in a physical form, that I was forced to start remembering. Pieces and impressions at first, but by the time I joined in the battle at the Jedi Temple, I had enough to know both who Nihilus was and what he was capable of. I used everything I had to keep him from grabbing you all at the last minute, at the cost of myself being sucked in."

Out of the corner of my eye I see Ahsoka is awake and watching me talk with Falon. I would go over to say 'hi', but I already have Falcon's rapt attention and this is just as much for her benefit as his. "I was pulled in, and Nihilus took me to the Council chamber. When I woke up, Skywalker was pinned in a chair, and Nihilus had our lives in the palm of his hand, literally. Yet, rather than kill us, he talked. He... told me who I was and what the Jedi did to me, and then all the pieces fit into place, and I believed myself betrayed by the first people I had been close to in my life."

"What did you do?" Falcon asks.

"I fled to the Ravager. I fled from the pain, the betrayal, and tried to bring my darker side back along the way. I took a train hostage and brought a Jedi to his knees to kill him... but found I couldn't. A part of me held on to what I learned as a Jedi, and I was conflicted. I took my frustration out on the training programs on the Ravager, and Skywalker approached. He had followed me all the way from the temple.

"We talked. I was on the edge of a razor. One wrong word, and I would have killed him. One right word, and I would have forgiven him. Galen, Starkiller, and Varus, as memories and personalities and separate lives and environments were in such conflict, that I couldn't do anything. Skywalker offered his life for Ahsoka's." Ahsoka gasps. "Because we both felt her coming, and he feared what I would do to her." I pause, fearfully. But I need this out in the open. "As messed up as I was, I might have killed them both if she did. I was very volatile."

"I didn't know you even knew what 'volatile' means..." Falcon says.

I narrow my eyes at him, but scoff anyway. Not the best time for a joke, but it's a good sign. "But in the end, Skywalker reminded me of Revan. I have Revan's memories buried in my mind, and Revan went through the exact same thing I did, with the mind-wipe. Both of our minds were raped and we were both used... and Revan chose to forgive. The very woman who had been involved with capturing him, and presenting him to be mind-wiped had fallen into a romantic love with him, and they married. Knowing everything the Republic did to him, he still helped them and became their champion and hero again." Until he was all but exiled by the Jedi, secretly.

"I forgave Skywalker." I say strongly. "I forgave everyone. I put aside my pain, and turned myself over to authorities to have done what I needed to have done to destroy my darker side that raged against the pain and betrayal. I was sentenced to life in prison."

"Yet, here I am." I shrug. "The prison ship was attacked by the Hutts, I was enslaved along with most of the occupants, and..." I hesitate. Do I really want to say what I endured? The experiments? The torture for pleasure? The being-lead-around-on-a-leash thing and being put up for show as a slave gladiator to kill beasts and animals for people's amusement? The rape? (Damn owner thought I was broken enough for that. She learned wrong.) But then, I did yell some stuff on Dantooine. Cats out of the bag.

I can't even remember everything those Hutts did, it was so many things. I wasn't just some slave, I was a prize slave they took pleasure in trying to break.

"I endured... a lot of things. The last thing of which was rape by the witch of an owner, as I mentioned on Dantooine. For it, I killed her..." It was messy. Blood was everywhere. "She wanted me broken, that's what she got. I had become an animal more than Starkiller ever was. I was feral." I had to be put in a cage because I was constantly trying to attack everything with my hands.

"What saved you from that?" Ahsoka asks.

I turn in the seat to face her. She's horrified, yet not of me, but of what I went through. There is so much pity and pain for my sake in her expression. Even Falcon looks like he is going to throw up.

Guess I do mean something to them.

"A crying child who lost her people, her home, her family, and needed me just as much as I did her. Only, I didn't know it until her heart stopped." I answer vaguely. "I called her Squirt, and Koj adopted me as a brother for saving his daughter. I... calmed down after that. Next thing I know, the dominion are banging down the door trying to kill and/or grab me, and the Miraluka have to rescue me out of there, only for us to find the NR (New Republic) and Clans are out to get me, not to mention the rest of the galaxy."

I point at them. "Along with you two."

And we fall into silence. I unloaded a lot on them to think about, and I can't expect them to immediately know what to do with it all. Ahsoka knows more of it, so I expect she will recover first and-

Igor walks in carrying a silver plate of food.

-know what to say...

What is Igor doing here? He puts it on the table next to Ahsoka and walks out, only to return with another and hands it to me... with a ... smile? And a wink? What?

Rizzo walks in, and I immediately have a bad feeling about this. The two little Jedi wake up and the bald one asks, "Is it time for breakfast?" I shrug unknowingly. My eyes are locked on Rizzo as he walks in with a purpose to me.

And salutes with a crisp slam of his feet together. "EXCUSE ME, SIR!"

...

"What do you want, Rizzo, in one syllable or less?" I am not in the mood for them.

"Nothin'. I don't want nothin', sir. Just thought I'd say. 'Hello'. Make sure you' was feelin' alri'ht, sir." He has a mischievous smile on his fat mug.

"Fine, good, fine." I grab him by the arm, walk him away, and whisper. "Rizzo if you came here to hero-worship me, scram, so I can make points with my newly arrived friends. I'm not in the mood." I need to make a semi-decent good impression to not completely ruin my friendships here, and last thing I need is the Three Stooges showing off their stupidity.

Why am I hearing cheesy music?

"Points?" He gasps so deeply I can picture him imploding. "Enough said, sir!" He dashes away.

"wait-" I try to stop him, but Reeve walks in playing the ugliest squeezable piano-on-a-slinky-bag thing I have ever seen. I didn't know he could play.

And where did we get an accordion?

"Ma'am, Ma'am?" Rizzo says to Ahsoka, who is taking the intelligent approach of leaning away. "I want you to know that Varus Wynn here is, uh, is one man who knows how to treat a lady right."

What?

"Ask any woman in the fleet!" He motions around dramatically.

The?

"They all say that Varus Wynn is the most 'gentlemenaly' stud who ever tried to score off 'em!"

Hell?!

I grab Rizzo and haul him away from her as fast as I can. "Don't mind him, he hasn't been the same since we put in a steel plate in his skull. Excuse us." I whisper angrily. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"I just wanted to he'p."

"I don't need your 'hep'!" I bark while mocking his accent. Rizzo is still playing that damn music and Igor is pampering her and... Ahsoka is very comfortable under the attention.

Wait a second... bad music, fancy food, Rizzo making an ass of himself on my behalf, and how scandalized Ahsoka looks? Combined with her embarrassed reaction, and the verdict is simple. It all boils to one simple conclusion.

That I'm going to kill them.

"Reeve, do you know 'Marching Band'?" I whisper dangerously. He nods. "Good, play it."

He changes tune to military step, and I bark. "ASSEMBLE! STOOGES!" They immediately snap into position together. I'm so angry I'm shaking and they are very much afraid.

"Door, face!" I order. They face the door. "MARCH!" They start marching, while I 'ten hut! Ten hut! Ten hut!' them on their heels all the way out the door. Reeve is still playing that stupid music. The instant they are out the door, I slam it shut so hard the door shakes. I yell in angry frustration before barking at the universe for giving them to me. "IDIOTS!"

I stand here facing the door huffing and puffing. My mind races with the possible consequences of their latest screw up in a long list of bullcrap, none of which end well.

I force myself to breathe, and turn around to face them. Falcon is aghast, completely shocked, as though he has never heard anything like that before. The two Jedi kids are gaping, and Ahsoka is shaking while still covering her face and sounds like she is crying.

"Ahsoka... listen," I half plead. "They're idiots. Please don't take it ser-"

Her shaking and crying increases, only turns out she's trying to contain laughter. It picks up tempo until she just simply... laughs. She laughs to the point she can't breathe and cries in pain from too much laughing. "You should have seen the look on your face!" She yells while gasping only to laugh again.

Falcon laughs too, only not to the uproariously loud volume she does.

Somehow, the tension is gone, and I know that is as it should be. There is still the unspoken question of how they see me, but that will come in time. I'll just trust them, and see where it leads me. It's been enough for one day.

I'm still going to kill those idiots though...


	37. Ep07 - Securing the future Part 3

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**Episode 7 - Securing the Future Part 3**

* * *

It was a new day for the Miraluka, and for me. I felt good, I got hugs from Squirt, and I felt my old friends were on good terms with me, even if it is unofficially. It was bright and shining and nice.

Right up to the point Ashley beat my door down and dragged me out of the room, down the hall, and into the nearest office, all the while I'm screaming 'no' in protest and agony, before sitting me down in a chair and dumping enough paperwork on the desk to go over my head.

"What's all this?!" I ask in horror.

"Paperwork you were supposed to have done! You may have been in the hospital the last few days, but you never did any of this even before that! I can't do everything for you, you know!" She sits down right in front of me, but doesn't pick up any to do herself. It's like she is waiting for me to do something.

"You can't be serious." It's huge! What did they do, invent a language just to make simple facts unbearably large?! How many words do you need to say 'life sucks, deal with it!'?

The sound of a chair creaking is followed by her leaning across the desk to glare at me up close. She doesn't have eyes but the glaring is still terrifying. "Do you have any idea how close to mutiny everyone is?"

"Is that what this is? I'm captain, you can't do this to me!"

"Consider this a hostile takeover." She snarls.

We stare at each other. The typical battle of wills. They need me.

But they also lived just fine without me. If anything, I'm the one who needs them most. I could go on without them, but being jettisoned out the nearest airlock, or losing my friends, is not very high on my list of things to do with my life.

I reach up, still locking glares with her, grab the top piece of paper barely outside arm's reach, and slam it down in front of me. "Happy?"

She leans back, with a loud creaking sound from the chair, and locks her arms across her chest. Ash isn't moving...

It's nothing short of an eternity before she is gone. An eternity filled with paper, long confusing sentences that I can't make heads or tails of, and a lot of information that means about as much to me as the measurements of a Hutt armpit hair. I know how to write my name, the date, and a few other things, and thankfully, that is most of what you need to do paperwork right up until you need to write a paper of your own. At that point I'm screwed.

But like I said, she left to find other work to do, namely to see the cook I decided to hire, and check on a new things with Koj. Which left me with no witnesses! Yeah! Except Leland had to be walking by when she opened the door. She stopped, he stopped, and while he looked at her in a neutral way, she was slightly scared and departed leaving me with the impression that something awkward just went by.

"Oh, so this is where you have been." Leland says while entering. He doesn't bother knocking. "I was hoping to... have lunch and see if- what is all of this?" He motions to the stack in front of me.

"'Paperwork'. Notice the 'work' part." I air quote it for emphasis.

"By the Ancestors..." His single eye goes up and down the stack as if to count it.

"Yeah, by the whatever, Ashley Marr is a witch! Dumping it all on me at once! Dragged me here kicking and screaming!"

"Is that the squalling baby I heard earlier?" I glare at him. "You know you left claw marks in the floor right?" I continue glaring at him and he smirks. "Alright, well. Don't worry about Ash, she is a little sympathetic softy. She used to let people walk all over her. It's nice to know she developed a backbone at some point."

Oh, that's right. They knew each other. Is that why it was awkward? Never mind, not my concern. "Listen, Leland, I know I promised lunch today... and yesterday, but apparently I have a lot of catching up to do on some things. I'm the captain of the Ravager, and if I don't get things fixed up with my crew, I've been threatened with mutiny."

"That's bad." He remarks.

"Yeah, I need to fill out over a hundred and fifty positions of officers, establish an economy, a governmental structure, and get an income enough to pay the crew and then pay back the loan I've already been given! And I don't even know what 'governmental structure' means! I know the words, but I've never heard it put together like that!" I skip the page I was on and move to the next. This one is more confusing than the last. "I'm a little overwhelmed here."

He stares at me dumbly. "You're joking right? No, you're not joking..."

I shake my head. "I know a way to fix all of this. I can save us all, and get enough respect to not be betrayed, and fix all these little issues, if only I was allowed to do it. I need to return to Dantooine and get the last piece... to a place where we won't have to worry about being found. Right now, the galaxy has concerns with the war more than us, but that will not always be the case."

"Why are you not allowed?"

"Because the last mission didn't just mess up, it blew out of proportion and we are, once again, in the galaxy's gun sights."

"Will your 'fix' resolve that too?"

"Yes! But the Admiral won't see that." I explain in frustration.

"Are you sure it will fix everything if you were to do it?"

I stop what I am doing to look up at him. He looks serious. What is he suggesting? "Yes."

"Then do it." He says simply.

...

"I don't follow."

"Varus..." He sighs. "He is a regular politician, and political games are about favors, debt, lies, honor, respect, and putting your enemy in a corner rather than killing him. He gave you the loan?" I nod. "He gave you your crew. (I nod) From his own supply. (Again, I nod.) And is keeping you from doing anything because it's your fault an unexpected event occurred?"

"Pretty much."

"Varus," He groans in disappointment. "Do you have any idea how this game is played? Politics is all about debts and favors."

"Yeah, so he has given me some favors and-"

"Wrong." Leland leans forward and puts his hands together in thought. The way his eye looks into the distance thoughtfully, and the straightness of his back, it's like looking at a real prince. I had seen nobility as a slave, and Leland suddenly has the same look they would have when contemplating things. His eyes snap up to me and he looks angry, but not at me, at something in his thoughts. The 'brotherly' feel of it, what little part of him he is trying to be open about, is gone, and in its place is a look I have seen only in politicians. Predatory and scheming. "You're trapped, brother, and will only be discredited the harder you try to help." He looks away a moment before shaking his head. "So you're the end-game... I knew he would be up to something, but ruining you seemed too personal for him."

"Ruining me?" A dark sensation falls on me. What have I gotten myself into?

He rubs a hand over his face. "Brother, I realize you are new to running a ship, so try to follow. In order to make money, you have to produce revenue either by services or production. He is using your 'failure' as an excuse to halt you, but even then you can do something provided you have a crew capable of producing something of value or service. Neither are possible in this scenario, because your entire crew is 'a', loyal to him and not you, 'b', run by an inexperienced CEO, and 'c', have an exaggerated view of you due to myth and legend. All of which leads to 'd', your crew eventually seeing who you really are and how capable you are of your position, which is less than expected, resulting in 'e' disloyalty and mutiny. Finally, resulting in 'f': without a loyal crew or source of income, his victory will be in you being considered a useless debtor."

My eyes expand briefly before I compose myself. I may not be a politician nor a poker player, but Nihilus wasn't a fan of emotions in himself or others around him. I was used to composing myself around him... eventually.

Okay, not really. I still rebelled on an emotional level, but I could compose myself when I had to be, mostly after Nihilus was aggravated by the Revanchist or Clans trying to blow him up. They were little more than bug bites to him, but it slowed him down, and he was impatient. He wasn't emotional by any stretch of the imagination, but he did have impatience and OCD in spades.

And Leland in one minute described my entire situation with the crew loaned to me, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. Yes, Ashley said there was talk of mutiny... but the 'chain' of events make sense. I can't believe I didn't see it before.

"You mean to tell me the Admiral set me up for failure?" I ask. Leland doesn't respond, just looks down thoughtfully while rubbing his chin. But his body language and context of his conversation is in agreement with me. "Why?" I growl.

Bastard. Why would that rat bastard stick me in a position he knew would fail? Doesn't he WANT me to help the Miraluka?!

"I have an idea, but without a proper crew, you can't make money, so you cannot pay back your loan, and in the end you become worthless because you are fighting against three layers of pressures on you. It's a simple strategy really. I assume he isn't holding you completely back on purpose, so you can continue to do the bare minimum, and yet only seem lackluster compared to what is expected of you because you are being held back by so much weight. No, to hold you back completely would draw the attention of the Seekers and mother."

"Again, why?!"

"Isn't it obvious?" He looks up at me with his single eye.

Visas said Rebhorn's goal was to remove the Marek line. The Keepers. The Seekers. The whole system. Rebhorn believed they could do without it and were being held back by it. So... I groan as realization comes to me. By holding me back, making me appear useless, and ruining my reputation, he is proven right. He will have more support and followers, and if he can get enough, he will be able to take control of the whole fleet.

The question is whether he is aiming for enough support to do it bloodlessly or not... I've seen war. A perfectly balance war of fifty-fifty is often the worst, because both sides feel they can win if they just push a bit harder. Yet, if he can have overwhelming support, the win would be fast and with less pain.

Visas already mentioned, as little more than a little factoid, that Rebhorn had control of just over half the council. If he was aiming for civil war, he could do it right now and with his military advantage of being captain of the primary ship... He would win. Political strength combined with military and economic control, he had the end game.

So the fact that he hasn't already is that he is not aiming for military and economic control, but a purely legal one. "Is he trying to kill us? And how do you know all this? You have only been here two days!"

He just smirks and turns away. Fine, keep your secrets. "I doubt his goal is to kill us, or at least you and mother. He is purely trying to be rid of an ancient system, and is willing to destroy the Marek House to do it. We will be removed from our status and left as... simple commoners."

"I don't care about that. If he wants me to be a simple citizen, fine." Doesn't change who my friends are, nor family. And I will still grab a ship and head off to deal with enemies that I have to deal with. Namely Starkiller.

For that matter, I can't. Starkiller is in his prime. I need to get back into shape and train myself physically and mentally to do it, and I can't do that if I am being slammed with enough paperwork to tide me over for ten hours a day!

"You and I both." He agrees crisply. "But mother is on life support, and the bills are paid by the Council treasury. I've seen the bills. If our house loses the nobility, and our place in the Council, both of us would be scraping for every dollar we can to make up all those zero's."

Mother dies if we lose. "Doesn't he realize that?" I demand loudly.

He shrugs. "There is a great deal we can assume he knows, but that will get us nowhere. I thought I might help you with your... paperwork." He chuckles in mirth and smiles. "But it seems you need another solution."

"I'm listening..." Truth be told, I don't trust Leland. Not completely. I've known him for only a few days, and politicians aren't my thing. I feel somewhat safe not being left in the dark as to his dark-scheming nature he admitted to having, but it just means I have to watch for the knife in my back rather than not know it's there.

Most of all because I don't know what his aim is. The Admiral has a clear goal, to end my family's nobility, end the Keeper line, and redo the structure of the fleet entirely from the ground up. I don't give a crap about that. What I give a crap about is my mother being ruined, and I'm sorry, I'm not happy about being toyed with. I have this little thing about living and trying to un-complicate my life! But Leland... what does he want? Is it just family? Is it to destroy someone or put himself in a position of power, or to use the fleet, or to simply be in a secure, safe position?

I can't say. But one thing all politicians have in common, is that they want something. If I can figure out what that is, then I can decide whether to put him in the good to bad folder.

Even while I think this, Leland stands up nonchalantly, grabs the whole pile of paper, and drops it in the trashcan. I look at him like he's mad. "Wha?" Ash is going to kill me!

"Start over." He says. "Dump your entire crew, and start over with only those you can trust. A true ship, and crew, start small as a skeleton crew, and works its way up. Then go do whatever you want with it."

"But the Council-"

"You're ON the Council!" He groans.

... OH YEAH! "That's another thing he has going against you... he has you thinking you are under his thumb even in your mind. Varus, brother." He puts his hands, both of them, on my shoulders and stresses, "You are the Keeper. You don't answer to him. You don't even HAVE to answer to the Council, but you do need support if you are going to be able to stand strong against the Admiral's attacks. So." He smiles, and it's not a very nice smile. It's not even a good one. The only thing going for it is that it appears half-way genuine, and very predatory. "So what are you going to do?"

I stand up and look him straight in the eye, before firing a bolt of lightning into the trash-can full of paper. "I'm going to do what I want." Makes me sound like a dumb teenager, but still. I'm not going to let him keep me from doing what I need to do.

Unfortunately the fire gets onto the desk and I go into a frantic search for the fire extinguisher.

No one saw that.

* * *

Ashley ran through a quick check-list of everything that needed updating.

Cahjinawl was in school. She was still a social outcast, but that didn't seem to have an effect on her yet. The teacher had been reporting positive results. The Ghorfa girl was fascinated by school it seemed. Koj said it was because schools did not exist on their home world, so she was not taking it for granted like other children.

The Mistress was napping. Ashley could understand... Leland's return had a huge impact on her. She herself didn't know what to make of it. A part of her loved Leland, both of them did, but they also knew Leland well. There was a dark part of him that they didn't acknowledge until it was too late. A cold fury in his eye, barely contained by a self-control and goodness taught by his family.

Varus was (finally) in his office onboard the Ravager working although if she was honest with herself, she expected he would leave most of it undone or not know what any of it means, so she will still have to go behind him and fix it. He may have a reputation since his arrest five years ago, but she had underestimated his... work ethic and understanding of leadership.

Then she would need to arrange a meeting between Varus and a couple of his new officers. Now that he was doing some work, they had a chef hired... although she could wish he had better... pallets.

Speaking of cook, the cook was giving her trouble, because apparently, the fact that the man had the word 'cook' in his nickname meant he was a good cook.

'Cookie' was said cook. (Varus had to have picked him for the stupid nickname...) A man set in his ways and just as wrinkly. He was balding, short, and angry. Behind him, ready to be loaded onto the Ravager, was a number of crates for storage. He had his arms roped together angrily. "Ashley Marr! I got a bone to pick with you."

"What is it this time, Cookie?" She sighed as the old man approached her.

"You replaced all my food with non-essentials!" He kicked a lid off a crate and pulled out a few items. "Look at all this! Ketchup? Seasoning? Worscheshier sauce? What in the Sam hell is a Worscheshier sauce!" He demanded, before his eyes landed on something. He picked it up curiously. "What is this?"

"That would be lettuce." Was he an idiot? That had to be a reason Varus picked him... they had the same mindset.

He screamed and dropped it like it was contaminated. "Lettuce?!"

"Yes." She said patiently. Picking it up, she presented it to him. "It's a vegetable. The crew needs all of the basic food groups."

"I got you four basic food groups!" He shoved a number of fingers in her face. He started counting them off. "Beer, bacon, whiskey, and lard!"

She was about to open her mouth to argue how ridicules that was when Varus suddenly appeared, grabbed her, and kept running. "Varus?! Wha? Stop! Hold up!"

He didn't, and she was forced to straighten herself out to be able to keep up without being dragged to the floor. Wow, he could run fast. It didn't occur to her until now, he could go as a paid sprinter. She was out of breathe in seconds and he looked like he was taking it easy. "Ash, we need to move fast, do you know where the others are?"

"Others?"

"Koj, Squirt, Cupcake, Visas, HK, Ahsoka, Falcon?"

"Uh... most are on the Ravager. Cahjinawl is in class, and the Jedi are on house arrest pending release. They have not been moved."

"Alright." He stops and Ash nearly runs into him. He turns to her and the look on his face gives her chills. Ever since she met him, he looked nonchalant and uncaring; or angry and surprised. He was none of that. He was serious, comfortable, in his element, and had something in mind. His eyes demanded respect and obedience. His body was poised like a noble cat ready to pounce. The mouthy, eccentric Varus was gone and in his place was a soldier. No, not quite.

The only thing Ashley could think was...

Keeper.

She gulped and readied herself for what he had in mind. "Yes, Keeper?"

"I need you to get Squirt. I understand she may be upset, but I don't trust her outside my grasp, and she won't handle a long-distance family relationship well. Get her on the Ravager, then get the others I mentioned and assemble them in the throne room."

"Yes, Keeper." She bowed. "May I ask why?"

"I will explain when I get back. Wait for me, and make sure the ship is ready for departure."

Departure?! So they had permission? No, that couldn't be it. If they did, she would be the first to know. But before she could say anything, she stopped. Varus caught her hesitation and narrowed his eyes at her. "As you wish." She nodded, and that seemed to satisfy him. He ran off and left her shaking.

Varus had always been an image of his father while having the personality of his mother before she was crippled. But this... this was a side she didn't know he had. It wasn't like her mother at all.

She had heard that his father was a gentle man who turned around and demanded respect with but a glance. Could he have inherited a part of that?

If that part of him would come out more, the Admiral would have a rival on his hands. Just remembering it gave her shivers.

Varus disappeared around the corner and Ashley turned in the opposite direction to find her way to the Ravager. She didn't know what it was about, but he wanted everyone assembled at the throne room.

The throne room was a power-trip for his ego most likely. In reality it was the main bridge with a throne in the middle. She thought it was a complete waste for a room, but since the ship was self-pilotable and alive and his, it was amusing.

She pulled Cahjinawl out of class, almost ran into Koj's meditation chamber (HE WAS NAKED! Who meditates in worship like that?!), grabbed Visas, found Cupcake exercising in a giant chamber, and couldn't find HK... It was probably stalking people on the ship, again!

"Anyone know why we are wanted here?" Koj wondered. He arrived a few minutes later fully clothed in his camouflage and face-mask. He stood patiently against the back wall.

"A waste of time if you ask me..." Cupcake growled.

* * *

I enter the room where Ahsoka and Falcon are being cared for. Ahsoka is in good condition now, and Falcon looks antsy. The kids aren't that much better. They probably aren't using to being stuck to one room for days and days, even with a few trips allowed to walk around.

I stop and look towards the guards. "Leave us."

The guards stammer in surprise and hesitate. "But, sir. We have orders from the Council."

"I am on the Council too." I remind them. I may not be officially a Keeper, yet, but I still am not someone they want to get on the bad side of. Not only do I rank as one of the top five Force users in the known galaxy right now, but I am the heir to the Keeper bloodline, and might one day be in a position to remember this.

Not that I plan to hold a grudge, but they should know better.

"I can handle myself." I assure them.

"Ye-yes, sir." They nod and depart.

I feel a bit sorry for them. When I'm done, they should just save themselves and put the blame on me. I'll take it just fine. The Ravager faerie that sits on my shoulder hovers around curiously.

"Okay, guys." I say when we are alone. "I don't have much time to explain, but I need to ask you something."

"What is it, Varus?" Ahsoka asks me worriedly.

"I am going to be sticking my neck out in dangerous situations, and disappear off the map for a while, but one of my primary goals is putting an end to Starkiller." I turn my eyes to Falcon. "To honor Master Kota." Then to Ahsoka. "And to avenge everyone on Dantooine." Then... "To find and destroy Nihilus."

"What?" Ahsoka gasps. Falcon doesn't say anything, but is just as surprised.

"Listen..." I explain. "Starkiller was able to take advantage of you because he retained some of my memory. I don't know how much, but I promise that what he does remember is enough to say for certain that he isn't dumb." Because if Starkiller remembers enough about Nihilus to hate him, he will also know enough to know Nihilus cannot be killed by conventional means. I've tried every method I know of. "Nihilus cannot be killed with physical attacks, force attacks, energy or anything. I know of nothing that can stop him. Contain him for a short time, yes, but only so long as the Sith Lord is amused. If Starkiller, all of them, are going around hunting Jedi, there is only one reason. Nihilus. Whether Nihilus is in hiding behind a Jedi host, or Starkillers are training for the final battle, I can't say."

"They are that confident they have found a way?" Falcon asks darkly.

"I am willing to stake my life on it, but then again, I was a desperate dreamer willing to try anything back then, and that part of my past traits might have carried over to these clones. It's a gamble whether they have or haven't, but it doesn't change anything for my second objective." I look between them, and note how serious they realize this is. Lives are at stake. What I am doing is paramount to suicide, and could shake the galaxy. Not perhaps, on the level of Coruscant falling, but it will have an impact on hundreds of worlds.

Falcon has changed in the last few days. I still don't know where he stands emotionally, but he isn't giving me the cold shoulder after learning about me. And Ahsoka looks... uncomfortable. A good talk is in order then. The other day was a bit much all at once.

I come to the point I came here for. Starkiller is stronger than me, but that strength is artificial. I have a power he does not have, and will not acknowledge. I know that for a fact.

I have friends.

"Falon Grey. Ahsoka Tano. I know neither of you have reason to do this, but I need allies at my side I can trust. Will you join me on my quest to stop Starkiller? Will you join my crew?"

An uncomfortable silence comes over them, and I stand patiently to wait. I know how it must sound. We have reunited as friends for all of a day, and already I am giving them such a huge responsibility and asking for their loyalty. Perhaps I could have planned it out better, or... just simply planned it. Because truthfully, I didn't plan this.

I went by my gut.

I need people I can trust, and trust isn't something for the mind. If I sat down and poked at people long enough, I could find a reason not to trust them. Even Tree-Hugger and Ahsoka. But I don't want to do that. They are practically family to me.

Trust is about the heart. Am I willing to allow the person to have an impact on my life? Am I willing to let people close enough to hurt me?

Yes. Because my life isn't worth enough to worry about unnecessarily. I don't trust any of the crew the Admiral gave me, so I can't be bothered with them. But these people? My friends? My family?

If they want to betray me, I'll accept it, but like I said, trust is from the heart. It's from the gut. It's why it's called gut instinct.

They will not betray me. Simple as that.

"If we decline?" Falcon asks. He doesn't sound like he will, but checking his options is smart.

"Then I will take you onto the Ravager by force, and drop you off at the first safe destination." I smile. "I have no intention of letting you be used as a political pawn."

"That didn't work out so well last time." Falcon smirks.

I chuckle. "Yeah... that didn't." Ahsoka blushes in embarrassment and turns away, which just makes me chuckle more. Despite how ticked off I was at the time, it is something funny in hindsight. Maybe? Okay, maybe I'm just odd like that.

Falcon steps up and walks over unsteadily. He puts his hand out like a blind person, and I let him grab my shoulder to find me. "I will join until we end Starkiller in return for one thing... I want Master Kota's body. I want to take him to Mandalore for a proper burial. These clones have been causing a wreck for far too long. Before long, they will have an impact on the war, and the Cartel will overrun us all. There are too many reasons to name, and you have the best shot at round two of anyone I know."

I feel my composure darken sadly. Kota... How can I possibly deny such a request? It may be a bit out of my way, but it would be worth it. "You have him."

I turn my eyes toward Ahsoka. Time is running out. I don't know how much longer I have to do what else I need before my people try to stop me. If she doesn't answer soon then...

"I'll do it!" She answers.

"No explanation? No request?" I wonder.

She just smiles. "That's a secret."

Okkkay... "I'll take it, what about them." I nod my head in the direction of her pupils.

"They're with me right now, but I would like to drop them off on Naboo later."

I shrug. "Alright." I extend my arm just below where the Ravager floating droid is, and it rests on my arm. "Ravager. Where is Visas?"

"Bridge room, master."

"Tell her to use her shadow power to get here and escort my friends to the throne room. Secrecy and speed is priority. I have one last stop to make."

The droid nods.

I turn on my heel and leave. Stealth will be a problem on a ship where people don't use conventional sight, so I can't be bothered to use it. Visas can because one of her skills is to teleport from shadow to shadow with a technique she calls 'Shadow Step'. I, though, don't know it. I always aimed for the flashy and destructive skills.

Minutes later I stand in a storage room reserved for the Council. I technically shouldn't be here myself. But I need something.

The stasis-cell holding Starkiller lies before me. With a gesture I lift it up and take it with me. "Ravager..." The droid peers at me curiously. "Signal a ship wide emergency evacuation. I want everyone off except the ones occupying the bridge. Blow a hole in your side if you have to make it seem real."

"Yes, master."

* * *

Ahsoka knew that being reunited with Varus, even temporarily, would result in the usual degree of chaos, fast-paced action, and at least one explosion. Dantooine proved that, but here it was again.

In one day she had to be reminded of his life story, feel guilty and pity for it, and come to a decision to join him to help end that story. Then, a mysterious woman literally APPEARED out of the shadows, grabbed them, pulled them into the shadows, and the next moment they were on the Ravager.

She knew the Ravager was Varus' ship, but it didn't stop the chills going down her spine. The first time she was exposed to the Ravager in the Dantooine vision had been nightmare fuel.

Except the ship felt... different. It was scarred and wounded, but it didn't feel... hungry anymore. It was less alien, less haunted, and less alone. If she were to put a finger on it, the ship felt... happy? Like a kicked puppy having found its owner.

The Force still flowed strongly around the ships very walls so strongly it felt... pulsing. Like a heartbeat of Force energy inside the very hull and foundation of the ship.

If she didn't know better she would think the artificial construct was alive.

But again, back to Varus. She was thrown onto the ship, and minutes later...

An explosion on the side of the ship sent everyone in the room to the floor, and an evacuation signal screamed. "What? What's happening!?"

"Varus ordered me to do it." A floating glowy droid said. "He is on his way. He says no one is to leave."

"Understood." The shadow-woman said.

"This is dumb! Why would he tell the ship to hurt herself?!" Another woman with an eye-cloth demanded.

Koj walked calmly to the window and peered out. Ahsoka recognized him from Tatooine. There was also a... alien? A little alien with double-irises and a kind of sucker mouth like a leech. He/she looks scared. But the way he/she hugged Koj's leg in fright of the sudden noise made her wonder if she was the girl Varus mentioned.

So this was his little family. Her heart panged in pain. She... didn't know why it hurt so much.

"Everyone's leaving." Koj said.

"Everyone except us." the shadow-woman mused. "Interesting."

Koj turned away from the window and returned to his original position by the back wall. Despite the loud screeching evacuation signal and the flashing lights, he acted like it was nothing out of the ordinary. "Varus just ran onto the ship with a floating box. He should be here soon."

"He better have a damned good explanation for this!" A huge lizard said. Ahsoka's eyes widened at the sheer size of him, and her two pupils backed up behind her. He wasn't all that big, just seven feet (she's seen bigger), but this was seven feet of pure muscle and thick skin. He looked like he could ram into a tank and knock it out by punching it.

HK-47 appeared out of thin air in their midst, startling the kid, but making no hostile moves.

"Quite an interesting group, Varus seems to have picked up." Falon whispered to her. She could only nod and keep her distance from everyone, including Koj. Koj, she felt she could trust, but she also remembered him to have like a bazillion cultural insults that meant he could lash out at any moment. She would need to be better acquainted before she could trust herself not to get on his bad side.

No sooner did she have these thoughts than Varus was running onto the bridge and screaming "Is everyone off?"

"Yes, master." a floating droid said.

"PUNCH IT!"

The ship instantly leapt into action, unlatching itself from the other Dreadnaught, flying away, and diving into a Warp window.

The stars flew by around them, and Ahsoka had a bad feeling a lot of crap had just gone down.

"Um... Varus?" She asked. "What did I miss?"

And what was in the box? Who were these people?

In a lot of ways, the new Varus scared her. He had so many new experiences and friends, that he felt different. But when he chuckled nervously and looked away, she saw the same old Varus who had slipped up and was about to get slapped in the back of the hood. It was warming to see.

"This might take some explanation, everyone, but welcome aboard as the crew of the Ravager and... uh-" He glanced around in what looked like hope. "Wait a minute. Where are the Three Stooges?"

"Here." Three hands appeared sitting down in the terminal sections of the lower bridge.

"DAMNIT!"

* * *

Life on the Ravager changed for everyone. Surprisingly the least affected was Varus. It was, after all, his home. The journey to Dantooine was but a few hours, but they were left in the confusion of what had just transpired.

Cupcake was believed to be the loudest, but after he had a grasp of what was going on, he didn't care. The Three Stooges followed in their hero's footsteps, HK obeyed the master, Visas reminded him of her loyalty, and Ash was left gaping at the explanation.

Varus was leaving the Miraluka behind to act on his own. He expected to be cut out of the Council, but he had every expectation of vindicating himself and helping the Miraluka his own way.

"There will be repercussions for this." Visas mused.

"I expect as much. Can you contain it?" The captain asked.

She shrugged. "Not from here, but I'll see what I can do when the time comes."

Koj did not have anything to say about the choice to free themselves of political red-tape, but he still appeared tense. His gaze always kept all of the Jedi in his view, no matter where he was. No one else picked up on it except Varus, since the Ghorfa was the type to usually stay to the side of a room anyway, where he felt safer.

The ones with something to say were Ashley Marr, Ahsoka Tano, and Squirt. Squirt was the loudest. She was upset of having to leave the school. Turns out she was really growing to like the teacher and learning. Ashley left her argument slide to take Squirt aside and comfort her.

So the only one with anything to say was Ahsoka, but since she was left alone in terms of sides, she didn't feel her problem was worth bringing up. She was uncomfortable on the ship. It felt haunted.

In fact, the only one who spoke up was Koj. "Varus, if we may talk in private."

"Certainly, hold on guys. I'm not done."

The two of them stood to the side and Koj whispered harshly, "Do not ever take my choice out of my daughter's life again."

Varus backed up, taken off guard. "Wha- I didn't!"

"When we came here with you, to your people, we followed you. We didn't have a choice anyway, but were freed and gained a choice." Koj pressed. "When Cahjinawl was given a place in your 'shool', it was a choice I was allowed to have input in. I gave my input. Now, we were given a place on your ship, and I didn't know what you were about to do until you were doing it!"

"Koj... I-"

"You want me to follow you, I will follow you into death. We are brothers." Saying that seemed to reassure Varus, but Koj wasn't done. "But Cahjinawl is my daughter. I am her father. You are her Uncle. I have allowed you to dote on her, to comfort her in ways I cannot, and to have a direct choice in her life. But know your place."

"Understood." Varus nodded. "I'm sorry, Koj. It was a rush. I would have discussed it with you if I could, but I didn't have time. I knew what I was doing when I named you my second of the ship."

Koj nodded and sighed. "I know you would have, so I will forgive this trespass."

"Thank you." They both knew forgiveness was not a common Ghorfa trait.

"Second-"

"There's more?" Varus grumbled.

Koj glared at him a second, while the Miraluka prince smiled sheepishly. "Are the Jedi necessary?"

"Ahsoka and Falcon? Well..." Varus narrowed his eyes at him in realization. "Is there a problem? Fine, don't answer. I can understand your dislike for Force users, but I trust them. Ahsoka is just as much family to me as you, and Falcon is a friend."

Koj turned to look at the Jedi for a long moment. "And you trust the male Jedi?"

Varus was quiet just as long. "Tsk... Working on him."

Koj nodded. "Then I will trust the female and her students, but I wish to keep the blind male away from Cahjinawl."

"That is your choice."

"I will honor them they disserve. They stood by us unto death before, but Varus..." Koj returned his attention to him. "No more Jedi."

"Right, no more Jedi... uh... Anything else?"

"That is all."

"Good! Excellent!" Varus returned to the rest and stood before them, and Koj returned to standing against the wall in the back. Varus rubbed his hands together. "Now then, the Ravager is split into five sections that can fly independently of each other and are difficult to access, so we will all be staying on the bridge. Don't worry about maintenance, since the ship knows how to take care of itself. Visas will find you all quarters, if you don't already have some, and there is a kitchen, a gym equipped for Force users, and a lounge with a nice view. We will take turns cooking and doing various chores. We will be training every day before every meal for one hour while we are onboard. There is a secondary supply bay with everything we will need. Now, are there any questions?"

"Yes, what are we doing?"

"Long story. I have Revan's memories in my head, and followed them in finding ancient relics that pointed to an ancient space station that was the pinnacle of the Infinite Empire's creations. This space station is hidden in a place that no one has mapped yet, so it will provide a safe place for the Miraluka to resettle. We're going after the Star Forge. For that we are going to Dantooine first."

"What does Dantooine have to do with this?"

Varus chuckled. "The Infinite Empire left their legacy behind in a very round-about way. Databases that have become corrupted over time. The Dantooine device will point us to where the clues are. I know the planets, but I don't know the exact position of the databases. Manaan, I'm good. Kashyyk, I'm also good. Tatooine, I have that one. Which leaves two. One on Korriban and formerly-Coruscant." Visas shuffled uncomfortably and swallowed.

"Formerly?" Falon asks.

Varus just smiles. "My secret. I could explain it, but that would mean telling you, and it is the one I promise no one else can get. When it's time you will know. We are going to Dantooine to see exactly where on Korriban we need to go for the other."

"The clans have it..." Visas whispered.

"I figured as much. They own the system."

"No..." She shook her head. "As in, Mandalore picked it up and moved it. It is no longer on Korriban. The Revanchist are looking for the Star Forge as well, and have found four pieces, except for the one you have kept safe."

"How do you know this?"

"I..." She gulped. "I was there. I helped move it before I left the Revanchist. I can tell you exactly where it is."

Varus stared at her. "You mean to tell me the whole trip to Dantooine was a waste of time?"

"I'm sorry?" She asked unsure of what to say.

Ahsoka and Varus shared an amazed glance before Ahsoka covered her face in amazement to hide her laugh and Varus groaned. "It's not funny!"

"Yes it is!" She laughed.

* * *

Infiltrating a base, properly, required a number of objectives to be met.

First, a way in. Stealing suits and IFF codes was a ticket in.

Second, a way to stay in for an extended period of time. While it was not their desire to stay, Boba's investigation uncovered something worth taking a risk for. The Death Watch was having an expected guest the day after their arrival. "Are you sure?" Anakin asked hurriedly from where they were talking in private. It was not hidden, since it would look inconspicuous at the moment, but rather as just a pair of Mandalorian's relaxing.

Anakin couldn't help but wonder how long it would be before they would be asked to remove the helmets... but then most of the others around were also in armor.

"Positive. While you were busy 'taking a walk', I've caught up on the gossip, and it is interesting. These people have found 'religion'." He air quotes mockingly. "Lot of good that will do them though. They better pray their gods has mercy, because I won't. They have already left thousands dead in their wake, and millions of credits in damages."

"Mandalorians don't strike me as the religious type."

"We do allow it, but it isn't that big in our culture." Boba agreed. That only made this more interesting, barely. Boba was right. The terrorists had already left too many dead in their path to be afforded common courtesy. They would still be tried for murder, terrorism, treason, and anything else the Clans could come up with. "Still, this 'guest' is tied to it in some way. A priest that has visited regularly. I want to hold off until we can get some information on him."

"It could just be a guy trying to fix their ways." Anakin argued, although he didn't put much effort into it.

Boba just stared at him. "Any so-called 'priest' that spends time with terrorists, is not normal, and therefore, is someone to have an eye on. If he does turn out harmless, fair enough. I'll consider him part brave and part stupid for trying to preach to dangerous scum like this, but I plan to make certain there isn't some terrorist-supporting-order out there like the Trandoshen and Sith ones."

Buying time until then would be difficult, but manageable. The precautions they had taken already would only last them a day, until the 'patrol' would be asked questions such as 'don't you know you are supposed to be on shift?' They would need to move quickly to the next plan before anyone suspects them for not picking up proper scheduling procedure.

They discussed it briefly, and decided to hide in the factory. It was undermanned as it was, and they could easily find a corner to hide in.


	38. Ep08 - Hornet's Nest Part 1

**Note: I recently got the Force Unleashed 1 and 2 on my computer, thanks to humble bumble, and played it. **

**Holy cow. Starkiller is different.**

**I have always loved Starkiller, and the idea of Darth Vader's own apprentice started the Rebellion, and at his order no less, but when I actually played it... I kept half expecting Starkiller to throw a stupid line, act like a dumbass, have a lot more lightning shooting out of his hands and body, be a human wrecking ball, and get on everyone's bad side just because he has trouble keeping his mouth shut.**

**It seems the form of Starkiller I have created in my story is a lot more eccentric while the canon Starkiller is... not. There was nothing eccentric about him. If anything, he seemed kinda bland.**

**THE BLASPHEMY! Starkiller didn't need to be nutso like a Deadpool type, but at least say something more than 100% serious lines that offer little character. **

**I was so surprised by the lack of fun dialog coming from his mouth I had to walk away from the game for a while to get over it.**

**Now, I know that the difference in personality is directly related to the fact that Varus Wynn had Darth Nihilus as a master, and Nihilus is abusive on a more emotional level than Vader is, while Vader is abusive in a more physical sense. I get that is the source of the difference. But still.**

**Have I gone too far with my perception of Starkiller?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, so no sue!**

**Remember to Review. I want to know what you think and how the chapter is to you. Is it good? Is it bad? Anything I need to know? Any ideas or things you want to see in the future?**

* * *

**Episode 8 - Hornet's Nest Part 1**

* * *

Training wasn't anything Ahsoka was not used to, she had been trained in discipline and self-control her entire life, as well as lightsaber training and Force use. What Varus had in mind was something else entirely.

He assembled everyone for the first time in a room that was large, round, and lined with droids all along the outer edge of the room. The droids stood perfectly at attention, erect and silent. Racks with exotic weapons and weights lined the walls as well. The roof had a view of the stars, and the room was well lit. The floor had a series of circles marked in. In the very center Varus stood.

He had everyone line up. "Alright, everyone." He said, "This is the primary training room. Visas and I had private ones, but this works just as well. The walls are lined in energy damping to absorb excess energy, so feel free to blow as much Force energy as you want. Trust me, you won't hurt the ship. If anything, you will give her a tasty treat."

Ahsoka felt chills go down her spine. The way the ship absorbed energy rubbed her wrong. The atmosphere was different from her first experience in the vision, but it still felt haunted and full of the Dark Side. She hated being here, but she felt she needed to be.

What better place to shine the light than in the darkness?

"There are weights, weapons, training dummies with pre-programmed people to mimic, and the atmospheric conditions can be changed to a degree. Yes, Falcon?"

Falcon lowered the hand he had raised. He grimaced from the nickname, but said nothing. "What do you mean by 'people' and atmospheric conditions?"

"The droids are able to use a form of holographic energy-mass conversion to become a person. You want to fight Obi-Wan? Fight Obi-Wan. You want to fight Darth Sion? The droids can transform into him and mimic him right down to the voice and how resilient he is to taking damage. The strength, speed, stamina, thought process, and fighting style of every person is mimicked by the droids as closely as possible considering the scenario is based on recordings. Darth Nihilus was obsessive, he did nothing half-assed. You may notice that HK took on the same technology, and made it its own and a lot cooler."

"It a pleasure." HK responded.

As nice as that was to say, Ahsoka had a feeling it was about its 'lethality' and 'adaptability' being recognized.

"As for the other thing, the ship can change air pressure on the floor, create wind conditions, and increase or decrease gravity. Not much else, but considering it is all based on gravity in some way, I think that's quite a few things." Varus smiled apologetically. "Unfortunately that means the whole room would be affected. So that would be a group thing or for private sessions."

"Are there punching bags?" Falon asked.

"Uh..." Varus glanced to a droid to the side. "I think you can tell a training droid to mimic one. I never tried. At the very least, HK or the Ravager can update the training program software to allow it."

Falon looked visibly pleased.

"Anything else?" Varus asked. Cupcake left the line-up to grab weights totaling four-hundred pounds. "Okay... Alright then, I don't think it would be a good idea for all of us to focus on what we have always done, but there are definite weaknesses some of us need to work on that someone else can help with. Namely, you." He pointed to Falon.

And there was silence. Everyone looked to Falon. "Varus, he's blind." Ahsoka reminded him.

"Exactly. Guess how many other people on the ship are blind. Ashley, Visas, and I can see, somewhat, with my eyes closed. I'm going to have Visas partnered up with Falcon-boy in order to teach him how to fix his sight problem."

"As you wish." Visas nodded.

Falon was surprised. "Wait, hold up. I can already see. Master Kota and I figured out a way."

"Yeah, and is it the reason you're Force usage is constantly spiking?" Varus demanded.

Falon looked at him curiously. "I presume so, it is the only technique I use regularly."

"Well stop, it's hurting you."

Falon scoffed. "You've got to be kidding."

"He looks fine to me." Ahsoka argued.

Visas spoke up, "That's because neither of you know what to look for. No offense, but Jedi and Sith do not see it the way Miraluka do. The Jedi are right, in that the Force flows through you, at the same time the Sith are right, in that there is a definite Force inside of you that can be depended on. It is similar to a kind of energy skeletal structure if you need a comparison."

"And what does that have to do with anything?" Falon demanded, annoyed.

"Because it is covered in minute fractures." She stated flatly.

She didn't raise her voice, didn't grow angry at the teenager's attitude, simply stated a fact, but it was said so firmly that everyone was afraid to respond. Everyone understood what it meant for him. "If you keep going you will shatter it and will no longer be able to use the Force at all. Then you_ will_ be blind and crippled."

The blind woman turned her attention to Ahsoka. "Same with you."

"Wha?" Ahsoka was surprised. "But I don't use whatever technique he does."

"No, your fracture is more acute. Although less of a fracture and more of a..." She cocked her head to the side. "Poison? Residual damage? Not sure how to describe it."

"I have not been poisoned!"

Varus interrupted and walked to Visas, "What do you think? Weak structure?"

"She took a beating from Starkiller. Not all of the damage is repaired, despite how she looks. Her body may be fine, but her Force structure is damaged."

"Yeah, but I took at least ten times more damage than her, and I'm fine."

"You are used to beatings. Your structure is much stronger and extensive. It has been damaged and exercised so many times, it knows what to do."

Varus nodded. "Being around Nihilus will do that. I'm not as strong as I used to be. I haven't properly trained in years." He turned to Ahsoka. "Alright, Ahsoka, your problem is much simpler. your structure is generally weak because your Force training hasn't been advanced enough. You need to push your limit constantly and get hit back just as hard."

"My training is advanced." She narrowed her eyes at him. She trained with Skywalker, and Plo Koon, and was a Knight in all but name! She wasn't just a simple acolyte.

"No, your self-discipline is advanced." He argued. "Your power training is not."

Power training? "That's a Sith principle!"

"Uh, yeah." He acknowledged like it was obvious.

Ahsoka could only stare at him. He expected her to become a Sith apprentice? To take on Sith principles and Sith training? Her student's had similar ideas because they stood between them defensively.

She refused.

"Ahsoka." Varus sighed. "I realize that may be difficult to swallow, but you need to."

"I will not take on Sith training, Varus. I'm a Jedi. I believe in helping people, not only myself."

"That has nothing to do with what I am saying!"

"It is the path! It is the same road!" She yelled. Why was she getting angry? She knew he was a Sith at heart, but why did it hurt so much to have this acknowledged? If he was some other Sith wanting to train her, she would just ignore him and leave it with a simple 'no'. It was because... she thought he had moved on from it. "I thought you were no longer a Sith."

Varus looked like he had been slapped. He might as well been. She said that harsher than she meant, she practically spat it. A part of her was sorry, and wanted to apologize, but she was standing for something here.

He may not know it, but she joined the crew to try to become a morale compass for him. To turn him back towards the path Master Skywalker set for him. A path that... would bring Varus back to her and Skywalker. She felt he was in many ways the same Varus he had always been, but he had grown more self-reliant. He was damaged just as much as ever, only now he wasn't the type to easily crack and be fixed just as easily with a few proper words. Working with him would take time.

And she couldn't very well help him if she was condemning herself down a dark road.

His surprise turned to hurt then to contained anger. "I'm not." He snarled. He turned on his heel and isolated himself to a portion of the training room. Everyone either stared at them, or made efforts to ignore them as they fought.

Ahsoka sighed. Day one on the Ravager and already they were fighting. That didn't bode well. She was already getting a headache...

However, there was a little bit of truth to what he was saying. They hadn't trained properly in a while. "Slavian, Aramis, come over here." She took them to the opposite side from Varus and sat them down.

"Master Tano." Slavian asked worriedly, "Are we going to be training with Sith?" He gripped his wooden staff tightly. Aramis' lips were thin and his eyes were narrow, so he was mad.

"No, we're not." She assured them. A huge burst of Force power swept through the room and she couldn't help looking to the source. Varus was like a miniature lightning storm, and he was taking out his anger on a large group of droids that decided the training today would consist of street boxing.

"Let's do some basics." She suggested. Basics would be good. Slavian had very little Force power to begin with, and working on the basics always seemed to help. Aramis found basics beneficial as well, since he didn't do much with his body as much as with his mind.

And basics didn't necessarily mean easy. Everything required a good foundation. So basics was something even masters had to keep on top of.

Various things like meditation, levitation, sparring, stretching, and exercising were the basics she had them do. She could also had in constant questions on hacking, programming, or hardware like Skywalker did sometimes, but that was probably because Skywalker thought it was so basic himself when she was a Padawan. Plo Koon was the same way about reading and relaxing. Master Koon thought a bit of relaxation was necessary.

She joined in while they worked on basic things, but her eyes couldn't help drifting constantly. She felt like eyes were constantly on her, but when she looked up, no one was. Cupcake was lifting weights, and anything else he could get a hold of, Visas was sitting with a very temperamental Falon talking, Koj was doing target practice around the room or sword training (or both), and Varus... Varus had reduced thirty droids to scrap metal in more of an angry fit than an actual training session.

She sighed and mentally hit herself. She needed to stand firm, but perhaps could have done it in a way that didn't isolate him.

They had changed course from Dantooine to Mandalore after it turned out Dantooine had been one giant waste of time for them. She couldn't help smirking too. This was the second time Varus had been to Dantooine, and twice it had been one giant waste of time, or at least declared as such. There had been a value to both times that wasn't expected.

Going through the Mandalorian Clan's territory would be troublesome. The ship was a flying scrap-yard with a giant bull's-eye on it.

They needed to drop off Falon and the body of Kota to let Falon give his master a proper burial, and they needed to infiltrate one of the most secure facilities on Mandalore. As if getting in the building was the hard part, it was the getting-out part and the getting-to-Mandalore-without-getting-blown-up part.

If she or Falon could broadcast a signal with their personal IFF, that might help. It would cause a fleet to find them and escort them straight to Mandalore under armed guard, but that was better than being caught like a bunch of thieves.

Taking a moment to step away, Ahsoka stopped Koj to talk to him. With him and Varus being so close, and Varus being mad right now, he was the best option for suggesting the idea without getting shot down.

"What would this 'eye-eye-eph' do?" He asked. He pulled out his cleaver-sword, turned, and cleanly cut a hologram in half from the head down in a bloody mess. That was frightening to see.

"It's IFF." She corrected meekly. She had the propriety to sound sorry after possibly humiliating Varus as captain. Damn, she didn't even think about that. He wasn't being demanding or forceful or order her, as his right as captain, but was asking her of her own free will. It was important to Varus for some reason... and not just because he might be concerned for her. "What it does is let other people know, in a far distance, who we are."

"So we will 'eye-eph-eph' the Ravager? That doesn't sound smart."

"No, the idea is to broadcast the fact that Falon and I are here, and by our own will, and that we mean no harm."

"You can say all that with it?"

It was kind of a flag to the code. Like, 'no, I am not dead', 'yes, I am here', 'yes, I am a friendly'. It was little more than a series of 'yes' and 'no', but he didn't need basic binary explained to him. "Yes."

He nodded. "Then I will talk to him-" Varus took a droid by the head and crushed it like a tin can with the Force alone before shooting it into a wall with enough force to imbed it in like a cannonball. "... when he is in a listening mood." Koj finished.

* * *

_I thought you were no longer a Sith..._

That was a low blow. A very low blow. Because, I don't know the answer to it. Sith are evil, Jedi are good. The usual moniker all but slapped in my face. She thinks I'm still some revenge-driven bastard who finds people and murders them. Not assassinate, not capture, not stop by and have a cup of tea with, but put them down like dogs. She all but told me I am no better than Nihilus!

So, yeah, sorry if I am a little pissed off as I train with the droids. The typical light vs dark argument goes through my head, and... fine. You want Sith? You want revenge? Lets see how you like it when the RAPISTS are at the end of my buried fury.

This droid is Mr. shiny-head, so I infuse lightning around my hand, as sharp as a blade, and behead him.

This one is Kit Fisto, I rip the tentacles off the back of his head and leave him with a sizable portion of his brain ripped away in the process.

One after another, I see the faces of Jedi at the end of the droids I'm brawling with. I let instinct drive me, and I dive deeper into the rhythm. Training that I have neglected for years returns to me, and while I see myself as being sluggish and not reacting like I know I should be, I am slowly catching up and reviving the rhythm. Not sure what face that droid is supposed to be wearing, but I crush the entire person's skeletal structure like a tin can, crush him into a tiny ball, and shoot him into his comrades, ripping arms and legs away before sending the human-cannonball into a wall.

I leave a growing number of dead droids around me, but even as the pile grows, my fury, my pain, doesn't lessen. The Ravager is not giving me proper training, she is giving me targets to vent with.

Two of the droids on me take on the form of Ahsoka and Tree-Hugger, and I stop with my hand around their throats. Lightning courses through my veins while I hold both the droids up, but I make no more movements. Rather, all of my anger and pain disappears and leaves me empty and scared. I drop the two droids. I... shouldn't be venting myself on images of those two. As much as Ahsoka has insulted me, I don't have real anger with her. She is a product of her environment, her culture, the constant view that Sith are evil and Jedi are good and there is no escape from those views once you are labeled as either.

I know she doesn't really believe it. She was shocked at her own words even as she said it.

But she didn't take it back either...

Sighing, I head for the exit and walk by everyone. Half of them are staring at me, and Ahsoka is pale as a ghost, but I ignore all of them. Koj looks like he is going to say something, but stops. Good, I know I'm too angry right now to hear things properly. I am not blind to how I am. "I'm going to meditate. Do not disturb me."

I close the door behind me and take the long trek towards the throne room. I pass by the kitchen and smile to see Ashley and Squirt. Squirt is completely filthy, but having the time of her life. Breakfast will certainly be interesting when they're done. I close the door to the throne room, sit on my throne, and feel the empty hum of the Nihilus Holocron under my butt and the Ravager's constant, quiet, patient presence around me.

I haven't meditated in years either, but its no harder to remember than training. I flick on my lightsabers and look into them. A blue one, and a red one. The blue one I got from a Jedi on Dantooine, and the red one is one I've kept stored on the Ravager. Only now that I see it do I notice the colors.

Because it's the colors of Jedi and Sith. One in each hand. Almost like a universal irony that I'm both, yet neither.

* * *

Leland stood before a very displeased Admiral. The man's knuckles were white from being clenched so tightly, and it was evident it took a great deal of self-control not to lash out at the young man.

On Leland's part, he merely put his hands behind his back and waited for Rebhorn to realize he didn't care. His former mentor could yell, bark, and demand all he wanted, it changed little.

"What did you hope to gain?" Rebhorn demanded.

"..."

"Why did you do influence him like that? Do you have ANY idea what you have done?!"

Why, yes. Leland did. He had never lied or not taken the time to think about what would happen. There were a lot of people without work now that had to find a job again. They were probably very unhappy with being moved to and fro, and with as small as a community as this is, several thousand people suddenly being shoved back into the work-force would have massive economic and social impact. A negative one.

Not to mention that Varus's choice only made him look uncontrollable and ungrateful for all his people had done. That would lose him a lot of points from both the masses and the nobility. After all, everyone had put their life on the line to free him. Their desire to reclaim a prodigal son was warming...

... If misplaced. The people had never taken this effort with him. Leland thought grimly. In fact, the opposite. Varus was raised by the evil, and was considered 'merely' lost while Leland was born by the evil, raised by good people, and was spat on. Ironic. Did they truly think Varus was as good as they thought?

And the 'loan' thing? That was little more than a way of binding him to his people and putting into numerical terms how far they want for him. If he had asked, they probably would have forgotten about it. Hell, if Varus had just lived his life and smiled for the camera and thanked them, it might have been enough.

So no, he never lied. Though he may have wondered how far Varus would take it if he explained it from a certain point of view... hmm. Rebhorn did seek to control Varus, but whether it was from a 'raising up' view or 'tyrant' view, that was neglible.

Rebhorn may have intended to donate his best and see Varus become a strong typical captain, and eventually his heir as the primary admiral. Leland knew him well. While Rebhorn did intend to use Varus to remove the Marek Keeper influence, he also was too close to the Marek family to do them harm.

The result had been interesting.

"I am." Leland responded after an extended pause.

Rebhorn growled. It was clear he wasn't going to get anywhere with him. "Get out."

Leland nodded and departed.

The Admiral continued glaring at the door until he snapped and threw aside half the items on his desk. He had thought the Keeper Heir apparent had more sense than to listen to Leland, especially after having been warned, but either Leland was better at worming his way in or he had severely underestimated Varus' common sense.

He was being pushed onto the edge of a knife, and he knew it. Balance was a difficult thing. Raising up Victoria's child to be honored while at the same time making them appear unnecessary for their continued survival was a tricky business. He needed to remove the Mareks from power. He needed to take away the flaws of the Network fashioned by past generations of Keepers, and replace it with solid law and order. And he couldn't very well do that without stepping all over them if they resisted so much.

Victoria was complacent. She disagreed with him, but she wouldn't fight the times.

Varus was... a handful and incredibly independent, but he was mindful (or self-absorbed) enough not to get involved in affairs that he couldn't be bothered with. For Varus to suddenly do something so drastic was... actually following along with his character, but he was also mindful enough of politics to a degree, this much was evident by his willingness to cooperate in a few occasions and attend the latest meeting without (too much) grumbling. In addition, Varus was a person who respected and cared for family, this was evident in his caution with Victoria rather than blowing her off. No, Varus wouldn't have done something like this without it being suggested as a good idea.

And Leland was the opposite. As a child he was always observant to the point of obsession. He had found studying human nature to be a fascination. He would spend most of his free time watching others, studying their words and facial expressions and body language, because he almost seem to believe he had none of his own. He was always in other people's business because he had no business of his own. The steropycal aggravator or trouble maker.

He had no doubt in his mind that Leland had nudged Varus in this direction.

The only question was... why?

Leland had to realize this would only hurt his reputation. He was too new to the inner workings of the Fleet, and had too little support after so many years to be taking risks, and sending Varus out on a wild goose chase of his own invention was not a venture that sounded like it had anything profitable to gain him... except aggravating the Admiral. But that was a child's tactic, with a child's joy and profit. Leland was a brat, but he was never that kind of brat. He always had something to gain...

Rebhorn signaled for a Seeker to enter, and a man entered. This Seeker agent was amongst the best in spying techniques. He could see far, and with great detail, even through many layers of walls. Further than most.

"I want you to follow Leland Marek and report back on his movements. Stay at maximum range. I don't want him leaving your range for a second. I will assign someone to take your shift at night. Now go."

The man saluted and left.

As for Leland, he knew he had little time to do what he needed to do. Whether Rebhorn suspected him, or just lost trust, he needed to move quickly.

He didn't run, but he did hurry through the Fleet Mother to the Marr household. He had to ignore glances of shock, hatred, or curiosity all along his way, and chastised himself for letting it bother him again. He had grown too used to anonymity in his exile.

Varus' departure had messed things up for the Admiral, and pinned the two further against each other, but that was inconsequential. The important thing was the Visas was his Chosen Seeker. She was his knight, his mistress, his shield and sword, his lover, anything he wanted her to be. For that, she could not leave his side. She would leave the ship to follow him.

And she was formerly a Revanchist.

Leland entered the household (which was little more than a private corner of the ship), wished good day to the maid, left an inconsequential letter for Ashley to explain his presence and entered Visas room.

Visas was a veteran spy. She had worked for the Revanchist, was an agent for Nihilus, and had her hand in the less than glamorous side in handling affairs for the Miraluka. Unfortunately, she also had a soft spot for family.

Spying was about three things, or paths. Computer hacking, stealth, or social engineering. completely different specialties and sides leading to the same result. The third was the very thing Visas understood the least, and what Leland was best at.

So it wasn't all that big a surprise that he gained access to her files now was it?

He couldn't go too deep, Visas was naturally cautious, but he could get his foot in the door, and that was all that was necessary. He punched in an external drive and the holographic screen flickered with the added drivers being installed. Then the color changed to signify visually that it was successful.

From there, it was a simple search.

As soon as he found what he wanted, Leland pulled up his data pad and entered three three-digit numbers to an unknown person with a simple message.

He hit a key, and the hacking program created an image of the computer as it was before it was hacked, erased the whole hard drive down to the core in fifteen seconds, and installed the image over it. the image was as good as the original. It was almost like de-aging it. It was as though the wrinkles and scars, and file interaction, never existed.

He made a strategic withdrawal, talking nostalgically to the same maid about how Ashley's room had changed to resemble that of a mature woman from the little girl.

He entered a shop for some dessert, as a reward to himself, and noticed the inevitable spy had caught up with him. The man was the only one not silently telling him to get out.

No matter. He had done what he needed to do, and would be a good little boy now. "We have found the hornet's nest." He said to himself. He allowed his lips to twist into an evil smirk. Everything was going exactly as planned.

* * *

Breakfast was a lackluster event. Varus didn't show and that changed the mood drastically. The Three Stooges lost their outwardly need to please, Cupcake had no rival to taunt back and forth with, and the rest of them were either new to the group or silent to begin with. It wasn't long before Squirt asked to be excused, and Koj allowed it. "She didn't touch her food." Ashley remarked worriedly.

"It does taste like crap, I can't blame her." Falon remarked.

"She helped cook it..."

"Oh... sorry." He whispered.

"Wouldn't she just be looking forward to it then? Its not that bad!" Slavian wondered. Aramas also appeared unusually thoughtful about it.

Aramas wrote, "Captain's mood... affecting her... ?"

Ahsoka sighed and tried to avoid everyone's gaze. Yes, yes, yes, she didn't need a reminder that she let something slip. She didn't really believe Varus was a typical Sith, not anymore, but if she was honest, she couldn't deny it either since he was raised as one. A 'culture' that ingrained into you isn't something you can change completely.

Just as she was still a Jedi at heart, despite how distant she felt from it. She tried her best, but over the years it felt like she was pushing against a down-hill boulder. She just... couldn't feel the same about it as she did years ago. After the fall of Coruscant and learning what they did to Starkiller... and seeing how the clones were treated after the war, she had to get away for a long time. She believed in Anakin and his vision of what the Jedi could become, and should be if she had anything to say about it, but it was too little too late. Her perception was already shifted and she was struggling to believe in it anymore. But the Jedi were all she knew, so it wasn't like there was anywhere else she belonged.

She was hardly in a position to be calling him a Sith when he was atypical when she was in the same boat herself.

Koj took Varus' plate and walked off with it, and that seemed to signal the end of the meal. Which left a lot of time on their hands, and it wasn't like Ahsoka had anything to do except work with her students.

She felt a bit guilty about dragging them along for a ride that was based around her own spontaneous desires, but it was for a purpose and they were very complacent Padawans. Aramas went with the flow silently, and Slavian was much the same. There was no excitement. There was companionship, friendship, and a growing sense of family, sure, but there was no adrenaline-filled moments where one of them was stupid enough (or bold enough) to trigger traps (on purpose). She missed it. That might be a portion of why she agreed to come. She needed it.

She returned to her previous thoughts of how there was little to do besides training. It was a Sith ship in its aura, so training would be darker than normal, and that would make it more difficult to train in the Light. As good practice as that was, it still left little to do. She didn't think to bring along any books or hobbies along, not that she had any apparently after being taken away by the Miraluka.

She could sleep? But her nightmares of Plo Koon dying had returned, and now the 'betrayal' of Starkiller was being added to it, along with the imaginatinative realization of how so many in her sect were dead, partially because of her.

She was tempted to do what Anakin did for the nightmares and have a glass of wine before bed...

But sleep was not a good way to spend the day, which left wandering around finding stuff to do... and she had no intention of wandering around. The ship gave her the creeps. She saw how the droids (lovable little things) behaved and acted like really energetic, lonely, infinitely-curious, house pets that hugged anything that moved. Aramas' babyfly droid was scared out of its chips of the Ravager droids because they were always grabbing it and flying it around in a hug, like some kind of mother-cat carrying around her young. Even now, one of the Ravager droids was trying to get inside Aramas's shirt to retrieve her 'young', resulting in Aramas having to swat it away in growing aggravation.

With breakfast concluded, they parted to do their own thing. Visas took Falon aside for extra training. He may be smart, but he needed lots of work to get the Miraluka sight down properly. It was the first day after all.

* * *

Boba and Anakin managed to hide in the factory without raising suspision until the time that the 'priest' arrived. When the scheduled time came the bells rang and the terrorist made an unusual amount of effort at greeting him. Everyone was required to attend.

Boba and Anakin shared a glance before entering the throng. Their targets welcomed the priest warmly and offered him a drink. The man accepted and turned his gaze onto the people.

The priest was bald, wore greyish-white robes that were both humble in how dirty they were, and interesting in the designed patched into them. Anakin remarked on the symbols in their private channel, but Boba had no idea what they entailed.

The most striking feature were his eyes, skin, and staff. Yes, staff. The staff had crystals inside the wood as though it was naturally grown that way, and they glowed with contained light. The man's eyes were white as though he had cataracts, yet he appeared to be able to see fine, and there were... unusual markings on his skin. Anakin wasn't sure what it was called specifically, but it was definitely different.

What made it different was how it looked like the symbols were pushed up rather than down. Tattoos tend to be coloring of the skin. Scars are cuts and markings that implode your body ever so slightly. These markings were the opposite as if the man's bones had designed to grow outward in various shapes. They weren't horns, nor anything resembling 'evil' traits, but were simple designs much like those sown in his robes.

The man's eyes turned on them slowly, and his gaze locked onto his, even with the visor over his face. In that moment, Anakin was afraid. There was a level of perception in the priests eyes that could not be denied, and he realized something he hadn't noticed a moment prior. The man life energy felt alien.

Not that he was an alien, nor lacked the Force in him in the form of life energy. All living beings had the Force. What felt alien was... how... Anakin could barely put it into words what he felt. The best description would be to take a bottle of water, pour it out, fill it with vodka, and pretend its water. The man was filled with the Force, but it was alien to the body.

'Is the man possessed?' Anakin wondered.

Nihilus was amazingly silent on the subject. For that matter, Anakin couldn't feel him at all. It was like Nihilus was hiding in the darkest corner of his mind, or had left him entirely.

At the same time, whatever energy it was within the priest's body, whether by possession or another means, it felt bottomless and dark. He felt like he was looking into a huge well trying to see how deep it was.

Had Nihilus left him to enter a new host at some point without him noticing? Did Nihilus have multiple hosts? Anakin didn't know what to think. All he knew was that the man was alien inside with a Force energy that didn't originally belong to that body, and he was looking directly into his eyes.

Anakin forced his eyes to leave him, only to find a new fear in the presence of a second man accompanying the priest.

Varus Wynn? The young man stood by the priest impatiently and looked over the crowd with boredom. His Force was dark, pulsing in barely contained energy, and massive in both scale and depth. He was every bit what Anakin remembered as the Darker side of Varus in the vision he had years ago.

If Varus noticed them, they were dead. Never mind the rest of the people in the square, the Sith teenager would do just as well. He also aged very well, he still looked like a teenager. Not that it mattered.

The priest, smiling in camaraderie, lifted his hand and pointed to Anakin. "Let these two come."

Anakin heard Boba Fett gasp in his ear piece, clearly taken just as much off guard as he was, and did his best not to tense up as his thoughts went down a path of 'oh shit!'. Boba may not have the Force senses Anakin did, but he was under the impression the Mandalorian was just as scared as he was. Was their cover blown?

Under the facade of obedience, Boba stepped forward first, still in Death Watch garb, and stood at attention before the terrorist leaders, the priest, and Varus Wynn (whose attention was on a fly buzzing around his head). Anakin followed a step or two behind him and saluted in the best imitation as he could.

"Are you sure, Prior? I was under the impression you wanted privacy, so that we would not be disturbed." Almec wondered.

"It is no matter." The priest, apparently called 'Prior' (personal name or name of position?) responded patiently. "Let them come. It would do to have a fresh opinion."

"As you wish." The terrorist nodded and motioned for the two of them to fall into line. Scar, Almec, Prior, Varus, Anakin, and Boba left the assembly and entered the entered the mines. Scar walked silently, unarmed amazingly enough, and upon reaching a very comfortably adorned room, had Boba and Anakin leave their blasters.

Anakin didn't mind, he found blasters useless, and Boba had plenty of gadgets on him. Scar had a lot of weapons still on him as well, but the blaster was a far more visual symbol it seemed. Almec placed a lightsaber on the table from his belt, and Varus stood to the corner of the room. He didn't take anything off of him. The priest looked unarmed.

On the center of the table rested a book with a symbol on it similar to one of those on the priests marked body. Almec motioned to a cabinet to the side, and Boba, under the guise of an obediant warrior, found wine and bottles. He placed them on the table and started serving four glasses.

"Nonsense, get you and your friend glasses as well." Almec chastised him, and Anakin feared that meant removing their helmets to drink.

But Boba had expected something like that. "Begging your pardon, sir, but I would rather keep my wits about me. It wouldn't do to return to my patrol alembicated."

Almec didn't seem completely happy with the answer, but understood, and turned his eyes to Anakin. Anakin nodded his head, and Almec raised his hands in surrender. "Very well."

Boba served the glasses and handed them out. He exchanged a brief glance with Anakin, but behind the visors they could not read each other's eyes.

The priest sipped it before leaving it on the table, satisfied with a small amount. Varus eyed it before pouring it out in a gesture that clearly insulted his hosts, yet they refused to respond in the presence of the priest. The terrorists drank half of their glass quickly before the priest finally spoke.

"Have you contemplated your salvation?"

Vizla, clearly the one in charge and speaking the entire time, looked down humbly. "I have read from the book and found it most... illuminating."

The priest reached out his hand, and the book flew into his hand. Anakin's eyebrows raised up, and this time Boba did jump in surprise. So, he could use the Force? That did not bode well. Anakin was barely keeping his signature hidden. Varus may not have noticed him yet, but the priest had.

He looked through the book and found what he was looking for. "Gerak and the river... The story of a man tossed to and fro by powers beyond his control, and all resistance made futile, until he turned his eyes inward and found the torrent was within himself, and that the river was still."

"Is that what we are?" Scar asked at last. He looked like he was chewing on something rotten.

"You are anger incarnate, you and your brethren. You rage against something still and unmoving when it is really yourself you rage against. You merely place the blame on another."

Anakin found himself agreeing, despite the atmosphere. That's what terrorists were. Perhaps the priest really was out to turn these people.

The prior continued, "The tale of two cities... A city split in half by nothing more than a gentle river, yet at war with each other. A war sparked, and fueled, by a simple weapons merchant that rose to be king of the victor, only to be betrayed by the very rebellious powers he created. Do you think this tale is mere myth?"

"Are you suggesting it is prophecy?" Almec asked, ever curious and attentive. "Chancellor Palpatine did much the same."

the priest merely smiled and shook his head. "It is not prophecy, yet it is. People are people, and that will never change. History will always be repeated because the hearts of the people will stay the same. Such understanding is part of your 'illumination' and the road we must all take."

Almec bowed his head in an unusual show of humility. "You humble us, teacher. Tell me, how goes your travels?"

"Many are without faith and direction, hurt by the lies and betrayal of those who have enslaved them in the name of your 'Light' and 'Dark'. Including many among your kin." Anakin grumbled to himself irately at the priest's accusations of Jedi and Sith, though he couldn't deny the enslavement part. It was typical for this religion to take advantage of the power vacuum within the Force community. The priest turned his hand toward Anakin and asked, "What do you think of your 'Jedi' and your 'Sith'?"

All eyes turned on Anakin and he felt his breathe escape him. Even Varus was looking in his direction. "Uh-um.." He gasped as his mind raced to create an appropriate answer that wouldn't give himself away to anyone else. The pressure from the priest told him that the priest had to know he was a Jedi, had to sense it, and was putting him on the spot as one to blaspheme his own upbringing... or die. "I..."

A musical series of notes erupted from Varus's pocket and he pulled out a datapad, instantly drawing the attention of the priest. The teenager was completely unrepentant as he messed around with his device. Suddenly, he stopped and smiled. It was a dark smile, a dark, evil, predatory, smile. "'We' found the Hornet's Nest. 'We' are already on the move. I better leave if I intend to get in on any of the fun. Think you will be fine on your own, baldy?"

"I am never alone." the priest responded coolly.

"Yeah, yeah." Varus waved as he walked out the door without being excused.

Everyone, whether by being insulted or worried, was relieved by the teenager's departure. Anakin almost chuckled. Varus truly had a knack for ticking people off.

The priest turned his attention back to Vizla and said, "You have been burned by evil, but do not let that keep you from the path prepared for you to embrace your destiny. Let the Ancestors show you the way."

Again, Vizla bowed his head, "I can only hope the others come to see them as I have. I vow to spread the word of the Ancestors to all the Clans. While I cannot give them my faith, the offering of the Ancestors speaks for itself. I believe that, in time, more will come to believe that it is true."

"As you told me, your kin are strong willed. You are a people that understand the nobility of bloodshed, the necessity of sacrifice, most of all, by your 'king'."

"What would you have me do?"

The priest smiled. "Go to Mandalore, to your king. Mark it as the last place a Mandalorian will ever defy the power of the Ancestors! Turn your anger in yourself away, and give yourself simple, clear purpose. Embrace the will of the Ancestors!"

"I shall."

This pleased the priest greatly, and he presented his hand. "Then come, embrace your destiny."

"Vizla." Scar spoke up without warning. His voice was warning.

Vizla took it as an insult. "You doubt my decision?"

"I have read from the book of the Ancestors." Scar argued, trying to reason with his friend. "Searched for the wisdom you speak so highly of, and I have seen tales meant to fill a soul bereft of hope with purpose. Stories of morality and righteousness and bravery and-"

"And this is not worthy of your respect?"

"So the traditions of the Mando'a! Are we just supposed to abandon all that we are?"

"No!" Vizla took the book from the priests hands and put it against Scar's chest. "But if you are to look real close, you'll find that everything that we want is in here. Everything that we've ever desired. Is. In. here." He punctuated his words by tapping the book with his fingers. "Read it again, but as for me, I will take on all that the Ancestors have promised."

"This doesn't make any sense." Boba whispered in Anakin's earpiece despite being on the other side of the room. "Vizla isn't the type to embrace salvation or religion or deities! He is a man stuck up on himself through and through! He is many things, but he is not a fool!"

"He is getting old, perhaps age has given him a new perspective. But this doesn't bode well. Is the priest sending them to attack Mandalore?"

"Not if I have anything to say about it..."

Regardless of their opinions on the matter, Vizla took the Prior's hands.

"I sense doubt and fear in you yet, Vizla." The priest uttered. "But fear not, the Ancestors do not require blind obedience. They will show you their power." Immediately what Anakin saw, and what he felt, was beyond his imagining.

A light came out of the staff next to the priest, and overwhelmed the room in bright light until you could not see anything. The visor on his helmet dimmed down the gamma rays so that he could see. Even as he watched Vizla was not only made younger, but his hair fell out and symbols appeared on his skin just like the priest.

What he felt, was that all of the Force, energy, and life of Vizla was sucked out, into the staff, and replaced with a new energy, a different 'flavor' life... and a person once without enough Force to be able to use it, now had the same amount as a Jedi.

Vizla was now a Force user with foreign medycloriens.


	39. Ep08 - Hornet's Nest Part 2

**Note: I have finally sat down and figured out every single episode from here to the end, without interludes included, will go. I tried to keep it concise, short, and just to what is important... and it still came out to be a total of 25 episodes. And several of them will require 5-6 parts to cover properly. I do try to keep each episode to 15k-16k words, but some of these will look to be a lot more. I already have episode 9, and I am working on an interlude as well, so there is a lot of work going on right now that will be lovely material for all of you.**

**But still, we have a long way to go before the end, and that was after cutting out 3-4 entire PLOTLINES that I was considering. I can shorten it down to 22 or 21, or maybe even 20 episodes, but that would severely take away from the quality of the story.**

**So... yeah. This is going to be a long time for me. xD But at least now I have a much clearer idea of what to do in each episode from here on. So it shouldn't go off in random directions and cause additional plotlines that will only make it longer. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, so no sue!**

**Remember to Review. I want to know what you think and how the chapter is to you. Is it good? Is it bad? Anything I need to know? Any ideas or things you want to see in the future?**

* * *

**Episode 8 - Hornet's Nest Part 2**

* * *

Koj put the plate down beside me before standing just behind me and to my left. I'm sitting on the throne, slouched down and moody. I don't bother looking at him. I heard him enter, but my gaze is out the front screen and my thoughts are deep and distant, and bordering on self-torture.

"The food is cold."

"hm."

"You missed the first meal with everyone."

"mhm."

"Cahjinawl was looking forward to it, as well as your input. She helped fix this herself."

That realization breaks me from my dark thoughts and I close my eyes. I sigh. I really should have gone, at least for her sake. "I'm sorry... I'll make it up for her."

Rather than acknowledge my attempt at an apology in anyway, he asks, "Why did you not come?"

"I needed to be by myself for a minute."

"This has been much longer than a minute, and you are pouting."

"Yeah, so what? Its a man's prerogative to pout."

"I do not know what 'perojoative' is, but if it means what I believe it does: No, its a man's 'prejoctive' to not allow anything to have such an emotional impact on themselves that they immediately act like a child."

"Shut up, Koj." I growl.

"If you cannot accept this truth, then listen to another truth." Suddenly his hand grabs me from behind by the scruff of my neck, lifts me off the seat, and shoves me into the back of my throne. I growl back as I struggle, but its a wasted effort. I'm not putting real effort into it, and he is pissed off. He actually took his mask off so I'm looking into his two double-eyes. Despite his contained anger, he doesn't raise his voice a single pitch. He is icy. "You are captain. Your mood is the ship's mood. Your mood is the crew's mood. You want positive results? You want people to be less miserable than you insist on making yourself, then paste a smile on your face and lie. Throw a stupid joke, be a brat, pick on people to make yourself feel more like a man like you already do. You are well practiced in acting more like a fool than you actually are, so act."

"Right! Because that's what I am! A big fool! A Sith! An idiot who can't do anything more than kill and pick fights with everyone!"

He slams me again into the throne and my head hits the back of it. "You are far more than that."

I scoff. He narrows his eyes at me. "Does the opinion of this one female mean so much to you?"

"It means everything to me." I respond instinctively.

He studies me closely, even as I internally am surprised at my own confession. Do I really have so little opinion of myself that Ahsoka's simple opinion is enough to make me throw a tantrum? If the way I took my anger out on training bots, and didn't manage to contain myself, is any clue, then I would say it means a hell of a lot more than I expected.

"What is she to you?" He asks carefully.

The anger is not in his voice, or the icy edge, or any kind of negative vibe. If anything, he sounds curious, as though this changes a lot of things.

But what is she to me? That's a good question. I take a long time to respond, because personally, I have no idea. Its a question that leaves me just as confused as him. When I think of Ahsoka, I used to think of this energetic-slappy, mouthy teenager, and now I think of this woman whose very presence calms me one moment and makes me blow up, as though all of the self-discipline I've obtained means nothing, the next. Ahsoka's sense of forgiveness and compassion and self-sacrifice is still in both sides of what I have seen, so I know its still her... But the older version means a lot more for some reason... Almost... naturally so.

I wish I could even be angry at her. Okay, I am angry, but not because she insulted me (that's just not who she is) but because she was right. I doubt I can argue my Sith nature with her because we are just so different in that regards. It is very black and white. She's Jedi. I'm Sith. Not much room for compromise.

So why do I feel like I am hanging on her every word?

I would have answered 'I have no idea', but that is when the ship decided to shake from an explosion and Koj drops me as the bridge shakes.

* * *

This is why the Eternal Hand was finding so many Force users the Jedi had missed! They were making them! As if that wasn't enough to put Anakin on edge, they were not above unleashing terrorists on crusades!

"Stand. Brother." The Prior said.

Vizla, who had fallen to his knees, stood and extended his hand. His eyes were white, just like the Prior's as well. The Prior's staff flew into his hand. Scar gaped. Boba tensed and cursed in Anakin's ear-piece.

Vizla spoke, but his voice sounded foreign as well. It was his voice, but it was as though someone else was using his mouth. "The only true darkness lies in the heart of those who will not follow the path. Otherwise, there is always some measure of light, and where there is light, the Ancestors see all!"

Vizla turned on Anakin and extended his hand. Anakin felt the Force wave coming long before it hit, and instinctively extended a wave of his own to rebuff the attack. The two forces met and evened out into nothing.

"What the-" Scar muttered in one shock after another.

Boba took this as the sign that the time was now. They had planned to do things their own way, but it seemed the events had lead down another path. (Not that unleashing their former plan wouldn't deal justified damages to the terrorists later anyway.) He threw the wine at Scar. The wine broke apart in his face, and Scar was momentarily stunned as Boba charged him. A knife jutted out of his gauntlet and he struck to kill him.

Scar reacted with the instinct of a true warrior. The stun didn't last, and he ducked under Boba's head strike to punch him in the side. Not that it mattered with him wearing armor. Boba and him started a close-range, rapid pace duel of Mandalorian martial arts. Boba was faster and more athletic, but Scar was stronger and was able to put strength into his blocks and attacks and pins that Boba didn't have the strength to resist completely. Scar pulled a saber from his back and swiped down at Boba with it. Boba blocked it, only to receive a knee to his gut followed by an underpunch to the chin that hit him hard enough to knock him flat on his back and send his helmet skidding across the floor.

"Without your gun, what are you little weakling?" Scar taunted.

"A man with a spare." Boba pulled a miniature pistol and shot him in the face.

Scar fell flat on his face, dead. Boba rubbed his jaw. "Ow. That seriously hurt. whoo..." It didn't help the room was spinning. (Being hit in the jaw will do that.) He was lucky he was a good shot even while disoriented. The miniature pistol had only one bolt.

Meanwhile Anakin and Vizla were at a stalemate of Force energies they were pushing against each other. There was nothing complicated about their fight, Vizla was trying to use raw power against him in a never ending 'beam' of sorts. It was a constantly pressing Push technique that threatened to crush him into the wall behind him.

Anakin, however, was able to hold it without too much difficulty. Instead of pressing the advantage, he held the defense and studied the nature of Vizla's energies. All Force was slightly different from person to person in the way it was utilized, seen, used, and explored.

Varus Wynn, for instance, used the Force in lethal, chaotic fashion similar to lightning, so no wonder he used lightning techniques.

Nihilus as a Force user was parasitic, sucking away the life and energy of all things around him to fuel himself, and taking on hosts in order to hide or play around or lessen his 'hunger'. So his closest perception of using the force was the Void.

Ahsoka was always helping others, even at the cost of herself, and willing to forgive at the drop of a hat when others would not. She would give you the shirt off her back, yet still jump into the deepest fray to see what she could do with the same arrogant self-belief Anakin himself once had. So she focused her skills best on healing and basic combat, since they were things she wanted to do as a person, making them second nature.

Vizla lacked any of that. There was no thought, necessarily, behind his use unless you considered him to have traits like a rancor. Raw power and overpowering zeal and concentration. Actually, that just made him a Mandalorian at heart. They, as a people, tend to see little need for finesse and little things like... like salad forks.

There was no sneakiness to worry about, no unusual utilization of the Force to watch out for. It was pure power being thrown in his face like a butting of rams, and every bit of it felt alien to the energies Vizla once had inside.

Vizla wanted a fight of raw power. Anakin could deliver.

With a barely contained smirk, Anakin pressed the advantage in their little tug of war. He felt something, an extra boost of power he hadn't expected, behind him. Darkness swept like a tide over the room, putting out all of the lights except the bright light of the man's staff. A second pair of arms appeared next to Anakin's, and a robed figure appeared behind him wearing a red and white mask.

The tidal wave building against Vizla hit full force into his own power, overpowering him like it was nothing, and slamming him into the opposite wall so hard his skull and chest cavity imploded flat. The room shook like it was hit by an earthquake.

Anakin saw the arms overlaying his own. He closed his eyes and willed Nihilus away. Of all times for Nihilus to reappear, it had to be now when he was vulnerable and focused on other things.

_You are welcome._ Nihilus whispered in his mind.

Anakin didn't need his help. Nihilus did that for his own satisfaction.

"What was that?" Boba asked.

Anakin sighed weerily. Pushing Nihilus back down took some effort. "That was... Nihilus. A part of him anyway. The sooner I get rid of the mask, the better."

Boba's eyes expanded and he nodded. "I see why you want him caged..."

He turned to Scar and beheaded the man, then did the same to Vizla. The darkness left the room as Nihilus's presence diminished, and they jumped when they saw the Prior still standing there. Boba grabbed Vizla's black lightsaber on the table (and briefly appreciated it), while Anakin had his own lightsaber out and ready. He unleashed a brief wave against the priest to test him, but the wave dissipated without the priest having done a thing. He was powerful.

The priest looked between them neutrally and made no movements. Anakin gulped. The man was confident, but not hostile. They could waste time fighting him, and he didn't know how that would go, since this man seemed far more comfortable with his power than Vizla had been. He had no doubt they could overpower him, but time was of the essence. They had made a lot of noise. If they didn't get out now, they might never.

Boba seemed to have a similar mindset, because he inched his way to the door while constantly keeping an eye on the priest, before departing and hitting a control he had on him that set off all the explosives they had set up.

Anakin made his way to follow, but just before he did, the priest looked Anakin in the eye and said with an air of supremacy, "Tell others what you have seen here today."

* * *

Koj and I run out of the Throne room and toward the source of the explosion. I've heard it said that it is smart to run away from an explosion, rather than towards it, but I'm not that bright. I tend to be attracted by it even when it's not blowing up my ship and leaving me frightened as to why or who or what.

We see the others stumbling their way out of their room, asking questions and unsure as us. We do a quick check around, but find nothing. "Ravager! What just happened." I demand.

The flying droid following me around says, "There was a spontaneous combustion in Koj'Ineh's quarters."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I ask. I look to Koj, but he shrugs. 'Spontaneous' and 'combustion' don't fit in his vocabulary.

"An explosion."

Koj looks to me in pure horror. We knew there was an explosion, but in his quarters? Did someone try to bomb him?

"Cahjinawl..." He breathes, cold horror going over him.

Squirt was in there?!

Without need for further talking, we both go running, even faster this time, and a few follow us as best they can when they hear what he said.

"Ravager! Find the invaders!" It's going to be bloody and ever so messy. I'm going to kill them.

"There are currently thirteen beings on this ship, not including your personal assassination droid. All are accounted for and only three have been in proximity of the explosion since our departure. Ashley Marr, Koj'ineh, and Cahjinawl'Ineh. the odds of any of them creating it are-"

"Don't bother with the odds." It doesn't exist. Ashley adores Squirt, and Koj appreciates the growing number of people in Squirt's life. While he has trust issues, he trusts her it seems. Actually, now that I think about it, they have been spending practically all of their spare time together...

We make it to the room. The door is blown open. Instinctively I pull my lightsaber out, just incase. There could be someone on the ship evading the Ravager's sensors.

Someone who knows the sensors... Someone like me.

Koj storms in first, with me scant inches on his heels. I scan the room for people first, expecting Starkiller.

No Starkiller, just Squirt.

I double-check. "Ravager, has anyone left the room or entered it in the last week beside us?"

"No one, including the former crew." She responds.

Okay, that simplifies things. Koj wouldn't have let them into his room either. Doesn't help my gut feeling though. Starkiller would have known how the Ravager works, inside and out, but he is also a very straight forward personality that would have ignored all danger and resistance and gone after the target with single-mindedness.

Of course, he wouldn't have left her alive.

Koj cradles her in the corner of the room where she is crying and cringing in fear. The rest of the room is either in flames or burned like an explosion went off. I growl and my chest heaves in rage. I'm going to kill whoever did this. I haven't felt this much rage since... Squirt was abused as a slave.

Her clothes are singed as well, and I lean down beside Koj and her to check her over. Her arms are good, her face and neck are clear, "Squirt, I need to look at something," I whisper with amazing gentleness in direct contrast with how hard my heart is beating and rage in my stomach, and after raising her shirt briefly, her stomach and chest are fine as well. The only burn mark on her is my handprint.

She needs her legs and... private areas checked for burns as well. "Ashley." The Miraluka jumps at my sudden commanding tone. "Check her lower body for burns."

"Yes, sir." She takes my place and I walk out. As soon as I am out of Squirt's sight, my anger becomes evident in my face and eyes. I feel the need for vengeance so strongly that the facial expression is making my face ache, and my vision and senses are narrowed and focused in preparation for battle.

Ahsoka, Visas, and HK are there, and Ahsoka visibly gulps at what she sees on my face.

"Visas. HK." I gain their attention and look at them out of the corner of my eyes.

"I await your command, Master."

"Yes, my Keeper."

My chest heaves in red-heat as what I feel can finally be put into words. Sparks of electricity ripple across my skin, eyes, and between my fingers. The electricity goes into the floor to be absorbed by the ship. My power is letting loose, and it takes effort to keep from zapping my friends and crew. "Find who did this. I don't care if you have to open every door, walk down every hall, or upturn every stone and hewed rock and rusty pipe, and unscrew every nail! I WANT HIM!"

[Note: The following conversation I am a bit iffy about. Too much?]

HK and Visas nodded before both disappearing from my sight in combinations of stealth and shadow techniques. Leaving Ahsoka and me.

"Varus..."

"Don't." I growl. I want to make a good impression for her... But that is not going to happen right now. "Someone tried to kill my brother and niece. You can't possibly expect me to let that go."

She chooses her words very carefully, "This was cowardly. This was criminal. This attack was down by a down-right BASTARD." She cusses, yet speaks in gentle agreement as though I am going to lash out at her. She sees my eyes on her outstretched hand, and retracts it. "Sorry..." She mutters quickly. Does she really think I have so little control I am like an animal?

"I'm not a wild beast, Ahsoka..." I whisper, hurt.

She closes her eyes and breathes in and out slowly. "I am truly... truly sorry for what happened, and I want to do everything in my power to help. I have focused on healing techniques since the war. I can comfort her and help her relax at the very least."

"Ok...?" I nod slowly. She looks like she has more to say.

"And Varus, whoever did this will be brought to justice. I'll help search and capture the coward, and you don't even have to ask, because that's what friends do."

"Okay." I nod again.

"And... friends are also concerned for each other. You have it confused. I'm afraid, Varus, not of you, but for you. You want to know why I joined the crew? It's because I can't just abandon you to the road you are taking. I never wanted you to take on the role as my avenger. That is a burden I wouldn't wish on anyone, least of all you." She pleads. "I know I can't stop you from taking a very personal view in your clone's appearance, and we are one of the few with the power to compete with them, so I know it is a responsibility we have to take on...

She pauses to collect more thoughts. I am left speechless. I don't know what to say or what to feel. All I can do is listen and watch as she puts her heart out. "Years ago, you started down the road as a Jedi, and if I were to be honest, you were awful, no offense." No, she's right. I was an awful Jedi. I learned a lot, but it was something that went against my very nature. "When I consider who you are, and who you were... I get scared you will return to it. You already came close, and I think you know it yourself that your niece is what saved you from falling back into who you were. Now imagine if she is gone."

I glance away as I consider it. What would happen if Squirt died? "I would return to my darker side without a second thought." I acknowledge.

"I don't know how it sounded in your head, but on the outside, you were bloodthirsty and as close to a normal Sith as I have ever seen you. Your eyes were red.. and that's what I'm afraid of."

My eyes were red... I close my eyes and force myself to take deep, slow breathes. The rage in my gut is still there, but it isn't as raw as it was a few minutes ago. My heightened senses are gone and leaving me feeling exhausted and sluggish. I feel empty and cold with sweat. "This is who I am, Ahsoka... I'm a Sith."

"No, you're not." She snaps at me so fast, and with so little hesitation, I almost missed it. I look at her curiously. Didn't she earlier say- "I know I called you a Sith earlier, and I am deeply sorry for that. I was out of line. I'm sorry, but I was a Jedi, and you are a former Sith. Both stereotypes tend to see things as being very black and white, when that isn't the case."

"What you mean 'was a Jedi'?" I catch on.

"My tongue slipped, that doesn't matter. My point is, you are not a Sith, Varus."

I sigh and look at her square in the eye. "Then what am I?"

"A Miraluka uncle."

"That doesn't answer my question." I shake my head and turn around to enter the room again. Squirt sounds like she has calmed down, in between the crying hiccups, and Koj looks at me with a clear message in his eyes. He wants the bastard dead just as much as I do.

"Yes it does." Ahsoka responds gently. There's a sadness in her eyes, but it doesn't feel like it's for me. I motion forward and she enters in at my silent command. After assuring Squirt of her good intentions, the poor girl is frightened of everything right now, she puts her hands on her head and closes her eyes.

Well, I'll be damned. Squirt starts to calm down almost instantly. Now if only Ahsoka could do that to the rest of us, or Starkiller, then all of our problems would be solved! No more emotionally unstable people!

I wonder if she has a cure for stupidity... Might have to test her on the stooges.

Ashley Marr whispers, "There were no burns on her lower body. She has a small bruise from where she hit her head in the explosion, but beyond that there isn't a single injury."

I nod and thank her, and feel the weight leave my shoulders.

But it still makes no sense. I have seen a fair number of explosions. Squirt should be covered in shrapnel. The center point of the explosion was the corner of the room where she sleeps now. There is charring on the walls and her bed is covered in ashes and small bits of fire.

Her body should be torn apart, her head should have a giant piece of metal sticking out of it, or at the very least the compounds native to the explosive's sealant. Whatever created the explosion needed a seal for carrying and placing. Usually metal or plastic or soap... There is none of that.

Its like the fire just appeared out of thin air...

I pinch my nose and curse the Force. Yet another twisted thing to happen that is unnatural, and lo and behold, I have to deal with it. I should be considered a freaking genius as many unnatural situations I find myself in.

"Ash, Ahsoka, please take her to the primary gym. It is Force shielded and deep. The Ravager will watch over you and offer backup if it comes down to that."

"You really think someone infiltrated the ship?"

"Until you can offer me a more viable option, its the only one I see. Go. Koj, perch yourself in the upper balcony of the gym and be ready incase this bastard goes for a second round. Ravager, round up the crew and send them to the gym. I'm going to interface directly with the ship and look myself."

"I'm going with you." Ahsoka leaves the others to stand with me.

"I said to go to the gym."

"And I'm not letting you have your back exposed to the door while your mind is elsewhere, and we both know where you mind will be."

Yeah... She remembers. I'm going to be messing with the Nihilus holocron. It is exhausting just to touch it, and part of the reason I wanted everyone in the gym instead of the throne room was so they wouldn't see me messing with it.

"Fine." I sigh. I wave off the others go carry on, and they do. Ahsoka and I head to the throne room alone. Its quiet, and while my thoughts are elsewhere I notice she jumps in fright periodically and is always looking around.

I tease her. "Skittish? You've never been scared of fighting before."

She glares at me but has no anger behind it. Aww, she's embarrassed! "The ship is haunted. Its creepy... I would rather be dealing with the assassin than the ship, personally."

"What makes you think its haunted?"

"You know the feeling you get from the walls, like its sucking in your energy. Its lessened now, but the ship makes me feel alone and... watched. The Dark Side flows through the ship heavily."

I laugh. "Ahsoka, the ship is alive."

"As you have mentioned. You keep calling it a 'her'."

"No." I repeat firmly. "As in, alive. Nihlus was obsessed with the concept of life and death and creating non-living beings based on holocron principles. The ship has a heart, she has a mind, she has veins, and feet, and hands, and she feels hungry and alone just like we do. The ship was born in a wounded state, and has never had companionship beyond the crew that have never paid attention to her."

"So... she's sentient? A sentient ship..." She doesn't sound like she believes it.

"In the same way a dog is, except this dog is trained to speak the same language." We enter the throne room and the Ravager shuts the door behind us.

"Ahsoka, the little droids are an extension of the Ravager's mind. They are huggy and happy and chirpy like that because she is." I laugh. "When the Ravager originally met the Fleet Mother, the Miraluka dreadnaught, the first thing she did was hug it."

"I wish I had been there to see that." She smiles.

"Eh, no. We had the NR, Clans, and Dominion pointing guns at us at the time."

I flip up the throne's bottom, pull out the holocron, and sit back down. "This is her mind. The holocron of Darth Nihilus. He is her creator. As a very logical being almost devoid of emotion, he acts as her logic. His will is left behind enough for her to obey and know how to act and do things."

"His... will. Should I be worried?"

"His will was to watch over me, mostly, and ensure my growth. Then to do what he said and transport him around. She's not going to hurt you... actually, she was a reject. Nihilus was never satisfied with her as a creation. He didn't believe she was sentient."

Her eyes became downcast. "That's why this ship feels so lonely. Not accepted by her father, never meeting anything like her."

'Her', so Ahsoka is starting to see it. I smile. Ahsoka continues, "You mentioned arms and legs and veins and a heart? Are you serious or just spouting examples of things we have?"

"Very serious. Consider the legs as the engines. Not hard to imagine. The arms is the droids she uses to fix the ship and chase your pupil's droid around with."

"The veins and heart?"

in answer, I activate the holocron. Lines extend out of it in every direction, connecting to every part of the ship in thousands upon thousands of strands. The strands interconnect in various places. "Nihilus used the Force to keep his ship together rather than nails and duct tape. When he killed the Miraluka, he took on the Miraluka craft and added it to the ship. These strands are the Force, Ahsoka, given form a non-Miraluka can see only because there is so much flowing through it."

Ahsoka's eyes are on the web of light all around us. The last time she had seen this, it was during a very fast-paced, on-the-edge-of-our-pants escape from Coruscant. She never had the chance to see it as anything more than a tool of our escape. Now her eyes are filled with wonder and amazement.

She is looking at life in a raw form rather than ugly with flesh and bone and bags of water.

The practical thing is more complex, the heart and mind act as nodes that flow the Force connections to the rest of the ship and allow her to manipulate the ship around her. The ship itself is the heart, with these lines allowing her influence to the shell around her. Its a really complicated network.

"As for the heart..." I continue. Her attention is still on the life around her rather than me, but I know she can hear me. "I might show you another time, if you're good." I tease.

If she thinks seeing these strands connecting to the throne is beautiful, the heart will turn her into a mass of squealing, girl pudding.

The heart is also something no one has ever seen besides me and Nihilus. Visas knows of it, but she was never allowed to see it so far as I know. Although, being a Miraluka, she may never have had to.

"Now, if you would stop gaping at everything with a starry-eyed look, you have a door to watch." I point to it and she grumbles at the interruption. She's acting like a kid being told she can't touch the puppy anymore.

I just shake my head and turn my attention to the holocron. Nice to see she listens and understands. Now maybe she will see the ship differently.

I meditate into the holocron, and I feel my body slip away. I continue to hear and feel and see, but the senses I have come to associate with that of a Miraluka grow stronger as the holocron acts as a conduit. I feel the warmth of Ahsoka's heartbeat behind me, I see the strength of Cupcake's silent presence in the gym, and the attentive patience of Koj. I feel presences all around, and in the gym they are a bubbling mass where I barely recognize the simple, yet overwhelming emotions of my niece in their midst. There is the absolute loyalty of Visas and the simple spark of energy given command by the metal shell I lovingly call HK.

I see the entire ship through the eyes of the mini-Ravagers. She searches all over the ship for someone, and out of the corner of my eye a shadow moves.

The Ravager goes right by it. I know she noticed it, but she didn't consider it anything. Its a fleeting presence that I wouldn't have noticed at all if it hadn't moved. Its distant, and its dark and hidden very well. Its an empty presence darker than the shadows pulling at me. Its hiding. Its... afraid.

It notices my attention and disappears from my senses.

I open my eyes and growl angrily. Found the bastard. "Varus, no growling please." Yes, mother. "Did you find him?"

"I did." Someone was on my ship. "Ravager, tell Visas to go to these coordinates and track someone hiding in the shadows. Warn her, it might be Starkiller. If it is, then we need to go about this carefully."

"Yes, Master."

"Starkiller?!"

"Yeah, he is the only one I know of who would have a reason to be here who knows how to hide from the Ravager." Actually, the Ravager did see the shadow move. Why didn't she say anything? Is she hiding secrets from me? She knows right now is not the time to be just going 'oh, that's nothing.'

I run to the door, but Ahsoka's worried yell stops me. "Varus!"

I stop and look at her. She is really worried. She isn't following me... Not that she doesn't want to, but because she doesn't want me to go to begin with. "I promise I won't engage if it is him. We will deal with it carefully."

"And if its not?" She's still worried. "I don't want you to fall back into what Starkiller became."

I smile reassuringly. "Then I'll beat him senseless, numb him with electricity, and drag his unconscious body out for us to put on a trial of sorts." So long as I get to punch him in the face, I'll be happy. Koj needs to give his punishment as well, and I won't deny him.


	40. Ep08 - Hornet's Nest Part 3

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* * *

**Episode 8 - Hornet's Nest Part 3**

* * *

"It's all my fault." Cahjinawl whispered.

Ashley smiled down at the girl and rubbed her back. "No, it's not, honey."

Falon was meditating close by, trying to grasp what Visas taught him about seeing the Force. Koj'Ineh was so still, so patient, so silent, that he was practically invisible upstairs peering down over the railing with his rifle at the ready. The others were doing their own thing.

Ahsoka walked in, smiled tightly, and looked lost. She clearly wanted to be elsewhere and she was fidgety. Her Padawans were silently vigilant in meditation while being nearby. Slavian was clear support, and it was warming to note the silent one was offering silent comfort despite his constant annoyance with either the girl's 'insanity' or the ship in general.

The girl sniffled and rubbed her puffy eyes. "If I didn't get as angry as I did, the fire wouldn't have gone off."

"That has nothing to do with it, anger wouldn't have set a bomb off."

"What's a bomb?" She asked meekly.

"It's a device that explodes, makes fire, and destroys everything around it when activated." Slavian gave the short answer.

"Oh, there was no bomb."

Ashley didn't have eyes, but she still stared at the girl. The girl sounded too sure to deny it. She may be emotional, but she wasn't blind. Ashley shook her head, "Of course there was."

"No, there wasn't." The girl denied.

"Cahj..." Ashley stressed. "Now is not the time to be lying. It's okay, it's not-"

"Oh, for the love of-" The little girl hissed, her sadness turning to anger. "I punched the air! The air exploded!" She glared up at the woman and dared her to deny it.

"Oh, that explains that." Slavian nodded.

"See? Doesn't it?!" She agreed.

Ashley looked between them. "Wha? No! That doesn't explain anything!"

Slavian chuckled nervously, "Mrs. Marr, it's not like it's the first time it's happened... the Force does odd things at times."

Ashley's eyes grew huge and Slavian frowned. "Wait... You didn't know she had the Force?"

"What?!" Ashley yelled.

"What?" Ahsoka didn't know if she heard that right.

"What..." A flat voice said from above from the shadows.

"What's a Force?" The girl asked innocently.

* * *

Bastilla Shan contemplated the newest information to be passed to her. In this case it was technological advancements.

The New Republic had started mass producing the Gungan shields for their army, and their allies were buying them in large numbers. It brought a sizable boost to the gungan economy, something never before considered as being strong enough for an interstellar scene. The Mandalorians were having a ball with it most of all. Their knack for being able to find odd pieces of gear and add it to their list effectively paid off, and they upgraded it further to attach to the fore-arm, allowing every day soldiers to use it and a blaster rifle at the same time.

There was money being put into taking the Gungan shield and giving it purpose in battleships, but Bastilla didn't think it would be practical beyond inner-ship barricades or a small-light device that could be easily transported on masse.

In turn the Dominion were coming out with technology in all kinds of areas. Most of it was unknown, but there were reported sightings of giant armored soldiers appearing in both ground and space combat. She recognized them as being the same things that Mandalore reported seeing on Kashyyk five years ago.

Their ability to maneuver and turn on a dime or fight backwards, all while being single-man vessels was astounding, and their adaptability of the 'spears' mimicked ray-shields or ray-guns from one moment to the next. It took a lot of concentrated fire to bring one down, and there were supposedly a lot of them right now.

They would turn the fight against the USA, but their problem was cost. The materials couldn't be cheap, nor the pilots. These weren't your every day generic pilot who can use a ship, they have to be able to... almost do martial arts in zero-gravity environments.

She would have to divert resources from the NR or Clans to help the USA against the initial assault. Pulling resources from the Clans wasn't a problem, after all, they were keeping the Cartel on edge constantly and forcing the Hutts to struggle for every victory. The problem came down mostly to the Cartel supplying the Dominion and OR with money to force the Clans to help allies and distract them.

The Old Republic were not doing anything special beyond being annoying and pumping out ships. They had better production planets than the NR, so using tactics against them was necessary.

The United Systems Alliance, she suspected, was the point where everything would be focused. They were the least stable, besides the OR. While the USA and NR were both just as new, nations that arose and seperated from the corruption of the 'Palpatine regime' on their respective sides, the NR had systems that were founded on law, production, economy, and other things necessary to a nation going back to the beginning of the Republic. The USA lacked the head start, and it was beginning to show. Count Dooku was a tyrant and bastard, but he was a strong leader. The Confederacy worked because he knew how to make it work. The USA once depended on him too much, and now, not only did he know their weaknesses due to being at the top of them once, but their Chancellor wasn't as strong of a leader as the Count.

It was a six-way war with a finer balance than even the Clone Wars had. One key move could destroy everything for either one.

She stopped, put down her reading glasses, and rubbed her weary eyes. She would need to share pertinent information and advise Mandalore on what to do. If they could find a strike team to take out the Dominion factory (or warehouse) with these new machines, that would be a big help. If they could find which route the Hutts are using for their supply runs, that would shift everything towards the end game. If the OR public could just rise up and rebel against the fear and out-right tyranny being forced on them, that could bring it down from the bottom up.

The Old Republic Senate was slaughtering protestors and controlling the media, but she had spies and knew of the mass riots and purges. Rumor was a few Jedi were in hiding amongst the people, helping small communities have some quality of life, but that was just rumor and she doubted they were fighters at heart considering their goal may be just to help in peaceful means.

There was only one problem...

She was under attack.

The space station rocked as another explosion erupted in a nearby sector. Everyone should be evacuated, and all information had been backed up to an outside server that Mandalore and Carth Onasi had access to, just in case.

Again, there was an explosion, and she distantly wondered if she heard lightning.

A small noise alerted her and she fingered the lightsaber just under her desk, even while her head was down. She sensed the person grow closer.

No, not one person, multiple... She guessed a dozen or more.

"If you plan to sneak up on me, you might want to do it with less people." She said to the people behind her. She turned the seat around to face the attacker.

She put on a haughty air even as she looked into the face of Starkiller. She knew she had the upper hand, even here with no less than... twenty human clones of Starkiller, and one alien. A Wookie of all things. The Wookie had a red lightsaber and red eyes, not a good sign.

Still, she had the upper hand. From the moment Starkiller set foot on the Space station, she calculated they were coming after information, lives, or her. She didn't have time to both wipe the drives and backup the information, and the evacuation went in an orderly fashion (though it resulted in the clones having no resistance on the station), and her... Well. She was expendable.

She had a contingency plan. Simple really. Starkiller's nature was like an arrow. Direct, lethal, path of least resistance, and difficult to prevent; but his 'arrow' nature also prevented them from noticing or even considering outside elements in a single-minded aim to go after the target.

Battle consisted of three elements. You, your opponent, and the ground under your feet. Remove one, and the fight is over.

A self-destruct sequence would do nicely provided she could buy a few more minutes. It would prevent access to the servers and give her death some meaning.

The Starkiller in front smiled in a way that gave the older woman chills. "Pardon us, we aren't much the 'sneaking' type. We're more the... What type are we?" He asks a brother.

"The blowing-everything-up-along-the-way type."

"Ah, true."

"Or maybe the leave-no-survivors type."

"Or the explosive type."

"Or-"

"Yes, yes, yes." The lead Starkiller waves off the continued suggestions from his brothers. "Don't overwhelm grandma guys. The Old Hag only has minutes to live anyway, we don't want her dying of boredom."

"Why not? Not like it makes a difference." A clone asks.

The lead one rubs his mouth in thought. "Yeah... that's true. However she dies works for me."

Bastilla could barely believe what she was seeing... They were wasting time on their own. She was just left here as an unfortunate observer.

Their continued rambling is cut off by the annoyed growl of the Wookie. "Fine, whatever you want Larry. She's all yours."

The Wookie protests the name, but steps forward anyway while pulling out his lightsaber. The rest of the Starkillers step back a bit, and Bastilla gets the gesture. The Wookie is the one that will kill her.

The Wookie pulls out a rather... unusual lightsaber. The light blade is as long as expected, but the hilt is long. Oh, no its just a spear.

A spear lightsaber actually makes a lot of sense.

Bastilla smirks. "Interesting sword you got there. Overcompensating for something?"

The entire crowd of Starkiller's go 'oohhh'. Really, what are they ten?

The Wookie takes the taunt angrily and swipes the spear down at her. Bastilla turns, leaves the chair, and throws it simultaneously at him. The chair bounces off the Wookie and knocks him down briefly, but he is up just as fast. Bastilla activates her dual-ended-lightsaber and prepares for his next attack.

Judging from his first move, the large hilt is there to allow more strength behind his attacks, as well as a finer-rotation. Wookies have strength in spades and the rotation acting as a joint would make the swipe much faster than it looks. Between the strength and speed, if she tried blocking it, she would only end up breaking an arm, her defense would crumble, and it would cut her in half. She would have to focus on deflecting and counter-attack.

The next swipe came, just as expected, and she rotated her lightsaber in a circle to both block it and knock it over her head. With it safely removed, she lunged forward-

To find the spear back in front of her aimed at her face.

Impossible, how could he move it that fast back to him?

She narrowly escaped being stabbed in the face before the Wookie had pulled the light-spear back for another strike and drove it into the ground just in front of her.

The lightsaber imbedded itself all the way into the ground. The metal floor melted around it. He wouldn't be pulling it out anytime soon. She rose to her feet. "Heh... that's what you get for being reckless big fella-"

He pushed down on the hilt so hard it practically bent in a half circle, and the blade of the lightsaber erupted from the metal plating under her going up at speeds too fast to see.

The Wookie howled his victory to the heavens and the Starkiller's smiled. "Excellent, my apprentice." The lead one said. He kicked the woman's body with sadistic glee and dropped a devise by her head. "Oh, did you think of using this? Nice bomb. Bit clunky for my taste, but still easy to remove from the power source if you divert electric flow. Which... you know, I think we have enough experts at in this room."

One of the Starkillers jumped into her chair and spun it in circles. "So, what's next?"

"Next, we send a message."

"Can we order tacos?"

"It's not that kind of message..."

"Don't change the subject! I want tacos!"

"YOU'RE THE ONE CHANGING THE SUBJECT, DUMBASS!" The Starkiller yelled.

"YOU JUST CALLED YOURSELF A DUMBASS, DUMBASS!" The other one yelled back while getting in his face.

The leader pushed them part. "Hey! If you want food, then just order some. The old woman probably has a wallet on her somewhere. Order in her name until official records put her as dead. Make it snappy, and no messes. We have our famous debut in an hour. We need to look good."

"If you put on makeup I am going to throw up."

"If you put on makeup I'll give you five credits." Another one countered.

"Um..." One of them said while looking at the destruction they left down the hall. "Isn't messy what we do?"

"Good point. LARRY! Clean it up!" Another one yelled.

The Wookie, whether his name was really Larry or not, groaned in aggravation and massaged his forehead. He was getting a headache dealing with all of them.

* * *

Of all places the bastard would choose to run and hide in, it had to be this one.

Visas and I stand nervously outside Nihilus' personal study. It's a door I haven't opened since... ever. I have never seen what is inside, I have never peeked or even considered peeking.

Actually, that's a lie. I tried to peek once, and it resulted in one of the worst torture sessions I ever had.

Looking at the door, I feel the darkness pulling on me as though 'he' is in there. As though it is a black hole sucking me in, demanding all of my senses fear it.

"Anything?" I strain just to whisper as age-old fears and traumas take hold. My first instinct is to run, hide, get as far away from this door as possible, and with Visas carefully standing directly me, it isn't that much better for her.

I didn't want Ahsoka to come specifically because of this, but now I'm contemplating whether I should have come at all. If the bastard is hiding in this room of all places, fine, let him rot. He'll go insane in minutes and get worse punishment than even I can deal.

"I can't see into the room at all, but I know the presence I followed went in. The door made an audible opening and closing sound."

I frown. "How'd he get in? The room is sealed by the Ravager at my direct order."

"Whoever it is had the rights to override your orders..."

The Ravager knew this person exists, and specifically lied to me while trying to hide him.

The Ravager sealed this room under my orders, and let someone in despite that.

I don't hate the Ravager for it, nor feel hurt by it. The Ravager is little more than an intelligent animal of sorts, and she would never willingly betray me. While Nihilus is her mind, I am her heart. It took both of us to create her. I am just a much a part of her as anything can be.

Just who the hell is this guy? Who is he to have power over the Ravager like this?

I gulp and pull out my lightsaber. I move it into the backwards position I am comfortable with. "Ravager, open the door."

Nothing.

"Ravager..." I say patiently. "Open the door."

The door jiggles, but doesn't move.

"That can't be good." Visas notes with a hint of worry.

No, it isn't a good sign at all. I push down the nervousness building in my gut and extend the Force around the door. The Ravager fights against me, but I pull the door open.

A wave of Force energy and wind goes into the room as though it was decompressed of all life and energy and atmosphere. The sensation sends chills down my spine.

I'm used to things blowing into my face, or blowing up, not for the reverse to happen.

We step into the darkness. My red and blue lightsabers offer the only lighting until Visas ignites her own red one.

There is a thick layer of dust on everything, as though the room hadn't been touched in life times, a desk with a lamp to the side, a shelving with books neatly on every level, symbols on the floor, a glass box holding objects that look like little more than scrap all neatly in a row, a door on the wall itself that is slightly open enough to show more objects Nihilus had tinkered with, and a skull. There's a skull on his desk, and I recognize it. It's the skull of my father that Nihilus took such an interest in looking at.

What really creeps me out, and makes me gulp nervously, is the symbols all across the floor and walls. The room looks like it belongs to a cultist with OCD. Everything looks like it is in pristine order, or at least was.

The room is a giant shadow clinging to every surface, snaking its winding hands toward me, reaching, crawling, scraping its way into my head and telling me half truths about how my nightmares exist in this room. Because... they do.

Visas is gasping for breath. The room is suffocating.

The room is also small. There is a library of books, scrolls, and lesser Holocrons, but it's not like the study is large enough to hide someone effectively. Especially when one of them is an expert on shadow techniques. So after a quick search, we find no one. Bummer.

"All in favor of getting the hell out of here?" I ask.

In response is more gasping for breath. "Aye!" Visas whispers quickly from the other direction.

From the other direction...

"Visas... Please tell me that's you breathing loudly..."

I look at her nervously, and she returns the glance, only... her mouth is closed and tight. She's not the one gasping for breath.

"Okay... please tell me that's me."

"I cannot." She answers.

Oh shit. Oh shit. Ohhhhhh shiiiit...

The gasping is coming from the skull.

If I were braver than I am right now, in the very den of Nihilus, in the center of about ninety-nine point nine percent of my life-long traumas, I would be running like a coward. But as it stands, I am entirely too terrified to move or divert my attention from the skull. My legs aren't shaking, but neither are they doing as I tell them to.

"Poke it." I order as quietly as I can.

"I'm not going to poke it." She hisses.

"Fine... Then you poke it." I divert it right back to her, because forget logic!

"No one's going to poke it."

"It's a breathing skull." Breathing things tend to move very slightly, have warmth and skin and other things that skulls should not have! "Someone has to poke it."

"Where do you get these ideas?!" She demands.

"I don't know, but right about now is the moment where the skull should be going 'Oh, for God's sake! Someone poke the skull!' because we've been standing here contemplating it for so long! So just get it over with and do it."

"You're babbling."

"Damn, right I am!" My instincts to move, create action, divert attention, and not sit still are going off the charts! If I have to talk to do it, fine. It's a worthy sacrifice if it catches us arguing and kills us both if only to ignore the fact that there is a breathing skull!

Except, she doesn't move. So I have to do something to see if its real or not.

I reach over, ever so slowly, and poke the skull.

It's a dusty, skeletal bone. I poke it again, hard enough to turn it on its side.

The inside is filled with all kinds of symbols similar to the floor, and inside is a ball of darkness. It's not a trick of light or a shadow from my lightsaber. There is an orb of pure void inside the skull.

"So... you have found me, Starkiller." The dark orb gasps weekly.

I recognize the voice. I pick the skull of my father up and look it square in the eyes. "Nihilus."

Darth Nihilus, Sith Lord of Hunger, Voidcraft, Destroyer of Coruscant, First Captain of the Ravager, master of Starkiller, general of Revan, apprentice to Traya, is on my ship, hiding inside of the skull of my father, resting in the very palm of my hand.

I would say seeing him so small and vulnerable, if he was ever to be in a status of vulnerability, would make him seem cute and pitiful. He is neither. It is nothing short of extreme gratification to feel his energies so small and his presence so tiny. The taste of his presence in the air still sends chills down my back, but that is more of a flavor than the size or depth of it. It hurts more by making me remember the full magnitude of his power at his peak.

"I would say this is a pleasant reunion, but then I'd be lying." My hand is shaking in pent up rage returning. I snarl, "Give me one reason not to crush this skull and leave you without a container."

"Then I would need a new container. A living one, and it will only last a short time. I'll let you take your pick of who I take first."

The image of each member of my crew comes to me, and while I may get angry with them or irritated, I would never wish a single one of them harm. Not even if it meant irritating Nihilus. Destroying the skull and forcing Nihilus out isn't in my best interest. "Fine!"

"What are you going to do?" He inquires. He almost sounds afraid.

I don't know what I am going to do with him. I can't kill him. I can't move him against his will. He could take control of the Ravager at any moment. But instead he has spent all of this time hiding. I haven't heard of him destroying anything since Coruscant. "Have you been on this ship for five years?" I ask instead.

"Yes."

Five years. Five years since Coruscant. And sometime in that gap, Starkiller arose to hunt him down. That can't be a coincidence. Especially with living proof that Nihilus is hiding.

He is afraid. He doesn't want to be exposed to Starkiller.

So I CAN kill Nihilus, by going to an enemy and telling him to come to my ship. But at the same time Nihilus can take control of my ship and my crew, and run again.

We're at a stalemate.

It feels... amazingly empowering. My whole life I lived under his heel in one form or another. Now I finally have something to use against him! Even if it is only to keep him at bay.

"I'll make you a deal."

"I am listening." He says.

"Do not leave this room. Do not take control of my ship for even a second, and I won't broadcast your existence here to the whole galaxy. I hate you. I want you gone! No! I want you dead! But I will not do it at the cost of everyone I love and care about."

"..."

"And!" I add. "You are not going near my niece again!"

"I never touched your alien friend. If you seek to blame me for the explosion, I would suggest you consider 'other' possibilities."

"Such as?"

"Her fiery attitude and stress has brought out her Force Sensitivity in a form comparable to her personality."

...

"You lie!" I squeeze the skull unconsciously and come near to breaking it. Oh, how I want to! I want take glee in crushing it and-

"Varus." Visas interrupts. I turn to look at her. "Nihilus is many things. A liar is not among them. You know this better than I."

Yeah, Nihilus is obsessed with honesty to a fault, even as a bastard Sith Lord he cannot stand lies, no matter who does it. Everything must be in order. Everything must be straight. Might be partially why he considers the Ravager a failure. She refuses to be fixed and clean.

"But Squirt? A Force-User?!"

"Her father is a Force-User in his own way as well. She is raised by multiple. Is it really so strange?"

Well... actually no. I just don't consider Koj to be your typical Force-User. More of a Force-Worshipper. He doesn't use the Force, he just worships it and obeys it and thinks it's called 'Spirit' instead of 'Force'.

Nihilus is many things. A liar is not one of them.

Squirt has the Force...

Force... my brain hurts. It's been one hell of a rollercoaster ever since I was pulled out of jail. I can't even keep track of all the things that have happened since! Right now, I need to get the Star Forge coordinate, get Falcon and Ahsoka to Mandalore with Rahm Kota's and Starkiller's body, and then somehow get stronger to hunt down Starkiller, all while keeping Admiral Rebhorn from destroying my family, and I am having a fight with Ahsoka, and... and...

I need a vacation...

I groan. "You know what... I'm too tired of stuff to care anymore. Squirt has the Force. Great. Lovely. Absolutely fan-damn-tastic! Nihilus! Do we have a deal?"

"I will agree to your terms." The orb in the skull says.

"Good. The moment you leave this room without my permission, I am jetting you into space and broadcasting a galaxy-wide 'come and get em' button just so every Starkiller between here and Coruscant can come and kick your ass!"

I slam the skull down and storm out of the room. Visas follows on my hells as I stomp the entire way from here to the bridge section. She walks quietly, for the most part. She giggles, "'Come and get 'em' button?"

"Shut up, I'm too pissed off to make anything sound right. We need to get to Mandalore and move on."

She smirks for a moment longer, before closing it all off impassively and nodding. "But is it really okay to leave Nihilus as is?"

"We are powerless against him... Stab him, shoot him, every technique in the Force we know, nothing can hurt him. I've tried sucking him out into space, he floated back in. Right now, the only advantage we have over him is that he is the common enemy between me and a lot of other me. If we can figure out something to do with him that won't have a possibility in getting all of our friends killed when he lashes out, then I'm all ears."

"... I... I have nothing."

"Exactly."

"But what about the others?"

"What about them?" I ask. I know what she is asking, but I want to avoid the question if at all possible.

"What will you tell them?"


	41. Ep09 - Harbingers of Past Sins Part 1

**Note: Here is a factoid incase no one knew this.**

**The name Starkiller is based on a character from The Knights of the Old Republic. A Mandalorian you fight in the gladiator arena named "Bendak Starkiller". **

**Betcha didn't know that.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, so no sue!**

**Remember to Review. I want to know what you think and how the chapter is to you. Is it good? Is it bad? Anything I need to know? Any ideas or things you want to see in the future?**

* * *

**Episode 9 - Harbingers of Past Sins** **Part 1**

* * *

I come to a halt as what the means comes to me. I could just walk in and say 'oh, by the way, the presence you have all been feeling is Nihilus. He's a stowaway. But don't worry, he's harmless. We have a deal.'

That is going to go over so well... Like a bag of rocks. Half of the crew won't care or will side with me, the other half will be ROYALLY pissed at me and never forgive me as long as I live. Then there is the whole Miraluka fleet. I don't think it will go over well if they hear I have Nihilus on my ship. That will be just what Rebhorn needs to ruin the Marek lineage and remove us from power.

"We're in stalemate just as much as he is." I realize. "We can't tell anyone... not yet. I'll tell Koj and Ashley, and explain the situation. They will be mad at me, but will understand. HK won't care, but it will need to be sworn to secrecy. The Three Stooges are too much of a loose cannon to be able to control such information. Ahsoka I may be able to tell if we can keep her from taking it the wrong way."

"And Falon?"

"Ohhhh, trust me. He will want to kill me with his bare hands. He's the last one I need knowing this." If he finds out, he might make an attempt on Nihilus himself and I don't need my friend being stupid and getting himself killed. On the other hand he may lose his trust in me. His trust in me is there, but shaky and fresh. If he turns on me, without his master there to rein him in, how far will he go in his pent up anger and feeling of betrayal?

No, Falon cannot find out, and only those capable of keeping their mouth shut about this can.

We return to the gym to find the majority of the crew, and there is heavy tension in the air. Koj asks, "What did you find?"

That's a good question. I clearly saw SOMETHING, otherwise I wouldn't have gone off on a hunt, and I can't lie. I'm not much of a liar. Can't do it to save my life. I have to give them something... I can't just say 'none of your business', that would go against not only who I am and the pattern I have shown in how I do things with my life, but also alienate everyone here who cares about Squirt from me. There is so much emotion riding on that one question, and everyone's focus is on me.

Visas says nothing, a clear indication I am to come up with an answer.

"We found a Dark Side presence." Technically true, Nihilus is more presence than man. I add, "The ship has been with Sith so long, the Dark Side is practically a living thing in the deeper halls." Again, true in multiple ways. Nihilus is a living thing we found, and the Dark Side is known to create illusions in deep places that attempts to draw you in and sent you through a maze you never come out of. "I want no one leaving the bridge section for any reason, no matter what, without my permission." I wait for a series of nods. "When we can find a way to purge the majority of the Dark Side from the ship, then we may be able to move about freely. Koj I will want to talk to you later."

There. That should keep things handled until we can find a way to deal with Nihilus, and I want to wait before getting anyone in-the-know except Koj.

Ashley speaks up, after a concerned glance towards Squirt. "Um, Varus."

Oh crap, here it comes. "Yes?"

"We have learned something that you probably should know."

"And that is?" Crap, crap, crap. If I reveal I already know Squirt is a Force-User, then they will want to know how the hell I know that. I really REALLY hate Nihilus right now. I am not having a good day!

"Cahjinawl wasn't attacked by terrorists, and there was no bomb. She... has the Force." And now they're acting worried about how I will react.

"Uh..." I answer honestly. What am I supposed to say to that?

"I know it is a lot to take in. We didn't believe it at first either."

Wait, what? Oh... They're confusing my lack of ability to come up with a good response with exactly what it is, except for a different reason.

I answer slowly, "So... uh. If Squirt can use the Force, how did the explosion happen?"

"It's something that happened once already when she was really really upset." One of the Jedi younglings answer.

I pinch the bridge of my nose and squeeze my eyes. Okay, so... She can definitely use the Force and she has emotion issues. I could say she has emotional problems already, her last five years have been a living hell for her, and of course being a Force-User that can lead to problems of its own. Including the Dark side.

I am a Dark Side user myself, but then I am no longer the typical one. I am still fueled by my emotions in various forms, but it is no longer raw hatred and anger like it used to be. I don't let the Dark Side enslave me. And trust me, it is so easy to be disillusioned and think you are in control of it when you're not.

But neither do I want Squirt to go down the Light Side typical path of becoming some monk, throwing away all she can have in life, and devoting every moment of her life to meditation, hugging trees, and helping people at the cost of herself. If she wants to help people, that's up to her. But I will not tell her to not date, not get married and have kids, not have friends and family, not find enjoyment in the simple things in life, just so that she is a robot enslaved to another ideal.

She will need control to keep from hurting herself or others by accident, yet enough room to explore herself and gain the power she needs to protect what she cares about.

"She needs a teacher." I sigh.

"I already has a teacher." Squirt argues. She doesn't like something about this conversation. I could point to about a hundred things she might not like about it.

"You do?"

"Yeah, the man from the other ship that is nice and shows me letters and things."

"Who?" I'm completely lost.

"Her elementary school teacher." Koj explains.

Oh. I have little to no idea what that is, but if its school then fair enough. I never had one. "Is this elementary school person supposed to teach her how to use the Force?"

"No, that is a different class program."

I nod. So... "What do you want to do, Koj, you're the parent? And no pressure, but this is the kind of thing that probably shouldn't wait."

Koj frowns briefly but seems sure of what he wants. "I have something in mind for now, but for later we do not need to consider, yet. There are options."

"I can teach her." Ahsoka offers hopefully.

"That is not happening." Koj growls so fast that her hopeful expression drops and the room is in heavy silence again. He's angry. I was about to decline it as well, but not near as heavy as he did.

Ahsoka is suddenly unsure and hurt, and a little offended at how angry Koj seems all of a sudden. "But... I-I'm just trying to-"

He cuts her off. "I know exactly what you are trying to do. She is my family, and I will not have her kidnapped from me." He doesn't give her the respect of looking her in the eye, he simply ropes his arms together and continues looking away. Ahsoka may not understand him like I do, but Koj is obsessed with cultural insults in various forms and some idea that every move he makes must be perfect and send a message. He believes in not wasting a single movement, no matter how subtle. The fact that he is refusing to look at her is almost as bad as our version of spitting on someone.

Ahsoka recognizes it for what it is and looks away painfully, like she's been slapped in the face. She doesn't look angry from hurt pride, but a kind of sad acceptance, like she can't deny it.

I can't say it isn't something they don't need to hear. The Jedi have a rep for kidnapping children, willing or not, and taking them to a temple somewhere to serve their ambitions and goals as tools and slaves. The reality is that the rep isn't as off as they may like for being just rumor and reputation.

But at the same time, as much of a grudge and fear as Koj has toward Jedi, this is Ahsoka. "Koj, she may be Jedi, and I may be Sith, which has an even worse reputation for kidnapping, but Squirt is your family. You decide how she is taught. Besides that... Ahsoka isn't your typical Jedi and doesn't disserve your grudge." She smiles appreciatively, but is still hurt.

"I can't trust that."

"Then trust me." I respond heavily. "Anyone, Jedi or not, who takes Squirt away will have to deal with me. And now that I remember, you were the one who argued against us viewing your Ghorfa as the same as those barbarians that butchered Tree-Hugger's mother in some ritual."

He stares at me in silence as understanding comes to his eyes. He stands in silence for a long moment before nodding in contentment. He looks to Ahsoka. "I apologize for placing my anger on the wrong group. My anger belongs with the Jedi leaders. Not with you, and not with those whom Varus trusts."

"It's alright..." She bows formally.

Formally. She is hurt a lot still. Ahsoka doesn't do formal.

Great... another thing to keep an eye on, even if its better for the moment and possibly healing, but it might be a problem that resurfaces. This is the second time in the last few days Koj has had a problem with Jedi on the ship.

"How much longer until we are at Mandalore?" I change the subject.

"Within the hour. The 'eye-eph-eph' signal we are broadcasting has secured for us safe passage."

"A what?"

Falcon explains. "An IFF signal. You took so long, Koj had to authorize it on his own. With it, we are seen, but are marked by Mandalorians as non-hostile and will be escorted on our arrival."

"Why the hell do we need to broadcast our signal!?" I demand.

"Did you really think we would make it all the way to the capital without being caught? I promise we were on radar before we ever entered the border. They keep the borders very secure. The signal is the only thing that will keep us from being blasted out of the sky the moment we leave Warp."

…

"Fine!" Nice to know everyone and their grandmother knows we're coming!

"So now what's the plan?" Visas asks.

Yes, the plan. "Everyone head for the hanger. Since we are already being so nice as to announce to every living soul that we are here, we might as well say 'hi' and be civilized about things. Ashley, stay with Squirt in your room. HK, stay invisible with them. If the Mandalorians give us trouble, I want to know and for them to be removed by any means necessary. I want Squirt with more protection than me."

"You're going?"

"Yes, Koj, stay here in my place. Visas, Koj, stay with me for the moment. I need to talk to you." I wait for everyone to leave. I yell at Rizzo, Igor, and Reeves to stay in their room and not screw anything up.

"So. you're bringing Cupcake?"

"No, Mandalorians respect a show of strength, and he has enough to spare, but I would rather limit who gets involved. As for you, Visas." I pause. "What I have in mind requires a lot of trust, danger, and may doom us all if it screws up. If you mess up, we all die."

She straightens at how serious it sounds. "What do you have in mind, my Keeper?"

"First of all, do the Mandalorians have the code from the Infinite device they took from Korriban?"

"Yes, do you wish for me to hack in?"

No, but that tells me that I don't have to touch the device personally. If Mandalore could touch it, then, theoretically, anyone can. Perhaps it's activated by Force sensitives in general, because I remember the Wookies couldn't. The important thing about my connection with Revan was finding the devices, not just touching them.

"No, the information will probably be the one thing guarded more heavily than the device itself. I looked at the schematics of the facility you gave me. The place is tight, too tight for me, and I greatly doubt Mandalore will just let me walk in and touch things."

What I am about to say will be an abuse of trust on multiple people, and possibly disturbing on many levels, but if I don't, a lot of people will be doomed to die a slow death over the course of generations. It's the one hope my people have.

"I need you to plant a kind of Force-GPS on Starkiller, and have it send a signal through the Force. Any real signal they will be able to catch. A relic, miniature Holocron, I don't care, so long as they don't catch it. Once Starkiller is inside the facility to be checked for authenticity, or as a prize, Shadow Step into the facility to the GPS location, touch the device, and get the coordinate. Shadow Step back out when you have it."

She doesn't show fear, but she knows just as much as I do that I am sending her into one of the most heavily defended research facilities on the planet. With Mandalore having to conserve so much space in a city stuck inside a bubble, the research facility has many functions and wings.

And if she is caught, she will immediately be tied to the Ravager, me, and the rest of us.

Even if she only leaves evidence in the aftermath after we leave, Mandalore will take the logical conclusion of who sent her. Ahsoka and Falon may be able to save face by saying they didn't know, which they don't, but they have just as much to lose as the rest of us.

Simply put, all of our lives is in Visas' hands. She is the stealthiest person I know, and the only one who can get in without leaving a path of destruction, blood, and broken droids every step of the way.

And if she is caught, torture and death is what awaits.

Not to mention its kind of like using my friends, and my clone's body, to further my goal.

I sigh deeply as guilt hits. It is exactly what it sounds like. But if it means finding my people a home, I will disserve whatever yelling everyone will have for me afterwards.

She nods. "Understood."

Koj apparently has nothing to say. He knows how serious this is. "And Koj..." I hesitate. Oh, this is going to suck. "The Dark Side presence we found was a weakened Nihilus."

* * *

Ahsoka sighed sadly. This... had not gone as she had expected. She didn't expect that being around Varus again would be all roses and unicorns, but neither did she expect so much pent up hostility. And it wasn't like it was without merit.

_I thought you weren't a Sith anymore..._

_I'm not a wild beast, Ahsoka..._

_That doesn't answer my question._

_I can help her._

_That is not happening._

_I know exactly what you are trying to do. She is my family, and I will not have her kidnapped from me._

_She may be Jedi-_

_I can't trust that._

She welcomed entry onto the ship to help Varus, but she couldn't deny a small... small part of her was greedy. She wanted to be here. That was alright wasn't it? To want to be somewhere where she thought she could do well and belong and help?

_Was a Jedi._

Ahsoka was a Jedi, but with each day since the fall of the Order and the realization of how low the Council had become, it felt as though she was drifting away from what the Order was. The Order was gone. But even in the new era of Jedi she felt less and less like she had a place among them. It was not what she expected.

Being a Jedi should not mean following a rigid series of traditions passed down by generation upon increasingly rigid generation of people's own view of the Force.

Being a Jedi should mean following the will of the Force only and devoting yourself to basic principles of goodness and compassion.

If the Order still existed, Ahsoka wasn't sure if she would still have the heart to stand in the temples and follow a cold empty pattern that followed mortal mechanisms and organization. But the Order was no more.

So was she a Jedi despite her doubts and feelings of isolation among her own kind? If she were to cast off the weight and do as she felt the Force wanted her to do, instead of memorizing rules and regulations and doing them, would she be a Jedi? Would she be something less? Something more? Something different?

Because try as she might, she couldn't argue with Koj's clear hatred. He may not have yelled at her, but she saw the pain in him. He has been on the ugly side of Jedi's sense of duty. A side that should never have existed to begin with, were it not for the Order over stretching itself to things that had little to do with their basic purpose in life.

The Jedi did kidnap children. Not... without permission, most of the time, but how many children could have been happy even as Force Users with their previous family? How many of the thousands or millions of Jedi over time didn't need to be uprooted and raised like orphans in a monastery? Anakin's experiment of sorts taught her this. It wasn't needed. In fact, it was damaging. Children needed the support of their parents, not to have all of their support removed and told to stand on their own two feet.

If anything, such a philosophy was more Sith in nature than Jedi. Sith are about standing on your own two feet. Jedi are about relying on the Force selflessly for support. Jedi acknowledged the need for support in one sense, yet removed almost all of it from an early age.

What hurt most was that this wasn't the view of a child she was being faced with. It was the view of the parent. The parents were the view that rarely came up in debate, it had always been the children in her mind when she argued this problem. But now she saw with her own eyes the fierce protection of a father that would not have her child removed from him.

If the Order still existed... she would have been ordered to do it anyway. That child would have been taken from a father that loved her, protected her, and would have made sure she had a supportive upbringing in her newfound powers, and dumped in a new world where she would have been told she had no value of her own except to be a sacrificial piece on the alter of the masses.

Ahsoka leaned over as nausea hit and struggled not to throw up.

All this time, was the Jedi ever right? The Sith were wrong, but did that make the Jedi right? Or were both wrong in how they chose to conduct themselves? Were the Jedi so focused on their rivalry with the Sith that they failed to see themselves?

Ahsoka loved the Jedi. It was the only life she ever knew, and it was where she met Skywalker and Varus and every friend she had ever had.

But she felt she couldn't stomach the thought of stepping foot in a Jedi temple, of the old or new era, again, without feeling like an outsider. It wasn't just that she had doubts or felt isolated, but because she could no longer agree. The only path that felt remotely correct was Skywalker's.

Even then, it was too little too late. The damage had already been done.

In fact, the only thing that kept her from walking out in tearful goodbye was her two Padawans. She couldn't just abandon them. They needed her. What they needed was for her to be stable and strong and not a little girl that was barely able to figure out her own path anymore.

Ever since she laid eyes on Varus, she felt like a girl again. In all of the giddiness and fun, and all of the doubts and pain. All of the foundation she had built for herself was crumbling, and she knew it wasn't because he was some expert demolition, it was because her foundation was weak to begin with. She didn't know what path to take with her life, she lacked his resolve.

She struggled to control her breathing and not have a panic attack. She needed to be able to stand strong and deal with the situation as it develops. She could work out her doubts and problems later.

Varus entered in with a massive black eye. Ahsoka couldn't help laughing. "What happened to you?"

"Koj and I had a..." He winced in pain. "Disagreement."

"How bad is it?" Falon asked from where he stood.

"It's a black eye covering half of his face."

"Damn, wish I had been there to hear that."

Varus glared at him briefly, before rolling his eyes. "Here." Ahsoka offered. She put her hands over his face and used a healing technique to lower the inflammation. Before long Varus was blinking tears away that had built up in his eye. "Better?"

"Much! Thanks." He smiled and it warmed her.

The ship shook and seemed to be pulled backwards, only to launch forward again a moment later. "We've left Warp." Varus acknowledged.

"Master Tano, will everything be alright?" Slavian asked.

"I'm sure it will be. The Mandalorians are on friendly terms with us... err... Jedi. Just not the ship."

"That's what has me worried."

"It will be alright." She assured her students. "Trust in the Force and this ship. It's carried us this far."

"Master, two Mandalorian dreadnoughts have us surrounded and are sending me coordinates to land." The Ravager droids announced. Aramis immediately shoved his own droids into his jacket at the sight of them to keep them from taking his and hugging them.

"Go ahead and do as they tell you, within reason." Varus responded.

"Yes, Master. Preparing for entry."

Slavian, still so young and innocent, had the excitement expected of a boy and ran to the edge of the hanger to watch out the ray shield. Aramas joined him in his own time, and the rest decided to follow. Ahsoka had never laid eyes on this world since the Clone Wars.

Mandalore. The capital of the current supreme super power in place of Coruscant.

A world at once both sad in tragedy and beautiful in power. Its a world largely uninhabitable from past wars, but with a very large dome resting on it in which the populace thrives. Even despite how much effort has been made to destroy the Mandalorians to their core numerous times, they have thrived. They have survived and struggled and refused to give in to become just a name in the history books. They have fought against nature and man and fate and declared themselves as having a place in the galaxy no matter what. Struggle and sweat was their birthright. In turn, they were legend.

Coruscant used to be the center of the known world, but since its fall, and the Mandalorian ascension to power, rivaled only by the Cartel, Mandalore took its place.

Coruscant would still be Coruscant, the very center of the galaxy in a literal sense, and a relic of ancient times. Reviving Coruscant would be the greatest accomplishment any nation could set out to do, and achieving it would establish them as the new galaxy-wide super power.

But for now, that responsibility to be the standard rested on Mandalore.

Coruscant set a standard for diplomacy and politics, but Mandalore set a standard for strength and determination.

It truly was a new era.

The dome city had expanded greatly, and off in the distance Ahsoka could see another under construction, as well as a series of space station colonies in the system. One of which was large enough to encircle a small world! She gaped at the sheer size of everything being built.

She thought the Mandalorian Clans were economically deprived. Clearly that was not the case. The fact that they were having any trouble with the Cartel due to economic power alone, only further showed how developed the Cartel knew how to work with money and keep it flowing.

Two massive Dreadnaughts of the Mandalorian fleet flew alongside the Ravager as it neared the primary dome city. One after another, the ships entered into a hole large enough for them, and then the next moment they were inside a city reminding her of Coruscant with its large buildings, but also amazing in that some of the buildings were built from the top of the dome downwards! It was like being inside of a massive man-made cavern city where the walls went as far as the eye could see!

Being inside was a tight squeeze, but there was a special path for dreadnaughts around the core of the city. The outer area was full of ships coming and going, and the center area had the taller skyscrapers and construction. The Ravager came to a slow halt on a massive landing pad with the two Mandalorian dreadnaughts standing vigilant just above her.

The Ravager shook with all of its inertia coming to rest.

"Master, they wish for us to know that Mandalore personally requests you for an audience. With an escort."

"Of course." Varus smiled.


	42. Ep09 - Harbingers of Past Sins Part 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, so no sue!**

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* * *

**Episode 9 - Harbingers of Past Sins Part 2**

* * *

We all stand just in front of the ray shield. Falcon has the casket of Rahm Kota floating with him, as well as the body of Starkiller. Outside, a lot of soldiers assemble in two rows down the ramp and wait for us to exit. It looks similar to a general's welcome, but in my case, its probably the opposite. They are there to make sure I am either captured, or don't cause trouble. Mandalore wouldn't be so dumb as to think the Ravager is here for a friendly visit, which it is, technically; but he doesn't know that. There are most likely snipers everywhere.

"Varus?" Ahsoka asks.

I glance to her.

"You okay?"

"Walking out into a den of wolves that my 'twins' have ticked off, couldn't be better. This goes right up there with reading bad poetry over a loudspeaker to get the attention of a twenty-five foot devil-rhino thing."

"You could always propose to Mandalore."

My eyes got big. Really big. Ohhhh, the possibilities. "I could do that, but I don't want to make more enemies than I already have right now. I think I'll play nice this time." She smiles and chuckles. "Alright, well. Here goes nothing. Ravager, open the door."

The ray shield drops and... I am not immediately tackled by an army of men with five times my weight in pure muscle and armor. And there isn't a bolt in my forehead. That's a good sign.

One of them wearing differently colored armor, and a cape (is that supposed to show status?) walks up to us. "Mandalore is expecting you. If you will follow me?"

"I could use some help. Blind n all." Falon speaks up.

Nice to see he is taking the advice we gave him to heart. He isn't using that technique that gives him sight until he figures out the Miraluka method.

"Certainly." The official motions to one of the soldiers, and the Mandalorian steps in and gently takes hold of Falon's arm and helps him.

Ahsoka and I fall into step behind him, and a group grabs the two caskets. Falcon refuses to let go of his master's casket. Slavian and Aramas fall into step behind their master. Slavian is nervous while Aramas is watchful.

I about bolt on instinct when the entire army of soldiers is suddenly around us walking as well. they don't make any moves beyond being within a few feet of me.

Okay... so we are getting a couple hundred soldier escort to Mandalore...

I lean over and whisper a question. "Ahsoka, is Mandalore the planet, city, or person we are meeting?"

"All of them. Whoever wears the mask of Mandalore is named Mandalore, while the city and planet he calls home is also called Mandalore. All of it throws away their old name in homage to the title."

"See, now that makes this really confusing. When he says 'Mandalore is expecting us', then that could mean the planetary defenses, the city police, or the big dude with a cybernetic arm that doesn't like me."

She just smiles and shakes her head. "Don't worry about it, Varus. I know what is happening."

"That makes me feel so much better." I mutter sarcastically.

She just rolls her eyes. "Do you mind if I do the talking?"

"No. I don't need you appearing to support me if things get hostile. I would prefer you and Falcon are neutral."

"I can't do that." She responds firmly.

I turn to look at her in amazement. "What do you mean?"

"I mean... Varus." She hesitates. "I-I can't be neutral or just not choose sides, not anymore. That was a weakness of mine before, but I don't want it to be anymore. I wasn't decisive with you and Maris, and you all but died. I... lost it in your trial and-"

"Hey." I stop her gently. "I don't blame you for that."

Aramas wrote something in the air, and she smiled. "Thanks, Aramas, but, Varus, I do, and because I was weak and indecisive you ended up where you were. I am so sorry for what you went through." She sniffs.

"Are you crying?" I whisper.

"Idiot." She turns away.

Well, that's not nice. I'm being nice here!

"My point is... I have to stand for what is right. I know that has resulted in us arguing a lot, but one of the things I believe is that you are not evil. You are not what they believe you are. You respond to provocation equally, and are good at giving the worst impression you can, but you are more than a Sith."

We step into a transport and sit down. The multi-hundred soldier escort stays behind. The two caskets are placed in the back compartment and Falcon is helped down into a seat. I jump in and Ahsoka climbs in after me. Her students climb in behind us and the Mandalorian captain-person takes the pilot seat.

And about twenty Mandalorians perch themselves on top of the transport just to point guns at me while we lift off and fly. I have a barrel pointed at me from every conceivable angle.

"How do you figure?" I ask.

She ran off her fingers. "You have a bargaining chip, and are turning it over to the person who wants you dead the most, with reason. You have a ship, people who love and are devoted to you, and instead of going off on your own, you are putting your every thought into 'How can I help my people?'. You are protective of your niece like family. You're first reaction to danger is to confront it personally instead of letting anyone else get hurt."

It's her fourth finger, and she touches her fifth one, but I interrupt, "Actually, that last one is more me just preferring being in the thick of things."

She opened her mouth to argue, but closed it just as fast. "Okay, true enough. But do you get my point?"

"I... guess so." I eye the soldiers standing ontop of the vehicle. A bit of me is uncomfortable having such a... personal conversation with her with so many people around pointing guns at me. I'm getting multiple atmospheric vibes from everyone. But, all the same, Ahsoka and I have been fighting a lot lately, and she sounds like she isn't sure where things stand in some ways. Five years have done a lot, and we are about to deal with the leader of the most powerful nation in the galaxy right now.

"I've met my share of bad Jedi..." Ahsoka reminisces. "I've never heard, or met, a good Sith before. It's... new."

"Good are good and bad are bad, that's just how it is, isn't it?" Slavian asks.

"Exactly."

_"I've met bad Jedi, but I've never had the honor of meeting a good Sith. Perhaps that has lead everyone to too much generalization. Jedi and Sith are but paths to take in using the Force, and to an extent, cultures." _Anakin had said.

I stare at her dumbly a moment before I remember myself and look away, embarrassed to have my emotions so open. "Tree-Hugger said something like that once..."

"He says a lot of things..." Slavian pouts. Aramas chuckles.

"He knows the reference 'tree-hugger'?" I ask Ahsoka.

"Yeah... it's a joke we like to tease him with." She smiles.

A good Sith. That does not sound possible. The Sith teach that the Jedi code only forces you to accept your limitations and believe that if something happens to you beyond your control, just because you didn't try hard enough, that you should accept it as the 'will of the Force'.

The Sith code is as follows:

Peace is a lie, there is only passion.

Through passion, I gain strength.

Through strength, I gain power.

Through power, I gain victory.

Through victory, my chains are broken.

The Force shall free me.

The first line teaches that all things are always in conflict. Plants compete for the sun's rays, animals compete for life and food every day, and even the natural storm is a confliction of nature. What the Jedi see as beautiful and natural, the Sith acknowledge as a place of endless conflict. It is through this conflict that the victor is created, strengthened, and perfected.

This concept of never-ending drive for perfection is no less symbolized than in HK. Every fight, every second of self-simulation, is a test where HK prepares its functions for patches and further upgrades.

Without passion of any kind, can you claim to be alive?

Passion is the use of the body's natural instinct and drive to survive. The body comes with a conscious, yes, as the Jedi acknowledge, but it also comes with its instinct. The instinct must be trained, and in this way, by tapping into the body's inner-built-in defensive nature, you become stronger than you were yesterday.

Stronger. More powerful.

And once you defeat your opponent, your chain is broken. You are more perfect than the one you defeated.

To the Jedi, this code is about unleashing your inner demon. In a sense, it can be. Just as cold and uncaring as the Jedi Code can make you, so the Sith Code can do the opposite. Both sides have their extreme.

But at the same time they have examples of being more... civilized.

The Mandalorians way of life is so much symbolic of the Sith Code as a non-Force-User can be. They constantly train, believing fighting is the ultimate test, and they push themselves with every fight to their limits to push beyond them. To the Mandalorian, strength and skill is equivalent to perfection.

Not that this hasn't changed lately. From what I have seen on the holonet, the culture is accepting intelligence and wit as well, thanks to the Duchess's personal influence on Mandalore.

But no matter what it is Mandalorians choose to devote themselves to, they do it seeking perfection in their craft, or at the very least overcoming their limits. They seek to break their chains. They seek strength and power and passion and victory. They seek perfection and to be freed of physical constraints.

Could the Mandalorians be like how the Sith once were? And if so, what drove us to the extreme we are known for? Could it be linked to why the Jedi are the opposite extreme?

"Hello? Ahsoka to Varus..." Ahsoka waves a hand in front of my face.

I blink out of my thoughts. "What?"

"I've been talking, and you didn't hear a bit of it did you?"

"Nope, not at all."

She smacks me upside the back of the head and Falon snickers at the sound. I glare at her. Then a stick hits me on the top of the head and I reach back to take Slavian's blasted staff! "You'll get this back later. Ahsoka, what are you teaching them?!"

"Stupidity will be dealt with accordingly!" Slavian practically recites.

"Will it now..." I turn and whack him with his own staff. He fights back but I'm faster than the brat and continue whacking him on the head. "Not liking that now are we? huh? huh? Hurts don't it?"

* * *

Mandalore was the stereotypical manly-man. Six feet tall, wide shoulders, massive bulk (all muscle), and if he removed his helmet, had a wide, tense jaw and scars. He lost an entire arm at the shoulder from an assassination attempt from rogue Clone Commandos years ago. (If the stories are true, he just spit on the wound, tackled Alpha-02, beat him senseless into the ground.) He has a set of golden-red armor, a cape over his cyborg shoulder covering his arm, a massive gun and sword on his back and chest, and probably weighs half a ton.

Having him glare at Anakin was difficult for him to swallow. Mandalore didn't say a word as Boba and him recalled what they had seen. He simply stared at them through the visor of his helmet.

Mace Windu had always been the scariest (in a respectful way) Jedi in Anakin's opinion just from his glare, both accidental and purposeful, but Mandalore and him could have a contest and Anakin would be hard pressed to say he was more scared by Windu.

Duchess Satine sat in her chair on his right, dressed in the usual bright colors and a dress that highlighted her fluid shape and features. While Mandalore's gaze was passive-aggressive, she was factually neutral and listened intently. No emotions left her except gentle nods to for them to continue and sympathy for their troubles.

Zaalbar, chief of the Wookie system, stands on Mandalore's left. He growled softly at times as he listened, and held a defensive posture. Like Mandalore, he has enough weapons on him to deal with all kinds of situations, but he has no armor. His nine-feet tall Wookie presence was enough.

In addition there were a number of other nobles and officials of the Mandalorian Clans' government.

When Anakin finally finished describing the events in as much detail as he could recall, and Boba added his input, this left a heavy atmosphere. Mandalore slammed his fists down and stormed off. He stood by the windows looking out into the city.

Anakin understood his frustration. It was the frustration of a leader. These events had gone on under his nose, and while a leader is strong, they are only as strong as the people under them and as accurate as the information they have to work with. If either one falls, the burden works its way up to the top.

Satine spoke first, "First of all, let me thank you, Master Jedi, for your assistance in his mission. Your presence may have saved his life, and your input has added further validation to this alarming revelation."

"It was of little trouble, my lady." Anakin bowed diplomatically. It was actually a lot of trouble, but it was improper to complain in light of the fact that they were uninjured and the Prior gave them little trouble. "However, I did assist in the form of a trade."

"We're listening." Mandalore stated.

Anakin pulled out his knapsack, and carefully removed the contents. The mask of Nihilus was wrapped in cloth, and when he placed it on the floor and unwrapped it, Mandalore jumped up so fast he nearly knocked his throne down.

"Get that THING away from me!" He roared with an accusing finger.

"Mandalore," Boba jumped in quickly, "Please, at least listen. He assisted me solely for your objective attention."

Mandalore stood there huffing and puffing in raw fury at the sight of the object in front of him. All of the guards in the room, and near the ceiling, had their weapons out and ready incase any ghosts jumped out. Satine was slowly leaning away from it, and Zaalbar looked like he wanted to smash the object right then and there into tiny tiny pieces.

After several long, intense seconds, Mandalore forced his breathing under control and demanded for an explanation.

Anakin spoke with respect, "Mandalore, leader of the Mandalorian Clans, and one of the galaxies current super powers. In your position, you must understand the need to keep dangerous objects in tight security, hidden away from the eyes of the public where they might accidentally cause monumental damage. For five years I have carefully kept the mask hidden, no one knows about it outside of this room, but the pattern of the Sith's attacks, and the relationship between the mask, me, and Starkiller, lead me to worry of what he will do if he comes across it."

"It will probably be bad." Mandalore reasoned, still barely containing his anger back at the evil presence being discussed.

"That is why I have come. To ask that you find the deepest, darkest hole you can find, and dump it there, where no one can find it, and no one can reach it. I am but a single Jedi. You are the leader of a vast nation that compares to the former Republic in power, authority, and might."

Anakin waited a moment to let that sink in. "Please, take it from my hands." He said as respectfully, and as humbly as he could. His boyish, and intense nature often kept him from appearing humble... in fact he was downright arrogant at times, but there were times that the former hot-head was able to be so humble it could bring tears to Yoda's eyes.

And it wasn't just a request to take the burden of the mask, but of Nihilus. Anakin didn't know if he would ever be truly rid of Nihilus' voice, but the Sith Lords presence in his soul was vastly stronger when in the presence of his mask. Nihilus was incapable of control, as was an oddity he liked to constantly mention about Anakin and him being the 'chosen one', but he was still an annoyance at best, and a temptation at worst.

He might finally have gained some freedom and peace of mind.

Mandalore stood a long time, and barely anyone breathed. The presence of the mask darkened all thought and senses and reminded everyone of the cold reality that life was a fragile thing. The Sith Lord whose presence lingered with the mask had destroyed the most powerful world in the galaxy, the very center of it, Coruscant. The mask's master had destroyed world after world with his power. The number of dead was in the upper thousand-trillions, most likely. No one could count the number Nihilus had slaughtered in his hunger.

"Everyone. What has been said here, in this room, for the last few minutes, did not happen. I want the minutes cut from the official logs, and from official records. No one is to speak about what happened here. If anyone asks, we went into recess. Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir." The guards and soldiers around the edges of the room said quietly. Even as Mandalorians used to loudly declaring obedience and orders, they all barely rose above a whisper. Fear could come upon even the strongest of warriors.

Mandalore reached down with his cybernetic arm, wrapped the mask in the cloth it lay on, held it out as far from his body as he could, and placed it on a tray. He put a lid on it, and immediately the room seemed a bit brighter. Everyone could breathe again. Anakin felt a great weight leave him, and already Nihilus' constant presence seemed... like a shadow. He sighed in relief.

"I'll have a team come and move it. Now... I believe you said it was of little trouble?"

"Yes, I did." Anakin looked at him curiously.

"Let us pick it back up from there, then. That conversation never happened." Mandalore returned to his seat.

Satine smiled knowingly before turning her smile on Boba. "However, let it be noted that this mission was unauthorized, and the only reason this unsanctioned action will have no repercussions is the fruit it has born us."

Boba nodded and looked sheepish for his mistake. Zaalbar argued in his growl-ish language, "This was a mission to protect his people. There was great honor in it."

"Perhaps, but we also don't want to unnecessarily stir up trouble while facing a war. I understand fully the Voda leader's decision as a father, and as a mother am prone to the same instincts, but we must see this from a higher perspective."

"I understand, Duchess." Boba nodded. "I am fully prepared for the consequences."

She smiled gently. "I see this unworthy of punishment, but Mandalore may still choose to set an example of some kind. We will deliberate it later, but I'm sure I can persuade him." She winked at him and Boba reddened. Anakin chuckled. Perhaps some of the rumors of those two were true.

"What troubles me is this conspiracy." Zaalbar returned the conversation to its proper focus. "We have known for some time that the Eternal Hand has been growing rapidly in the religious-vacuum the Sith and Jedi's fall created, but this has changed everything. Are you sure this 'Prior' was giving the Force to a non-Force-User?"

Anakin grimaced. This was difficult to explain. "Begging your pardon, Governor: All beings have the Force. It is directly tied to their life energy. Force-Users are merely those with enough mediclorians to notice it on a conscious level, and the training to manipulate it. What I felt was not him being fueled with more Force energy, but a different kind entirely. Every person's mediclorians is native to themselves and is unique to them creating a... 'flavor', if you will. Like energy DNA. Or a finger print. What I felt was him being given someone else's Force energy, and then having the knowledge to use it with no prior training. It should be impossible."

"Yet, this 'Prior' has done just that?"

"Yes."

"Could it also be linked to the growing number of Force-Users?"

"I believe so."

They all became silent for an extended moment as this knowledge was processed.

"This is very troubling..." Satine sighed.

"The Eternal Hand are providing for terrorists and giving them power. We cannot stand for this! We must take strides to protect our people! The people must be warned, and a ban created on them!" Zaalbar barked.

Anakin argued, "Begging your pardon, Governor, but that is exactly what the Eternal Hand may want. The Prior's words were 'Tell others what I (you) have seen here.' If these people are operating in a religious context, then turning them into martyrs will only spread knowledge of them faster, while if you control the media, it will only give them something to use against you by making the masses believe you to be tyrants with something to hide. You can't fight them with the same methods you do terrorists and war."

"Then what do you suggest, Jedi?" Mandalore said from where he stood gazing out the windows.

Anakin considered it carefully. The Starkiller's involvement was important, but not was wide-spread dangerous as the Eternal Hand creating an army of Force-Users and inciting riots everywhere. Their plan was obvious. Starkiller was hunting him, and the Eternal Hand were replacing the Jedi and Sith as the dominant Force-based culture. With the Eternal Hand fueling terrorism and riots...

"The Eternal Hand will create chaos and anarchy, both things being the direct enemy of the Jedi Way, and with their alliance with Starkiller... The very Sith that has been hunting Jedi left and right... This attack is a mass-scale one. It will draw the Jedi sects out of hiding. In addition there may be a higher agenda toward shaking the galaxy as a whole, since their focus is not directed at any one nation. They are everywhere and unless you know more than I do, they share no alliance with anybody."

"Our intelligence points to them causing trouble with other nations as well." They agreed.

"The problem, in my opinion, is that try as we might, we cannot stop them. To try to do so would fall into their terms of 'combat'."

"You must excuse me if I do not accept that answer." Mandalore objected, his back still turned.

Zaalbar said, "The only information revealed thus far is exactly what they want us to know. We are playing to their game by their rules. We cannot keep doing this... we have to change the rules in our advantage."

"Oh, games? I like games!" A voice said.

Anakin tensed, recognizing the voice as the person approached across the long hall. His fingers grazed his lightsaber gently.

Mandalore returned from the window and said loudly, "The only reason I didn't have you shot on sight, Sith, is that you broadcasted the IFF of one of my men, have willingly brought home the body of a warrior I respect, and two Jedi. Now..." Mandalore sat down on his seat. "Give me one reason not to have you arrested."

Varus stepped coolly into their midst, and Ahsoka and Falon as well, with two caskets. Ahsoka smiled warmly to Anakin, but dropped it when she saw how tense he was at the sight of Varus. Slavian and Aramas stood behind Ahsoka. Both of the boys were highly intimidated by the large man.

"Because I brought proof of clones." Varus responded.

Anakin blinked in surprise.

"I don't follow." Mandalore prodded.

"I have here, a clone of Starkiller." Varus pointed to the casket. "And with it, proof that I am not the only one. Now, can you really say which ones are good and which ones are bad? You can't just do a blanket statement and say we are all bad."

"You cannot expect me to tell the difference." Mandalore growled.

"Yes, I can." Varus argued. Anakin blinked again. Varus was holding himself well despite the heavy atmosphere. He wasn't stuttering, he wasn't acting like a child, he was acting like an equal to Mandalore. Not even Anakin could do that, he didn't consider himself that high up of a leader.

Either Varus was showing a side of himself Anakin didn't know his old Padawan could have, or Varus was being arrogant. Perhaps a bit of both.

Varus continued, "During the Clone Wars, there were two types of clones. Those that served the Republic, and those that went rogue. People didn't put a huge statement out as all Mandalorian clones were one side or the other, but instead were able to make a distinction."

An interesting argument, Anakin considered. He had served in the Clone wars and seen both sides of what a Mandalorian clone could be, giving credibility with his presence alone. The most powerful part was Mandalore's direct assimilation of the clones, and Boba's presence. Varus had chosen his words carefully by saying 'Mandalorian Clones'. If Mandalore denied this ability to make such a distinction, how would that reflect on the Voda clan? On Boba? Boba was both sides of this 'distinction' that Varus brought up. Meanwhile if Mandalore accepted the ability to make such a distinction, Varus could argue that it could be done with him.

Anakin was still reeling from the idea of there being clones of Varus at all. He was convinced the 'Varus' he saw with the Prior was the real thing. The possibility horrified him, but he considered himself a practical man.

But if there were clones, and this Varus was the one Anakin knew and loved like the student he had, as Ahsoka's presence and apparent comfortability around him showed, then... what did that mean? How many clones were there? How deep did this plot go with the Eternal Hand and the Starkiller clones?

Ahsoka looked at Varus in surprise. She had not expected such an argument either.

It was an argument that could be disputed with most people, but as the leader of those very people being referred to, Mandalore was in a difficult position.

"Unlike them, your initial image was not a positive one." Mandalore replied.

"Yet you still established a difference between the rogues and the good ones."

"Listen here, I have no need to candor to whims from a criminal!"

Or Mandalore could just pull the 'I'm the boss' card. Varus sighed.

Anakin stepped aside and motioned to Ahsoka. She walked over and he let Varus continue talking to ask her, "Are you sure this is the Varus we both know?"

"Yes, Master. Without a doubt."

"How? I saw him with terrorists today. As much as I want to believe they are separate, I can't help but be cautious. I am happy to see you well taken care of, I felt you were okay even if you were missing. Seeing as how you were with him, I am willing to give him a chance... But-"

She put a hand on his shoulder. "Master, this is Varus, not Starkiller. Trust me."

Anakin looked into her eyes and studied her. She was open, expressive, and believed it. He looked up at Varus and studied him. This Varus was identical to the Starkiller in almost every way, but it was in the eyes that he saw a difference now that he looked for it. Varus didn't look as crazy and filled with angry energy like he was earlier. He looked more... founded... mature.

"Alright, Snips. I trust you."

"Thank you, master." She smiled brightly.

They returned to the center of the floor where the two men were still arguing. Anakin should have known that pulling the 'I'm the boss' card would mean about as little to Varus as Mandalore suddenly claiming he's a red-head.

"Mandalore, if I may." Anakin interrupted. "I wish to vouch for this... one." Anakin motioned to Varus. "If there are clones of him out there, then this one we can trust."

Varus looked at him like he had grown a second head and been slapped with a fish. "You what?"

"You what?!" Mandalore demanded.

"I will vouch for him." Anakin repeated. He placed himself by Varus and put a hand on the younger man's shoulder. Varus wasn't a teenager anymore, but Anakin was still much older.

Mandalore, in a move that shocked everyone, removed his helmet. His eyes bore into Anakin's, and the Jedi did not falter under his gaze. If Ahsoka was sure that this Varus was the good one, he would trust it. And with that said, he trusted Varus.

If there were clones that were going berserk, then, like Varus said, there needed to be a distinction.

"Falon Grey." Mandalore barked. The blind teenager bristled and snapped into attention.

"Sir!"

"Do you trust him?"

Falon opened his mouth, but immediately slammed it shut. The weight of the question, and all that it entailed hit him. Mandalore, the most powerful figure in the present galaxy, was asking for his advice whether or not to trust Varus Wynn.

Falon, whose opinion on Varus for the last five years has been mixed. Did he trust Varus? Just yesterday it felt like he was seeing Varus in the same way as the rest of the galaxy, as a mass murdering psychopath that kidnapped high profile targets for the kicks of making everyone mad. But now... he couldn't see it.

That's not to say there wasn't doubt. That lingering feeling of betrayal still felt fresh, and that was countered by the knowledge that Varus had multiple opportunities to kill him easily, especially since Falon had been the one to engage in hostilities first, and instead Varus tried to free him at the earliest opportunity, and even make efforts to protect him in an intense fight later.

When did his opinion change? When did it all change? When did the friend he had as a child been lost, and he found himself on shaky ground as to whether or not this man was capable of friendship now. Just, Force... Varus was twice his age when they met, and yet Varus made them feel like equals. Even now Varus treated him with respect and, while demanding as ever, didn't make anything personal or overstretch boundaries or push his buttons beyond that ridicules nickname. The same way he had always been.

Varus had never changed. It was Falon that had changed. This man standing here was the same ol' Varus. More mature in some ways, just as crazy and loud as before... and just as dependable. (Which didn't look all that much on the surface when Falon considered his sanity or intelligence.)

Falon felt the eyes of everyone on him, and understood the gravity of his decision. He was a Jedi that Mandalore trusted under him, one of the very few officially employed, and this gave him... connections and trust. He was Mandalore's representative on the Ravager. He was the one Mandalore looked to in matters regarding Varus, not only because of their past friendship, but because of his presence these last year-long days.

If he accepted, Mandalore might take that as a sign to accept Varus as a Starkiller that doesn't have to be hunted down. Varus could be free.

If he declined, Mandalore could have Varus arrested on the spot and executed at a later date. Of course, there was the possibility that it was all an act on Varus' part and he was just as evil as his clone counter parts.

Taking everything into perspective, there was only one choice his gut told him. It was something he hated relying on, since he tended to think too much, but his former master, and Mandalorian culture he lived in now, all pushed for it.

So he went with his gut. "Yes."

Mandalore stared long and hard at Falon, until the teenager started to reel back under his sight. At last, Mandalore closed his eyes and sighed. "Very well." He fished a coin out of his pocket and presented it. "This coin bears the mark of the Ordo Clan. Do not lose it. Present it to show you are sanctioned by me."

Ahsoka took the coin from him and handed it to Varus. Varus looked at it closely under the light before nodding and putting it in his pocket.

"If you are ever caught without it, don't expect me to understand."

"Right..."

"The reason I am allowing you to exist is that several Jedi I honor have vouched for you, and there may be some use for you. You know how Starkiller thinks, right?"

"Yes."

"What are you thinking?" The Wookie asked Mandalore.

"I'm thinking, we can use him to predict Starkiller. We can know how he thinks, how he ticks, what he wants... If we know how he thinks, and can predict him, then we can begin fighting back."

The Mandalorians were visibly pleased by the idea, while Varus looked troubled. Ahsoka reflected that looking into that side of himself was not something he found pleasant.

An attendant entered the room and whispered in Mandalore's ear.


	43. Ep09 - Harbingers of Past Sins Part 3

**Note: We are now about to reach the mid-point to the season. I have received complaints about the number of setbacks the good guys keep having, and I gotta tell you, there will be more. The good guys ARE scrambling to catch up. They ARE having trouble keeping track of what is going on. The bad guys are everywhere, and they seemingly are in control of the situation.**

**But the bad guys are also messing up. Mistakes have been made. Ones that will, hopefully, be easy to understand when it is time.**

**The setbacks also exist for a specific purpose that will be understandable soon. From the very beginning, I had this in mind and have been steadily moving toward a specific moment. A moment defined by three words. (No, I won't say what they are. But if you pay attention, it won't be hard to find in the next episode.)**

**I'm sorry, this is a really short chapter too. I didn't realize how short I had made the third part until I uploaded it. I promise the next episode will make up for it.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, so no sue!**

**Remember to Review. I want to know what you think and how the chapter is to you. Is it good? Is it bad? Anything I need to know? Any ideas or things you want to see in the future?**

* * *

**Episode 9 - Harbingers of Past Sins**

* * *

Count Dooku raised his eyes at the approach of the robot. "There is a transmission being broadcasted on all channels, Count Dooku." He raised an eyebrow curiously.

"Do we have a name?"

* * *

"Revanchist..." The Old Republic Senator snarled. "Damn annoying trash. Fine... bring it up. Let's see what is so damned important."

* * *

Jobba the Hut growled to himself. He didn't like this. The image on the holoscreen raised itself.

Why were the Revanchist broadcasting on a galaxy-wide channel? He knew the Revanchist were capable of hacking the media, but he hadn't considered they could get into his.

What the hell did he pay his security for?!

* * *

"Are you getting this?" Mina Bonteri asked from her end of the transmission.

Bail Organa nodded. He had been in negotiations with Mina Bonteri of the United Systems Alliance when this video hacked the channel. He had to make a private transmission with her only to find out it was on her end as well. "I have it, Senator..."

The transmission on the screen was troubling. It showed the inside of a large room on fire.

"Is it on?" Someone behind the screen asked.

"Yeah, its on. We are live." The same voice from a different location responded.

"Are you sure? There's no green light. All you did was hit a button."

"I'm sure, go ahead."

"Alright."

Suddenly there was a woman's face in front of the screen. Organa recognized her as a former Jedi hero. She had aged well. Unfortunately, there was something wrong... very wrong.

She was dead.

* * *

"Bastilla!" Varus suddenly yelled.

Ahsoka jumped, startled by his sudden outburst, and looked at him. His eyes were as wide as saucers. "No... no... She... She can't be dead." He whispered in disbelief.

Mandalore paled at the sight on the holoscreen. His surprise turned into a deep scowl and he clenched his fists angrily. The Wookie barked in fury and if it wasn't for Izthark holding him back, he might have attacked the device showing the video.

Varus continued to whisper to himself, and fell to his knees. His eyes never left the screen and tears appeared in his eyes. Ahsoka started to go to him... to at least be near... "Varus... what's wrong?"

But Anakin stopped her. He grabbed her arm and whispered gently, "He has Revan's memories..."

"I know that, but its not like he knew her!" She didn't understand. What was the relationship between Varus and this woman?

"No, but remember, Bastilla was Revan's wife." Ahsoka's eyed widened in realization. A cold chill went down her.

"uh oh..." Slavian reflected.

"Varus is feeling Revan's pain..." She murmured.

"Possibly." Anakin looked to Varus and a deep sadness went over his face. "There is no way of knowing how ingrained Revan and Varus are, but it looks like he is experience Revan's pain intimately. He may even love Bastilla, and not even have known it."

"Is there anything we can do?" Slavian asked.

"No, the memories are there to stay... we already crossed that bridge with him long ago." Ahsoka whispered.

"Hallo! Dis is me, Baaasteelaaa!" A voice mocked in a from behind the screen. The head bobbed up and down as the hand holding it moved, and the dead woman's jaw bobbed up and down unnaturally loose. Her jaw was split in front from a cut up the center of her face. It looked like she had been cut with the lightsaber.

Slavian threw up and Aramas paled in disgust. Aramas wrote something in the air and Ahsoka nodded. Aramas was going to take Slavian to the bathroom. They would be back when he feels better.

"That bastard..." Boba snarled.

"What's going on?" Falon asked worriedly.

Ahsoka gulped. "Someone is holding a dead woman's head in front of the screen like a puppet."

"Oh my..." Falon breathed.

Ahsoka didn't see who it was that was mocking her death, but she felt sick just from watching it. The mockery of life made her nauseus. If she ever caught the person who was doing this, she would gladly take him in to prison. Her heart ached as she heard Varus squeak as he watched his 'wife' mocked like this.

Not sure what else to do, she stood by him silently and watched the pain on his face go through its phases of disbelief and sickened realization.

"We are 'swarry' to interrupt your regular broadcast with a very important message. Isn't that right?" The head turned and a new face appeared on the screen.

"Yes, that's right." Starkiller replied to the head he held. He tossed it aside.

"Starkiller!" Most of the people in the room yelled in various forms of surprise, anger, outrage, and horror.

Varus was the only one silent. He paled further at the sight and fell from his knees to his hand and knees. He could barely keep from falling to the ground, his limbs shook so much. Ahsoka stopped down, grabbed his shoulders, and helped him keep from falling on his face. His face was frozen mask of horror, disbelief, and pain. He was so stunned he couldn't make a sound or change his expression.

Starkiller cleared his throat and looked into the screen. "There, now that I have your attention, let's get down to business..."

"When I get my hands on that little ******!" Mandalore murmured. Satine normally didn't like his language, but right now it was not just justified, it felt accurate.

"I have a list of things to do, so let's get to it." Starkiller pulled out a piece of paper. "First item on the agenda, a message. Right... Everyone, this is a message from the masters."

Starkiller cleared his throat and read, "All of you, Jedi! Vermin, who fight amongst yourselves for scraps. Look to yourselves and cower. Only those that submit will be relieved. Only those that beg and humble themselves will be spared. Long we have waited, long we have watched, and longer still we have prepared. There will be blood. There will be tears. There will be chaos. It is nearly time... time for you to feel our pain and our hatred and our fears as your own. We are the harbingers of all your sins come upon you... and they are many..."

Anakin seared the speech into his memory. These 'Harbingers' had a clear mission and focus towards the Jedi... and they spoke of past sins. Could it be linked to what Nihilus had said once.

_"How could you ever hope to know the threat you face, when you have never walked in the dark places of the galaxy, or faced war and death on such a scale. If you had traveled far enough, rather than waiting for the echo of the Force to reach you, perhaps you would have seen it for what it was. Perhaps you could see the crimes etched into history by Jedi and Sith alike, and come to understand the need for redemption. Instead, you all wrote into your very code a need for detachment, to move away from your guilt and need to understand just what it was you have done to the galaxy. You stand yourselves up on such a high pedestal, you do not look to apologize to the ghosts of the past, and therefore in your final days those very ghosts shall lay you low. This is why I exist, Jedi. This is why Revan, Sion, Treya, Sidius, Malak… This is why our Sith Triad was born, to lay you low and humble and come to understand the doom you have planted for yourselves… and in so doing save you from it, before THEY do it for us. Because I promise you, Jedi, when they come, they will be less forgiving than I."_

Nihilus had said that long ago... Nihilus was linked to Starkiller. Starkiller was linked to the Eternal Hand, as well as whoever gave them this speech to say. Nihilus knew... he had predicted.

Nihilus said that Revan and all of them had warned the Republic about these 'Harbingers' long ago, and had been disregarded, forcing them to take action and begin the Sith Triad war. All this time Anakin had believed it to be the man's need to justify his actions... but if there was even the slightest truth to it...

Anakin did his best to memorize every word down to the last detail as the speech was said. He would be looking into it later. And if Varus could recall Revan's memories, they might have a clue as to who it was leading the Eternal Hand, or at the very least being the mastermind behind Starkiller.

As for the speech. It was dumb and cheesy, but there had to be a purpose for it. There had to be a purpose for everything he was doing.

Starkiller finished his speech and bowed. "Thank you, thank you. I'll be here all week! But that is not all! Time for a little game!"

"He's making a game of this!?" Ahsoka murmured. She and Anakin were Jedi, but she was getting dangerously close to truly hating the man. She believed in forgiveness, but for once... she was beginning to find an exception.

Starkiller had used her, tossed her aside, even kissed her! He had killed so many Jedi, mocked everything, put Varus on a path back to vengeance that she didn't want him on, killed Revan's wife and shoved it in Varus' face, mocked the very respect that should be had for life and death, and on galaxy wide television no less, and was making EVERYTHING seem like a game!

"Don't..." Varus whispered. Even though his attention was on the floor, she calmed. He sensed her growing anger and stopped her before it got anywhere. "Don't get angry... Not at him. Its not his fault... It's mine..."

"What?" Ahsoka whispered back. Why not at Starkiller? His words made no sense.

Starkiller continued, "The game is simple. We want Jedi Master Anakin Skywalker. We don't know where he is, but if you would all be so kind as to get him and hand him over, we would greatly appreciate it." Starkiller smiled. After a moment, the smile went from childish and nice and wanting, to dark and humorless. "Or... we will be forced to take action. Here is how this will work. Every day we do not have Skywalker in our hands, is another day we will open up the huge can o' worms we have come to call the 'Revanchist information database', and pull something out on one of you beautiful little victims. Now doesn't that sound fun!"

Anakin glanced worriedly at Mandalore. Mandalore didn't look like he was going for the bait. Whether Starkiller was serious or not, if the galaxy took it well, then one of two things would happen. The galaxy would go after Starkiller, or they would hand him, Skywalker, over.

Anakin would turn himself over if it had to be done, but he didn't exactly want to do that. He didn't want to leave his wife and children without a father, especially when he was still searching for them.

This 'game' only made Varus worse. He put his head on the ground and whimpered. Ahsoka could do nothing but sit by him and try to talk to him, but Varus didn't look like he heard anything.

His clones were out of control.

"Now... just to prove I'm serious..." Starkiller presented a blank piece of paper in front of the screen. "On the opposite side of this slip is the coordinates to where the Revanchist hid his family. Tomorrow morning I will show it if I have not received anything."

The transmission ended.

Anakin could only stare blankly at where the transmission had been. His... His family... The Starkillers knew where his family was... And they were going to put the location up on galactic television. His family... on galactic television.

As much as a part of him was overflowing with joy at the prospect of knowing where his family was, the last thing he wanted was the rest of the galaxy knowing as well, or Starkiller. Being Anakin, he had a lot of enemies. Naturally that would put his family in danger. He could just imagine the Dominion would send ten fleets for such a prize.

And Starkiller... Was after him. Using his family hostage.

Anakin couldn't feel anything. He wasn't angry. He wasn't happy. He wasn't glad or sad or mad or anything. He was numb. He could barely hear the yells around him, the fury in Mandalore's voice. All he saw was his angel in danger... and his little ones were being used as pawns in a messed up game for his head.

Most of the room was either in an uproar or was numbed into silence. Varus was neither, he was a guilty mess on the floor. He was hyperventilating, sweating cold sweat, shaking, stuck somewhere between guilt, horror, disbelief, and was on the verge of passing out. He kept murmuring to himself, and from what little bit she could get he was talking to himself, talking to Revan, and saying how sorry he was.

"Varus Wynn." Mandalore demanded. "Will these ******'s actually do it?"

He whispered something, but no one heard it. Ahsoka had to say for him, "Starkiller doesn't bluff... Ever. He sucks at it."

Mandalore, the peak of angry strength, collapsed in his chair and looked weary beyond his years. "How bad is it?" Boba wondered.

Mandalore chuckled. "Bastilla... Revan... The whole ding-bat Revanchist. They're experts at espionage, information gathering, blackmail, and being all brains. There is information on everything, from me and my favorite hobbies, to Count Dooku's favorite vegetable to whether or not Jobba snores in his sleep. Military secrets. Technological advances not yet announced. Predictions for everything imaginable. Not just on us, but our enemies as well. Most of our greatest victories have been acting on information she provided us, and our effective defensive response to attacks on our end."

Mandalore wiped his face with his hand and gazed into his helmet. "The information in that database can turn the galaxy on its head, spin it upside down, chew it up, and spit it back out. It will be chaos. The whole galaxy will be in chaos if we cannot stop them."

Varus flinched.

Boba said, "Then we go after them! Where are they?!"

"I don't know." Mandalore put his helmet on. "Bastilla never told anyone where she was. She was fanatical like that. Revan was afraid of something, and never returned after he left to fight them. That made Bastilla... a bit paranoid."

Varus, in a move that startled everyone, jumped up and fled faster than any of them could imagine. Ahsoka ran after him, but he was much faster and ran out the door before anyone could respond.

"Should we go after him?" Izthark asked.

"No..." Mandalore responded. "Let the lad be. Falon, I want you to stay on the ship with him and help keep us coordinated. He will be the key to our counter-attack."

"Yes, sir."

"What will you do, Master Jedi?" Boba asked Anakin.

Anakin looked down the hall where his two students ran and sighed. "I have some students to take care of... then we're going after my family."


	44. Interlude - Death of Plo

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, so no sue!**

**Remember to Review. I want to know what you think and how the chapter is to you. Is it good? Is it bad? Anything I need to know? Any ideas or things you want to see in the future?**

* * *

**Interlude - Death of Plo**

* * *

Starkiller, merely a young teen who had yet to hit his growth spurt, sat on the rocky mountain peering down into the plains before him. He bit down on an apple in his mouth and chewed. It was sweet. Old memories returned to him. Ones of peace.

Ones of horror.

The landscape before him reminded him of the horror. A battle had been waged here. Some invaders had tried to take the fortress in the distance and had failed utterly. They had numbers, they had machines, but they lacked power and intelligence. Their idea was to beat their heads into the gates and pray and beg for them to open. It was a slaughter if he had ever seen one.

The invading army retreated less than five minutes ago.

A man stepped behind Starkiller. The grass under their feet wilted and the apple lost its sweetness in Nihilus' presence. Nihilus, bearing a new host, stooped down and gazed with him. "The attacker's retreated." Starkiller reported. "Just like you thought. A petty conflict between neighboring cities. About eight-thousand on the offense, but the defending side is much smaller. The idiots performed a full frontal assault with no artillery support nor air support. They very likely don't have any to begin with. What should we do?"

Nihilus raised himself to his bodies full height and thought in silence. Minutes passed, and Starkiller didn't know whether or not Nihilus would respond. Sometimes he did, sometimes he didn't. Sometimes Nihilus waited days before returning to a conversation.

"It looks to be the richest city on the planet. I can smell the treasure from here."

"Since when has treasure meant anything to us?"

"Since I've had to feed you. Weapons and soldiers and supplies do cost money, even if I don't require any of it myself. And gaining an ally here should provide more loyal subjects."

That was true. Nihilus was building up his troops to continue purging Jedi in places he couldn't reach. Not that there wasn't any place he couldn't reach, but it was more efficient to purge across multiple worlds rather than one at a time, and Nihilus could only be in one place at a time. Assassins and the like did need food.

"You want to join the attackers?" Starkiller asked.

"Yes, that should prove more entertaining."

Of course there was also appeasing the Sith's boredom. He could wipe the whole world in one go, but that would hardly be as interesting. Better to let the ants squabble before unleashing doom upon them. Or they might be one of the lucky few that Nihilus finds entertaining enough to spare and return to at a later date.

"You're up. Finish eating."

Starkiller looked at his rotted apple and tossed it aside with a snarl. "I was done anyway."

"Good. We're joining the battle. Go, contact the head of the attacking army. Here is our message: Your warfare is pitiful. I can't bear to watch it. Therefore, we will come to your aid. On the morning when the fortress crumbles, we will pave the way to victory. In return, we will take a share of the spoils and a share of your surviving men. Understand? Go."

Starkiller didn't move.

"Go, Starkiller." Nihilus repeated. His tone going dangerously low.

"Guarantee a reward for me." Starkiller demanded.

Nihilus made a very human gesture. He rolled his eyes. It ticked Starkiller off because he did it on purpose because he technically didn't have the emotions people did that made them roll their eyes. "Fine, two female Twil'lek slaves and a hundred thousand credits. Not sure what you will use it all for, though."

"Are you ******** kidding me?! You know what I want, Nihilus!" Starkiller growled.

"Ohhh, you're so scary. I was just joking around." Nihilus mocked with his hands up defensively. Then his composure darkened. "But... remember. You know there is only one price I will accept."

Starkiller grit his teeth angrily. He hated it when Nihilus mocked his emotions. It wasn't just the mocking, but how Nihilus lacked emotions entirely, yet pretended to. Hence it was far more on purpose.

Starkiller bowed his head and jumped off the mountain. He sailed hundreds of feet through the air. The Force flowed around him and he landed lightly on his feet. The sudden change in air pressure made him dizzy, but a small walk would help him clear his head.

Nihilus watched his apprentice go and dropped all pretense of smirking and emotion. "Will he actually do it this time?" He wondered.

The most beautiful thing about Starkiller to Nihilus was his pretense of honor within his vengeance. He would not fight Nihilus unless it was in a true, fair, duel to the death. That was how Starkiller believed he would restore his families honor and give peace to his dead people. It was such a perfect concept for Nihilus to use. It was the best kind of chain around the boy's neck.

So they struck a deal. If Starkiller would bring him a Jedi Master's head, he would grant his wish of a duel.

It was so beautiful, because by Starkiller following the path set by Nihilus in order to supposedly kill him, he would not only fail in killing him, but would give Nihilus victory in creating the apprentice he wanted. By the time Nihilus might finally allow Starkiller to beat him in raw power, Starkiller would be so far gone he would lose what was left of his humanity and become a Sith Lord.

But the question was whether or not Starkiller would manage to go through with the deal this time. He had failed twice now to have the gall or strength to kill a Jedi Master.

Starkiller walked up to the invading camp and glanced at the emblem of a large beast on the flag overlaying the camp. He put his hands in his pockets and calmly approached the guards. "I'm a messenger..."

The guards looked at him angrily. They spoke in a language he didn't understand and pointed guns at him. He probably looked like a ruffian. He hadn't had a chance to bathe or fix his hair since they had come to this planet. It would probably be the first thing Nihilus would insist on him doing when they returned to the Ravager.

"I'm a messenger. Does anyone here speak Basic?" Starkiller asked.

The guards barked at him and each other in their foreign language and made threating gestures. Starkiller sighed. This was going nowhere.

One of the men reached out to grab him, and he reacted. He grabbed the man's middle finger, snapped it backwards; and in continuing the motion, turned the man around and pinned him against himself holding the man's broken finger hostage. He ignited his red lightsaber next to the man's neck.

It took barely a second and everyone jumped away fearfully while his hostage cried in pain and sudden fright. "I'm a messenger! Is there anyone here who can speak Basic!" Starkiller yelled into the camp.

He had killed before, but he would rather not kill this man without it being necessary. It would be a huge waste of life.

After a few tense seconds, a man ran out of the camp and was startled by what he saw. "Y-yes, I can understand you."

The guards yelled at him in their language, but he ignored them. Starkiller said, "I am here to speak to your general. I bring a message from my master."

"Then I will help you." the man said. "Let me speak for you. Just let him go."

Starkiller didn't mind that idea, but people had a tendency to be lying through their teeth. They could just as likely attack him once the man was let go. "Just so you know, I don't need a hostage to kill all of you." Starkiller warned. "Tell them."

The man nodded furiously and told them all. Apparently they believed it.

"They will not attack you."

Starkiller turned off his lightsaber and let the man go. The man cradled his broken finger tenderly like a kid who had stubbed his toe.

The translator motioned, "Shall we?"

Starkiller followed him through the camp, and all the while eyed it. The invaders were heavily wounded, fighting amongst themselves, and were left to eating scraps off the ground. This army was on its last legs. The next attack would break their morale if they didn't have victory. Barely any food. Wounded. Yeah... they wouldn't last much longer.

"I wish to apologize for back there. The men believed you to be a spy." The translator said.

"Hn." He really didn't care.

At last they came to a lavish tent and they were asked to wait a moment. A bit of hushed talking inside, and the translator said they could enter.

Inside Starkiller saw a banquet table with juicy meat, a basket full of bread, three tubs of butter, an assortment of fruits like pears and apples, a huge bowl of soup, an entire leg of lamb, tons of wine, a bowl full of eggs, a bottle of vinegar, and one very fat man sitting at it. No one else touched the food. There were three young female slaves around the fat man, all looking starved, and he looked at Starkiller like he was some kind of barbarian.

Starkiller instantly didn't like the man. He gave the message to the translator, and the translator told it after briefly hesitating.

The fat man picked up an entire rack of ribs and bit down into it while one of his slaves refilled his glass of wine. He spoke.

The translator said, "He says: You want a share of the spoils, and a number of my men? Feeling confident aren't you, boy. How many are you?"

"Two." Starkiller answered.

The translator hesitated more heavily and whispered his answer.

The fat man laughed loudly enough to make up for everyone else. Many of the guards looked at him like he was spouting myths and tales.

The translator said, "He says: Damn fools, playing at being mercenaries."

Starkiller sighed. "Even this boy can see that only attacking the front gate will result in nothing but death. You have them outnumbered, but your power is nothing compared to the gate."

The translator responded, and came back with, "He says: You're an idiot."

"Do you decline? If so, we will join the defenders to fight against you." Starkiller said factually.

This was all a game for Nihilus, so it didn't really matter which side they took, so long as Jedi died and Nihilus got some more recruits to play around with.

The soldiers in the camp drew their weapons and aimed at him. Starkiller didn't give them a glance, but stared at the large man. It was kind of boring, really. "Listen, fat ass. If I die, the same will happen. Unless my master receives a signal of confirmation he will turn on you."

The fat ass sipped his wine in thought before turning to his lamb and bread before finally giving an answer. The translator said, "He says: Very well, do as you like, but if your words are lies, I will have you killed."

Starkiller would like to see him try. It might be an amusing five seconds before the man fell on his face and died from suffocating himself with his own body weight.

Starkiller didn't give him the privilege of a bow or any sign of respect. "Can I borrow a blaster?"

A blaster was handed to him, although the entire camp was on edge with him holding it. 'I'm more dangerous with a lightsaber... idiots.' He walked to the edge of the camp, fired three times into the air, and once level with the ground before returning. "He knows. Expect victory tomorrow."

The translator said, "He says: Fail me, and I will have you executed."

Unfortunately, part of Nihilus' orders was to stay with them, so he did. Starkiller was given a tent. It was small, barely large enough for one person. He sat down and meditated. He lifted off the ground a few inches as he meditated on the Dark Side.

Movement to the side alerted him, and he ignited his lightsaber against the throat of the intruder. The slave girl stumbled back in fright and dropped food and water. 'Just a slave?' Starkiller thought.

Starkiller removed his lightsaber and helped her pick her items back up. "Here." He handed them to her, but she pushed them back.

"Fer yu. Lrd Gom asked m' to bing yu this fud." She said in a horrible accent. So she had an understanding of Basic. That made her better than those guards, despite how difficult her accent was to deal with.

Starkiller eyed the food. Bread and water. Nothing much, but simple sustenance was adequate. Part of his training involved dealing with starvation. It also taught him not to take it for granted. "Thank you." He sat on the grass and ate. She stared at him, unsure what to say to that. 'She probably had not been thanked for anything in a while.' Starkiller figured. The stare was creepy.

While he ate, he noticed the slave girl was watching him intently. "What?" He demanded.

She jumped at his tone, but responded. "Swy... Fur sum reeson... yu remin me of m'self."

Starkiller scoffed. "I'm a warrior, not a thrall. Unlike you, I don't have to eat scraps from the kitchen. I wouldn't know what it's like to be a slave... If I was you, I'd kill that fatass and run away."

She looked away shamefully. "I... culdn't... kill."

"Enjoy your life as a slave then." Starkiller chugged down the water.

The next morning the general-fatass-what's-his-name assembled his army outside the city of some-place out in the middle of nowhere, and prepared to invade. Starkiller was 'invited', quote-end-quote, to stand by him. The boy wasn't stupid enough not to notice the irregular number of guards around him poised to aim and shoot at any moment, or when general-fatass deemed it fit.

General Fatass sat in a chair, surrounded by his young girl slaves, and pointed to the city. The translator said, "He says: The city gate still stands. What kind of backup is this? Do you want to be executed? If you and your master will be of no help to me, I might as well kill you now."

Was he serious? "Just attack. You will see soon enough." Starkiller wasn't in the mood for his spouting of bull.

Considering himself all high and mighty, the general did so as if it was his own idea. The troops charged with their swords and shields and blasters and tanks. Rockets pounded the city walls, but nothing made a dent on it. Cannon fire exploded amongst the invader's ranks.

Bored, Starkiller turned his attention to the city walls. He couldn't make out anyone from this distance. "Translator, may I borrow a scope?"

The translator obliged and Starkiller brought it to his eyes. He zoomed in and scanned across the battlements of the defenders. "Who is leading the defense?" He asked.

The translator brought up a picture on his holopad. "Jehdi, Ploh Choohn." He said.

"His name is Plo Koon." Starkiller corrected off handedly, barely paying attention. He memorized every detail of the Jedi in question. He knew already who was defending, but he had not seen a visual yet. The information gathered by Nihilus' spies missed that piece of information. Now he knew what to look for.

"Ah."

Starkiller turned his attention back to the battlements and scanned across them slowly. Plo Koon was an alien. Starkiller didn't know exactly what the species was called, or looked like till now. All he knew was a lot of weaknesses to exploit and strengths to avoid. The alien's three fingered hands made them less dexterous and have a difficult grip, but they had tough skin and a slightly bigger muscle mass than humans. Not much, but enough to make a difference in a death match. The skin wouldn't stop a lightsaber, but lightning would do slightly less than otherwise.

The biggest weakness was the face mask. They breathed different air then humans.

"Damnit." Starkiller cursed. The Jedi was not on the front lines. Did the Jedi suspect Sith participation and wanted to avoid notice? Was he busy elsewhere? Starkiller could sense the Jedi in the general vicinity of the city, but the Jedi was suppressing himself. He didn't want to be found.

Well, if he couldn't find the Jedi. He would have to force the Jedi out of hiding.

Without warning, Starkiller dove out of the ranks of the back guards. The general yelled about betrayal and ordered him to be shot, but by the time anyone could realize what had happened, and listened to the order, and raised their gun, he was long gone in the ranks of the invaders. He was a teenager with Force steroids. He moved like the wind, and many of the soldiers in the back watching him could barely follow him with his eyes. He disappeared amidst the ranks of the army and a moment later was near the front line.

The city's defenses lied in a giant wall, with a gate, surrounded by a deep moat and a bridge. The moat and bridge were twenty meters long.

Starkiller reached the edge of the moat and leaped. Lightning crackled across his body and left a trail of electricity in the air as he flew. The lightning wove itself like threads of thin rope around his fingers, and he drove his lightning claws into the wall.

The invading general gaped. He didn't notice one of the slaves drop a plate. "He made it..." The translator murmured in disbelief. The Sith teen had jumped twenty meters and was climbing up the side of the massive wall with his bare hands.

Starkiller's claws were less than silent, and as he neared the top, some of the defenders looked down to see what the crackling sound was. He cut their throats with a swipe of his hand, leaped up, and whipped out a whip of lightning across everyone around him, cleaving them in half. Like a bloody engine of single-minded destruction and death, he moved from one person to the next on his path across the wall. Their armor, shields, and swords were nothing to his blades of pure lightning, and with a Force Push he cleared a hole in their defenses. Defenders flew into the air and landed... somewhere else.

When they fired on him, he whipped out his lightsaber to block. His claws were effective in close range, perhaps even more so than his lightsaber, but it left him exposed to laser bolts.

Starkiller neared one of the cannons on the side of the wall, kicked it around, and fired it at the defenders.

A guttural cry alerted him, and he barely evaded a strike from a soldier from behind. Making short work of him, Starkiller continued his momentum. He drew his lightsabers and the defenders realized fearfully what they were dealing with. He stopped paying attention after that. One after another, they were faceless people in his way who would kill him if he left them an opening, or gave them time to make one. He moved faster than they could track and didn't stop until he reached a dead end. He turned to see he had killed nearly a hundred defenders and had cleared this side of the wall. He was near another cannon, so he hit some keys, turned it back around towards the city, and let it fire.

It was at this time that Nihilus decided to make his appearance. Like a massive typhoon of black water, he swept from the back of the invaders, sparing them, and hit the walls of the defending city like a rock slide. He slammed into the walls, cracking them, and the gates imploded. Nihilus swept into the city a short distance to consume any defenders just inside the gate before retreating to let the invaders do as they wanted.

To Nihilus, this was more about Starkiller's achievement than satisfying his hunger. For today.

Starkiller watched as all this happened and observed the city. The cannons he had taken brought down the thinner skyscrapers quickly, and left gaping holes in the thicker ones. The invaders flooded this district and left few alive.

If there was a Jedi here, he wouldn't stand for what was happening.

So Starkiller waited. He openly exposed himself through the Force, like a beacon, daring the Jedi to do the same. Forcing the Jedi to choose between self-preservation, and selfless sacrifice. If the Jedi did one, he would become a hypocrite like all the rest. If he did the other, Starkiller would kill him. Either way, he won.

Starkiller didn't take pleasure in it. If anything, it was a waste. He recognized the Jedi did well, but they were weak. They were hypocrites. They chose to focus their attention on little things like orphans and beggars, when the real problems were people like Nihilus being allowed to move about freely. What was a few beggars and orphans compared to entire worlds being consumed? The Jedi did nothing about Nihilus, so Starkiller had to do it for them. And if killing one or two Jedi was the price it took to finally end Nihilus...

There was no question. It was the only way. It was almost gratifying ending these cowards who willingly allow such problems to fester. Not that Starkiller had yet to kill a Jedi. He had always been too... weak. Too merciful. He saw them still as people who at least tried to do good. Nihilus never allowed the captured Jedi to live, and Starkiller saw that capturing them was a waste of time. A waste of life, a waste of time.

So this time he would kill the Jedi. He would face Nihilus in a death match. Nihilus would die.

The galaxy... his people... they would be saved. Their souls and phantoms would be given peace. And Starkiller could disappear into the shadows knowing he did better than all of these Jedi combined.

The Jedi did not disappoint. He stopped suppressing his Force signature to aid actively in the defense, and Starkiller darted in his direction.

Starkiller expected to find the Jedi surrounded by the bodies of invaders, but instead the Jedi Master had chosen to expose himself through the Force... over a wounded man.

Starkiller stepped forward, covered himself in his hood to avoid exposure to cameras, and waited. The Jedi knew of his approach, but did not leave the person before him he was healing. Starkiller didn't make any moves, but stood there waiting.

"Are you done?" Starkiller asked.

The Jedi glanced up at him. The alien saw the dark side in Starkiller's eyes, but also was visibly surprised Starkiller was not immediately jumping his throat. "Nearly," the Jedi stated. Starkiller frowned, but waited.

The Jedi finished healing the man after a short time, and moved the man into the waiting arms of some defenders nearby. "Leave us," the Jedi ordered. The defenders argued against it, but Plo Koon repeated it, and ignited his green saber.

"Thank you for waiting." The Jedi nodded thankfully.

"Killing him with you would have been a waste of life." Starkiller stated.

The Jedi tilted his head to the side. "Odd to feel so much darkness, hatred, and power in one so young... Before we fight... May I ask a question?"

Starkiller considered it briefly. He was growing impatient. His energies were building in anticipation. The Jedi was taller than him, and very strong in the force. It would take everything he had to defeat the man, and his body naturally knew that. It was building itself up to its full strength, and the adrenaline left him shaky and so ready he could barely hold himself back.

He could attack, but the Jedi seemed to recognize that Starkiller's appearance would result in battle whether he fled or fought, and the Jedi apparently was obliging enough not to be a coward about it all. He would fight. There was no retreat.

Starkiller could allow him one question. "Ask."

"It is unlike Sith to spare innocents. Why did you let me heal him, and not just as a 'waste of life'?"

"... Killing you while you are occupied would have meant nothing for me. I would have achieved nothing. Killing you while you are trying to kill me, defending yourself, and unleashing your true power; and proving my strength and my determination to be greater? That means something."

"An honorable fight." Plo Koon recognized with a nod. He took up his fighting stance. "Then let us see whose determination is greater."

Starkiller grinned wildly and gave his strength, his power, his energy release. His body was shaking with the need to move and fight, and like a recoiled snake, he sprung.

The fight proved to be the most difficult Starkiller had ever had, and would have for years. Plo Koon was stronger, more experienced, and could throw off his greatest strikes and powers like they were toys. Every moment was a second where Starkiller had to force himself to be greater than he was yesterday, stronger than he was five minutes ago, faster than he was a moment ago. His force usage needed to be more rapid, more unpredictable, less easy to knock aside or evade or block entirely.

At some point in the battle, Plo Koon's mask was knocked off his face and he collapsed on the ground gasping for breath in an atmosphere he could not breathe. Starkiller was wounded heavily. His chest and legs were bleeding. They were both nearing exhaustion and were hurt heavily. Plo Koon was covered in blood from where Starkiller's lightning claws cut him.

Starkiller could reach over and end his life. Plo Koon was slowly losing consciousness from lack of his 'special air'. Instead, he picked up the Jedi's mask and tossed it to him. Out of reflex more than conscious thought, the Jedi desperately fastened it to his face. He took in deep breathes.

"Why?" The Jedi coughed.

"I want you at your strongest." Starkiller swayed. He was barely able to stay conscious... His vision was blurry and faded in and out.

Slowly, Plo Koon stood to his feet. He lost balance and nearly feel backwards, but straightened and assumed an exhausted fighting stance. Starkiller shook his head fiercely to shake away the fog clogging up his senses and assumed his own fighting stance.

In the end, Starkiller won. Plo Koon laid on the ground dying, no longer with the strength or power to even heal himself. Starkiller, equally exhausted, but not dying, stood over him and watched. He attentively listened to every breathe. He remembered every detail of the battle and put it to memory. He was proud, of himself, of his power, of his growth, and knew he had grown greatly in the last half hour or so. He would have Plo Koon's lightsaber as a prize to present Nihilus, and he would end Nihilus. Plo Koon had given him a gift of vengeance, of growth, and of an unusual respect rather than outright spite. The least Starkiller would offer was stand and give his last breathes his undivided attention. The Jedi's mouth piece moved slightly in whisper, as if praying. Suddenly, he asked, "Where will your path end... Sith?"

Unprepared for his question, Starkiller said nothing at first. "I... don't know." He would kill Nihilus, but after that? He had no idea. There was no one that would take in a Sith apprentice with open arms. He was doomed to death and loneliness the day he was kidnapped.

Master Plo!" Some girl yelled.

Who the hell was she? Starkiller had half a mind to use the Force and toss her aside. He instantly recognized her as a Jedi, but she was so weak it was laughable. Even exhausted and half-conscious as he was, he could kill her easily, and like some idiot, she was running in their direction.

"HOLD, AHSOKA!" The dying Jedi Master yelled. She stopped in her tracks. So her name is Ahsoka? What a weird name. Whoever named her has issues. How do you even spell that? Is it pronounced Ahzoka or Asakah?

Master Plo turned his weary head back to Starkiller. He coughed harshly, and forced himself to speak loudly enough for him to hear, "She is my Padawan... she is young, impressionable, and with a good heart. She has an innocence I would die to protect. Please... spare her this horror. She has nothing to do with this."

Starkiller had nothing against her, but didn't need witnesses from Jedi. That would be trouble.

"You've… already won." Plo coughed hoarsely. "I ask it... as my last request."

"No…" Ahsoka whispered in growing horror.

_"_Interesting." Starkiller mused. "You could be using your last breathe for meditation, transcending, desperate healing, or even striking back at me. Yet you use it to beg?" It felt good having him beg. He was praying one moment, and was now horrified with the idea of this girl being dead more than anyone else here.

Plo Koon opened his eyes slowly. He was in a clear daze, but still managed to stay conscious with blood seeping from where the lightning claws ripped his chest open. "Such is… compassion. If losing… my pride… saves someone I care about… it is a good… trade."

Starkiller stared at him. Compassion... He closed his eyes. Compassion was a weakness. It held him back. But then he could argue, 'not it doesn't', because Starkiller had just proven he was ruthless enough, and strong enough, to kill a Jedi Master.

Killing this Jedi Padawan would bring no growth, no gratification, no meaning. It would be a waste of life and his time. So... what was the point in killing her? "Very well."

"Thank… you." Plo Koon closed his eyes.

"MASTER!" The girl ran to his side and held him. He wasn't dead yet, but whether it be a blessing or curse, he saved that part for the seconds after she was close enough to feel death ripple through his body. He drew his last breathe. "No…"

Starkiller reached out and drew Plo Koon's lightsaber to himself. He snapped it to his belt, turned and walked away.

"YOU BASTARD!" The girl rushed him from behind.

She was not near as honorable as her master it seemed...

Starkiller turned, grabbed her throat with the Force, and lifted her off the ground. Immediately she struggled against his grip rather than try to go after him again. "I am sparing your life because your Master found it worth his own. If you wish to die a useless death, go ahead and try again. But if you truly wish to kill me… then" An idea came to him. She was impressionable. The damage was already done. She saw death, and would hate him. Just like how he hated Nihilus.

_Where will your path end?_

It would end with vengeance. Starkiller would leave behind an avenger to hunt him down after he was done with Nihilus and end it. Starkiller, even as a teenager, recognized how dark and evil he could become after he had his vengeance and no longer had a true focus for his hatred. He would need to be stopped... and he doubted he would have the self-control to go into self-exile. People would hunt him down one way or another, but rather than have to deal with weak assassins, Starkiller would ensure there are avengers strong enough to end his path.

"Hate me." Starkiller ordered. "Despise me. Train yourself to be stronger than I, and seek me out. Then we will see if you are worthy enough to end my path." Starkiller dropped her and she fell gasping for breath and coughing. Content with that, Starkiller turned to leave once more.

"I hate you." She hissed. Good. "I hate you so much, so much so, that... that I refuse."

Starkiller stopped and was struck dumb by the sheer stupidity of the statement. That made absolutely no sense. He turned to look at her.

She continued, "I refuse! You want to turn me into a monster no better than you! Well, your mechanism and scheme won't work! You want me to fight you! Fine! Then I will do the one thing you cannot accept… I will not** become** you! My greatest revenge will be… that I'll **forgive** you."

He saw in her eyes real hatred and rage. But not just for him, but for what he stood for. Somewhere deep inside, something broke and he had to push down the distant feeling of guilt creeping in. She would forgive him? Did she have even the slightest idea how many he had killed in his life? Did she know of the plots and schemes surrounding him on a daily basis?

No. That is impossible. If she had a glimpse of it, she would realize how dumb that idea is. Some people are beyond forgiveness. Not necessarily because they are in darkness, but because they are driven to continuing down the predetermined path even deeper into darkness, into a place where forgiveness does not exist. By the very laws of downhill momentum, you can't turn around.

The idea sounded pleasant, but it was a dream. Just as much a mirage of hope that existed like the hallucinations of his family he used to have. He could still hear his mother's songs in his ear if he tried. That's all it was. It was... it was nothing more than wishful thinking.

"Your forgiveness is wasted on me…"

Starkiller returned to the Ravager. As usual, he was confined to his portion of the ship when Nihilus had visitors. The ship's little droids surrounded him and comforted him, but right now Starkiller didn't want their animalistic perception of tender mercy. He was nearly through. He needed to be mentally ready.

Starkiller slept, and woke to find that General Fatass had come through on the promise of supplying a portion of his troops in return for the city. He had tried to keep all the credits, but Nihilus got what he wanted anyway. Starkiller watched as Nihilus went through his inventory. The credits would go a long way towards maintaining his army for... whatever Nihilus was planning. He was apparently donating towards some research that would be beneficial in his fight against the Jedi. Starkiller didn't know what it was, and he didn't care.

In the room, assembled, were everyone Nihilus had gained into his army. Starkiller watched from the rafters as Nihilus looked at each one personally. Starkiller couldn't help but smirk when he saw the general Fatass had dumped the slave he met on Nihilus as well. That would be pleasant if he was allowed to have a servant he could talk with and knew-

Nihilus deemed the ones unfit to be... unfit and consumed them, including the slave girl. Their brief screams echoed through the ship, and those Nihilus chose not to consume were left in stony horror, afraid to move or think as Nihilus swept through the room.

Starkiller sighed. What a waste of life. He felt pity for her. The only reason Nihilus considered her a waste of resources was because of her treatment under that bastard general left her in that weak condition. Even if she wasn't a soldier or could do numbers or work a ship, didn't mean she couldn't at least help clean up this dump of a ship or be someone to talk to besides just Nihilus every stinking day.

Starkiller returned to his quarters to meditate and continue healing himself. He would present his prize to Nihilus and claim his right for a duel, but only after he was better. Starkiller looked around his training room and noted the shelves. They were all empty.

He placed his first trophy on the shelf.


	45. Ep10 - Depths of Despair Part 1

**Note: Now we come to the mid-season episode of NOT ONLY 'In the Path of the Ravager', but the entire series as a whole. Everything, beginning from episode one in book 1 has lead to this singular episode. Every interlude, every memory, every discussion and talk and character development has lead to this one episode. This is possibly one of the most important, most life-changing episodes in the whole thing, just short of Varus remembering his past. **

**Every decline, every setback, every death, every EVERYTHING over the course of this season has been to lead to this one episode. I have had this in mind as the single moment when Ahsoka's and Varus' actual relationship truly begins. I have had this in mind as the time when Varus truly begins to turn everything around for himself. I cannot possibly express how important this one episode is to the whole series as the center point of EVERYTHING from beginning to end of the whole series.**

**As such, I hope I did it correctly and can give it justice. It is a deep episode, and I am afraid it doesn't work. Not that I doubt the way the characters will interact or their choices, but I have had no experience in saving someone from such deep deep deep depression that their practically suicidal. I know there is a correct way to go about saving someone from such things, but I don't know what it is, so I have had to base the flow of this entire episode on guessing.**

**Regardless, this should be a powerful episode. If you do not get chills up your spine, if you do not cry at some point or get anxious or upset or angsty, then there is something wrong. Please tell me if it isn't good enough to have that kind of an impact.**

**Also, you should be absolutely HATING me at the end of this episode. There is one more setback to be done after all is said and done, but it will be resolved as well as everything else.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, so no sue!**

**Remember to Review. I want to know what you think and how the chapter is to you. Is it good? Is it bad? Anything I need to know? Any ideas or things you want to see in the future?**

* * *

**Episode 10 - Depths of Despair** **part 1**

* * *

Death surrounds me. It's a part of who I am. I am the apprentice to death, and now I see I have become it. Once I was its victim, now I'm the inflictor.

I can't... I just can't see anymore. Even if I didn't do it directly, my mentality and personality growing up carried over to my clones. They are what they are, because that is what I was.

I killed Bastila... my- Revan's love. She was not mine, never was, and if I ever did meet her, my reaction would have been terror because the memories I have is too intimate. She would kill me if she knew what was in my head. She would take a rusty spoon and stick it into my brain to pull the intimates out.

Everything is a blur around me. The people I knock aside with the Force around me don't exist. The paths I run down don't exist. All that exists is the knowledge of what I have done, and the memories that have come to haunt me.

Starting from the time Revan and her met.

_Bastilla asked, "Something is missing from your service record: Let us fix that. On which planet were you born?"_

_Revan smiled, "Kashyyyk. I'm a Wookie, can't you tell?"_

Then argued over who rescued whom.

_"I managed to free myself, as I recall. In fact, if I hadn't been there Brejik and his thugs might have killed you in that fight. It's probably more accurate to say that I rescued you."_

_"Can't you just admit that you were rescued?" Revan replied._

Then had to deal with sharing visions.

_"Our fates are linked, and for two as strong as we are in the Force that amounts to a near-physical bond."_

_"How?"_

_"I..." Bastilla hesitates in my memory. "I don't know. Believe me, I certainly don't find the prospect of being joined to you enjoyable in any fashion. Choice appears to be irrelevant in this manner."_

_"Well, thanks a lot." Revan snorted._

_"Oh, pardon me. I certainly did not mean to imply you are repulsive in any manner. I will try to help you, if I can. Hopefully this will all work out , for the both of us."_

_'Yeah right,' Revan thought. 'Not call me repulsive, my ass.' _

_Revan argued, "You aren't very trusting are you..."_

_"Sorry. You deserve to know how much I respect you. You did well on Taris and did rescue me. I thought... thought I should tell you. I'm not doing a very good job at it."_

_"That's nice to hear. You've been of great help. Loyal, but strainfully detached. Like a pregnant mynock."_

She was not at all happy to hear that. Their banter went on for days, but she had grown increasingly thoughtful. Revan always found a way to open her up.

_"I've been thinking about what the Jedi council said about the two of us. There is a bond between us, I do not dispute that. I can feel it, as I'm sure you can. That nature of that bond and its effect beyond providing visions though remains in question." She mused thoughtfully._

_"Heh... I think you're interested in more than just the 'bond' "between us." He teased with air quotes._ He started to love teasing Bastilla. She was uptight and so incredibly devoted it was fun to poke.

_"Please! I'm a Jedi! Such feelings, such attractions are... well..." She looked him up and down. "They're beneath me, quite frankly." _

_Revan could only gape at the insult, not at all expecting her to fire back at him. He stopped in his tracks and she kept walking with a victorious smirk._

_Later, she asked him for information beyond his service record to get an idea of what kind of 'partner he was.' He was still brainwashed at the time. However, she worded it as 'relationship', which Revan found hilarious._

_"Our... relationship? That's sooo cute! I've never been hit on by a Jedi before."_

_"I was referring to the bond the council spoke of... if I was __**actually**__ interested in you, rest assured I could come up with a better approach than asking for your service record."_

_"Wow, sorry. I didn't realize I was touching a nerve."_

_"Touching a nerve, no. Getting on my nerves, most definitely. Now are you going to answer my questions or would you just rather keep annoying me?"_

_"Uh..." Revan smiled. "Second one."_

_"I see you intend to be childish about this. I guess I won't get anywhere continuing our discussion right now, will I? I supposed I'll just have to speak to you again later. Hopefully you've behave a little less like a little boy and more like a... like a man!"_

_"You realize that took four sentences to insult me?"_

_"Oh, just... just SHUT UP!"_

_"MUCH BETTER!" He clapped._

Another memory came to me. He caught her staring off into the blue, in his general direction. It wasn't usual for her to be thoughtful, but it was in his general vicinity so much it was odd.

_"You keep staring at me. See anything you like?" He teased._

_"Argh! You are easily the vainest, most arrogant man I have ever met! Besides, I know you can't be serious, since I was not staring in your direction! I am a Jedi, remember? I have far too much mental discipline to reveal what goes on inside my mind with such... obvious physical clues."_

_He could only smile as she got worked up._

_"My thoughts remain hidden, including whatever my feelings are for you. Uh... I mean whatever I 'feel' about you... uh... I mean whatever I 'think' about you."_

_"You know you're cute when you stumble over yourself like that?"_

_"I... that is... you... why must be so impossibly infuriating?! You know very well what I'm really talking about! I'm referring to the bond between us; the one the Council spoke of!"_

_"Sure you are."_

Then they were nearing their confrontation with Malak. Revan still didn't know he was a Jedi's tool, and after discussing with her how to handle it, and then how she did against Darth Revan, he learned she had, in fact, not killed Revan despite her reputation. She had been sent to get Revan very much alive.

_"Remember that Revan and Malak were once great Jedi. Heroes in every sense of the word. They demonstrate the danger of the dark side to us all. The Jedi do not believe in killing their prisoners. No one deserves execution, no matter what their crimes."_

No one deserves execution, no matter what their crimes. That phrase stands out to me the most as I continue running.

If there was one thing I would point to the Jedi with and say was their worst ideology, it would be that. They kill in battle, but do not execute criminals.

My legs burn, my eyes burn, my head hurts, but all I see is her dead eyes in one part of my memory, and her admirable strength and devotion in Revan's memory.

People around me mean nothing. Those that don't give me space get run over. I don't know where I'm going anymore. I just need to get away.

I enter one alleyway and instead of being hit with another memory of Bastila, Maris Brood stands there with a smirk and says, "You deserve it." Just behind her is an endless row of dead people, all by my hand. I race past them, doing my best not to see their faces, their pointing fingers, but they are a part of me. They give chase to me as fast as I gave chase to them.

I continue running, and remember Revan's screams mingle with my own when Bastilla died. I had almost forgotten Revan was in my head, but when she died, all I could hear was Revan. His pain, his screaming, his anger, and all of the repressed memories of his returned in full blast, and no matter how much I begged for the voices to stop they couldn't, and they still haven't. With each step I remember every day Bastila and Revan shared as they worked against Malak, and grew closer. He helped her with family issues after learning her father died, and being a Jedi, she had been taken as a child. By now they had been working together, day and night, for months and had grown comfortable together, even as they argued and fought on a daily basis. Their bickering had become almost a game.

_"I've been trying to come up with the best way to say this for some time, but I supposed I should just come out and say it."_

_"You love me?"_

_"Oh! You! Will you just let me say it! The truth is, I have come to depend on you! Not just for the sake of the mission, but for my sake as well. I am... I am glad you are with us."_

_"Eh? What was that? I think I'm going deaf. You better say it again."_

_"Okay, now you're teasing me. You know very well what I said."_

_"I know, but I'm still reeling from the shock!" Revan gasped. "Was that a compliment?!"_

_"Well... yes? Surely that is not so surprising."_

_"You're kidding, right?" He asked seriously._

_"No, I'm not. Why must you make this so difficult! Can't you just accept a simple compliment?"_

_"Maybe I was just distracted by the grudging manner in which it was given."_

Bastilla sighed in my memory._ "I see... yes, I am not good at it. Is there nothing I can do to make it up to you? I would rather we were friends."_

_"Oh? How close a friend would you like to be?" He teased. He dropped his tease when he saw how uncomfortable she was, rather than getting angry like usual._

_"I... you know I can't feel that way... about any man. It isn't permitted. I am a Jedi. I must resist. I still want to consider you a friend. We could... we could never be anything more, though. That... that isn't allowed."_

_"I'm fine with that. Friends." He agreed, seriously. He extended his hand and she shook it, after checking it to see if he would do something childish, like zap her._

_"I know my manner can be a bit... taciturn... You must be getting sick of my lectures about the dark side, and endless words, and... And everything else. I spent all my years being hounded by my instructors. I used to swear I would never become as self-absorbed and stodgy as the Jedi Masters back then. It's ironic, really."_

_"Don't forget edgy, critical, overly secretive, bossy..." He counted on his fingers with a growing smile._

_Rather than take the bait she just smiled. "Yeah... You deserve to know how much I respect and admire you. I had to tell you how much I care for you... I mean... as a friend... Of course. Stop smiling! You know what I mean!"_

"No! Stop! Please!" I yell at myself. I feel something in me working its way to completion. Something is going to snap. I already know what memories are to come, but pushing them back is like holding back water. My head hurts and I grip it in vain effort to lessen the pain.

_"Something on your mind?" Revan asked._

_"Am I so transparent?" She sighed, "Yes, there is. There is something I would like to ask, if you'll permit it... In our time together I've been watching you. You are a true servant of the light, you follow the tenants of the Jedi Order despite the lure of the dark side. For me it has always been a constant battle. Don't you find it difficult at all? You make it seem so easy. Or is it just an illusion?"_

_"I just do what I believe is right. I see suffering and work against it. I see Sith and fight them. I haven't really put much thought into myself and ideologies."_

_"And that's enough for you? If only it were as easy for me. If only the right path was always clear. I've always struggled with my passions. I've always been too quick to anger, too quick to get involved. I've often dreamed that I might be able to confront Darth Malak myself... to stop all the death and destruction. I just think about all the evil the Sith have caused and I... I get so furious! Yet we are told that these feelings are the path to the dark side."_

_"Just focus on the teachings of the Order."_

_"Yes, of course... I... I have to remember my training. The Masters know well the influence of the dark side, although it is hard for me to imagine. It just... The idea of me being as evil as Darth Malak seems unfathomable! Me? A Sith?! Wait... I'm sorry. I shouldn't even be asking you this... the Jedi teachings are clear; who am I to question them? Even worse, who am I to try and make you question them?"_

_"What?" He asked, perplexed by her shifting emotions._

_"These are dangerous thoughts, the indulgence of a vain mind. Please... forget I ever mentioned this. Part of my mission was to guide you in the way of the light, to help you avoid the temptations of the dark side. I fear I've failed in that task. You hardly need me, I am not strong enough to guide you. You should have remained with the Council."_

_"And I disagree."_

_"Perhaps you are not being truly objective, then. There is no need to spare my feelings on this point. The fact of the matter is that I have never possessed much skill at controlling myself. With the bond, it seems I have even less. You have maintained the path of the light side, but it has been in spite of my influence, not because of it."_

_"You're doing your best, I'm sure. Bastilla, stop beating yourself up over it."_

_"That's kind of you to say, but I think... I think I may have made a very big mistake. I just hope you don't pay the price for it."_

_"You're being too hard on yourself..." He assured her, and offered without a hint of teasing, for once, "Perhaps we could help each other?" _

_She shook her head. "You... you continue to be there for me, don't you? Even after I keep pushing you away, you're still around when I need you most... You excel in action and choices, and all I do is stand around talking, even then messing up. I'm sorry... perhaps I need some space. I need to think."_

_"Sure."_

Something tugs my arm. Not expecting it, I spin and stumble violently with whoever it was that grabbed me until I feel my back slammed into the side of a building. Without any feeling left in my legs, I fall on my butt. There is someone in front of me, holding me close, pinning me against the wall, but all I see is Bastilla. All I hear is Revan's screams in my head. Screams of despair and a dead hope.

_"You better?" Revan asked her in her room a few weeks later. He had given her space to sort her problems out, and she hadn't come to him to say she was done yet._

_"You have been patient with me, haven't you? I supposed you deserve an answer. But you have to understand how difficult this is for me."_

_Revan wasn't sure what she would say. She seemed to be on the edge of many sides. She hadn't been fighting when he teased her, she didn't get angry from the jabs and pokes and half-hearted flirts. Revan loved her, had come to realize that early on, but expected nothing. He found it fun to wind her up and was content with friendship thus far._

_But lately she hadn't been like that at all. She was in serious thought about something._

_"I think so. Go ahead."_

_"With all my training... I should be able to control myself better than this... but I find myself watching you when I don't mean to. I'm thinking about when I don't want to. It isn't supposed to be like this!"_

_"It's alright, I don't really mind." He comforted her. It clearly bothered her._

_"No, it's not. Every time I try to call on all my teachings, they fail me. You have such power! Such passion! Yet you are more in the light than I ever was. You make difficult choices I would crumble under. When I think of you, I should be seeing a man falling to the Dark Side, but I'm not. I don't know if it's due to the bond between us, but I'm drawn to you."_

_Revan didn't say anything, unsure how to respond, and just letting her talk out her thoughts, like she tended to. She always needed a lot of words to get to what she wanted to say._

_"I'm sorry but... If I could... I would return to Dantooine. I need to be away from this bond. I need to weaken it. I need to be anywhere but near you."_

_"So go..." He said. It hurt saying it. He felt like he was stabbing himself in the heart, but if that was what she wanted, he would be happy with that._

_"I want to, but Malak must be stopped. My own feelings are nothing compared to that. Yet I know his could affect the mission, and the galaxy, if it's not resolved! I can't let that happen! I don't know what to do anymore! In some ways you make me feel weak, like I am caught up in the tide of our destiny, but at the same time you make me feel stronger, more alive..."_

_"What are you trying to say?" He asked. Her emotions and words were all over the place. _

_"The Council had to have realized this would happen due to the bond... This is a test. It has to be! By facing and overcoming my feelings for you I have learned a valuable lesson about control and the dangers of emotion. This is an important step in my development."_

_"Feelings?" He whispered in disbelief. Before when she said 'feelings', it was from the wrong choice of words and the usual stumbling over herself after he infuriated her. This was neither of those cases._

_"I'm... sorry if this is not what you wanted to hear. But I felt it was important you know our... infatuation... was nothing more than a result of our Force bond."_

_He refused to believe that. Revan was mad. "No. I refuse to accept that! You can't accept the truth!" _

_"You're the one who can't face the truth!" She shot back. "Malak has to be stopped! How can I do that if I let myself be blinded by feelings for you?"_

_"Bastilla!" He barked. She shut up. He had never yelled at her, not once. "I will defeat Malak. I PROMISE you! But I want you there at my side. Can you defeat Malak? No. Can you defeat me? Hell no! But you are not USELESS! Just having you there is enough for me, and your hard work is only for the Republic's benefit, not mine. I don't need it. Just being there is enough for me."_

_She stared at him. Since the day she met him, Revan hadn't said that many things at once. He was usually thoughtful, quiet, listening, giving swift orders, making hard decisions with a few simple words, or teasing her. That was more than he had said in a whole month._

_"You... you mean it, don't you? But how can I be sure you aren't making a mistake. I... I have to resist. I have to be strong... for both of us. I have to go."_

_"You know I'm right, Bastilla. Please... stay."_

_"But I dont... I mean, I can't... Malak will..."_

_He cut her off by kissing her, and all bets were off. After a night in bed, she was gone. He found her crying in a corner of the ship._

_She looked away from him. "We... we shouldn't have done that. It was wrong. The Jedi aren't allowed to fall in love."_

_"Bastilla..."_

_"No. Don't say anything. It was... It was a moment of weakness. Nothing more... We shouldn't have... I'm sorry."_

_"It was not just some moment of weakness. Please... don't do this to yourself. It was real for me. I know it was for you too." He was tired of seeing her torture herself. He felt her pain as his own, and it was eating at him._

_"I know! I know we both wanted it, but we... shouldn't have given in. We're Jedi! We can't act like this! Not now! Not while we have to deal with Malak!" She yelled so loudly it attracted the attention of others, and whether they knew what was going on her not... she whispered, "I'm... I'm sorry... I don't blame you. It's on me. It was... just a mistake. Nothing more."_

_They stopped talking. Revan tried, but she was so resolute in her mission to push him away and deal with Malak. All he could do was accept it despite his pain. He could talk to her after Malak was dealt with, at least._

_Then came learning he was Revan, from Malak's mouth no less. The betrayal. The force bond they shared let Bastilla feel exactly how hurt he was. She knew all along, and she never said a word. The signs should have been there. She had been pushing him away since the day they met, even when he was not meaning anything when he flirted and poked her buttons. In a sense, he blamed himself for that, and Bastilla felt his guilt as well._

"Stop..." I whisper hoarsely. But the memories still don't stop.

_She tried to explain, but Malak had them verbally where he wanted them. The newly revived Revan was too hurt to react or think properly and was vulnerable. He listened to Malak's words. Bastilla had to yell for everyone to get Revan out while she threw herself at Malak to hold him back, lest Malak poison Revan further so he could kill him._

_Revan learned she had been captured, and Malak had used her feelings against her to turn her to the dark side after capturing her and torturing her. Feelings he had planted in her. _

_So Revan went after her. She was on the Star Forge with Malak._

_"Revan... I knew you'd come for me." It wasn't said with annoyance. She wasn't unsure of herself emotionally like she had been. She expected him, and was ready to kill him. She attacked him. The bond they still had told Revan exactly why._

_He had been pushing her since he met her. Pushing her back and forth, with little more than teasing remarks, and finally had her cornered emotionally, and in her mind, took advantage? The idea of virginity as a prize was something he understood, but she was seeing it as it was something stolen from her, rather than given out. Not that Jedi ever give it out._

_Revan didn't fight back. He evaded and blocked, but he didn't go back on any opening she had, and she had plenty. She stumbled, swung wide, and had a weak foundation. Just as Malak wanted her to have._

_Feeling his strength slowly faltering, while the Star Forge was fueling her, he needed to end it before she did something she would regret. He tripped her and pinned her down. She struggled against him, but with him finally holding her, he was in control._

_It was aggravating for her. She was supposed to be strong, powerful with the Force, and he had defeated her with little more than wrist grabs._

_"No! No, this is not possible. Why can't I defeat you?!" She yelled with tears in her eyes._

_"Malak wanted you to do this... He changed your training specifically for me to kill you. He didn't give you some kind of revenge, he tried to give you death, by my hand, to spite us." Revan let go of her and stood. Feeling once more emotionally pinned, defeated, and realizing what had happened in the triangle between her, Revan, and Malak: she laid there and cried. She had turned on the Republic and killed people, Jedi, in the process. _

_"Kill me... For the sake of what we once shared... do not let me suffer. Make it quick, please." She begged._

_"No."_

_"What other choice is there? I have fallen to the dark side. I am the apprentice to the Dark Lord himself. You cannot let me live."_

"_You can be redeemed just as I am."_

_"No... I'm not strong enough. There is too much anger! Too much hatred and fear! I can no longer find peace in the Force..."_

_"Because of me?"_

_Her silence was answer enough. Probably the first time her answer was direct silence._

_"Don't you think I was angry when I found out about what you did to me?" He reminded her._

_"What I-"_

_"I'm Revan! You stormed my ship, attacked me, Malak betrayed me and destroyed the bridge where we were fighting, you dragged my comatose body to the Jedi, and LET THEM RAPE MY MIND!" She flinched at his yelling. "And you knew it. the whole time, even after I fell for you, and I didn't listen as you kept telling me it was just the Force bond, even as you kept pushing me away, it must have been so tempting to tell me EXACTLY why! Because I'm Revan. When we were finally together, you could have told me, and I would have forgiven you. With proper explanation, I would have been mad, but I would have still accepted you that night, and if not that night, then another night, but no. I had to find out from MALAK! MALAK! Don't you think I was angry? Don't you think I was tempted by hatred and anger and the dark side?"_

_He stopped himself and breathed. She was sobbing and he was on the verge of breaking down in tears himself. "But I didn't. I came here, to get you out. To get you back. I offered once for us to help each other. That hasn't changed."_

_"You were Revan and I couldn't tell you..." She sobbed. "It was agonizing! It wasn't easy! Even worse when I began to feel... closer. I hated myself for it! It tore me! But despite that, you are still here for me... Thank you... I think I can face the end, now. If you are the one to end it for me."_

_"I love you. I can't do that."_

_"I... I love you too... But what good is love? It cannot save me from the sea of blackness I am drowning in. I have betrayed everything I ever believed in! How can I atone for that?" She cried._

_"Do you ever shut up...?" He kissed her._

The rest of the memories flood in all at once. He killed Malak. They were married. They were exiled from the Jedi Order. They restarted the Revanchist anew to help the Republic from afar. The memories of their passion would have embarrassed a Hutt. And the final memory Revan had of Bastilla was of receiving the news that she was pregnant.

I see every moment of their life together as if I was there. I see their arguments, their teamwork, their passion and love. It is so different from how I thought it was. The only concept of love I have ever had was based on things I saw for myself, and considering the places I have been in my life, that's a messed up concept. It was completely wrong. This is love of a husband and his wife in pure, unfiltered, unadulterated form completely taking my understanding and concepts of it and tossing it aside.

I shouldn't love Bastilla, but I do. I do for Revan. I do for myself in a way, being unable to truly separate it yet.

And I killed her. My clone, a creature born of my darkness, killed her. I, Starkiller, put her dead face on the galactic holonet and MOCKED her!

So... this is what love is. It hurts. So much. My heart is empty. The ghosts of all I have killed stand around me. Plo Koon and Ahshaak Ti stand here, reminding me of the warnings they gave me. Warnings meant to stop a youth from going further down the murderous path he was on. The begging. So many people begging.

Now the secrets and information the Revanchist have amassed, all in the hands of a group of psychopaths. I don't claim to be the brightest, or the most politically inclined except from possibly some Revan-influence, but I know chaos when I see it. The Starkillers have the whole galaxy on the tip of their finger. They can shift the entire galaxy on its head, turn it around, chew it up, and spit it back out, only to dump it in the toilet and use a plunger on it for two hours until it can no longer be recognized as anything but a disgusting mass! One secret, and the war between the Cartel and Clans can shift in either direction. A secret every day? The entire galaxy would be scrambling just to keep up with all of the opportunities that can be taken advantage of, and racing each other to do it.

If they want to go for Starkiller instead, I know exactly how easy it will be for the galaxy to find where Revan planted his space stations: not. They also have a tendency to move, so good luck asking me where they are!

My clones are aiming for chaos. Anarchy. Destruction. Clones made from my sins. If only I had never been born, so many people would be happy and enjoying life together. What good is there anymore in me living?

_Starkiller chuckled. "Oh, Varus. Fight me as long as you wish, but look at your wounds. Loneliness and misunderstanding is our reality, and you know this. Pain… death… loneliness… I know your pains, your dreams, your nightmares… and your secrets. Deep down, below all the bluster and confidence and sarcasm, all the words and bonds, behind everything you have tricked even yourself into believing, you know the truth… and you are simply waiting for the day you are once more alone. That is our reality."_

Starkiller was right...

"I give up."


	46. Ep10 - Depths of Despair Part 2

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* * *

**Episode 10 - Depths of Despair Part 2  
**

* * *

Koj'Ineh stood on the bridge of the Ravager looking out to the city of Mandalore. Usually his place was in meditation, but ever since he learned the Spirit was with his child... he found he didn't know what to do.

Finding the Spirit had been an accident. Truth was, the Spirit had found him in that desert and lead him home. He felt the Spirit all around him, as he tried to find ways to return the favor. He humbled himself, he listened at all times, he partook in silent meditation, and in all these things he listened to how the Spirit would react. There were times the Spirit was not pleased with him, and there were times the Spirit simply didn't care. Did the Spirit have to tell him whether to eat carrots or peas? No, that was a mundane subject. He didn't need to bring the Spirit's council on finding a lost watch. It didn't have value. Better to get council on things that mattered.

And in all his long years his learning of the Spirit had been an experiment, a daily series of trial and error. There was no one to teach him. No one to explain to him the ins and outs... and now he found himself having to do that with someone else.

Should he teach her to humble himself as he did? Should he have her partake in the same daily rituals, traditions, and meditations? He would like nothing better than to have her carry on in his legacy, but ever since he was reunited with her in slavery, he had been slowly coming to a simple truth. Her destiny was not the same as his. She was too fiery. She was too much like Varus. That was partially due to idolizing the man, but that in and of itself created another problem.

Because, as much as Koj wanted to be able to teach her how to listen to the Spirit and be a humble servant, he couldn't. He couldn't sit and say fervently, 'This is the way. This is the path.' His views of the Spirit had changed in his time with Varus. Varus was a servant of the Spirit in his own way, and his way and path were strikingly different. The Spirit moved through him. The same with the Miraluka, and to some extent the Jedi, even as much as the Spirit was angry with them for... certain events beyond his knowledge. Koj could dismiss their ways and paths and forms of servitude of the Spirit, if only he didn't see with his own eyes how the Spirit was with them. Their methods were more than theory, they were different views of the same fact, different sides of the same coin.

Koj was filled with pride, so much fatherly pride, that the Spirit had blessed his child. But as he listened to the Spirit, he found an utter lack of counsel on what to do about it. He didn't dare think the Spirit had left him... no. This was a sign. But of what? Should he not give counsel and teachings to his daughter, his flesh and blood?

Koj felt the good Spirit come over him and give him faint imagery, little more than remembrance, but enough to say a point. Cahjinawl had a personality similar to Varus, her gift came in a destructive form akin to his, and she had been growing closer and closer to Varus every day since they met. It was... almost like Varus was her father, and Koj was little more than her grandfather, and it took every effort he could to keep everyone remembering who the father was.

"Is this what you want?" He asked. No one was around to answer, but his questions were not meant to be answered. He knew the answer already.

* * *

Varus ran out the door.

"Varus!" Ahsoka yelled before giving chase.

They ran off the premises and onto the street. With each step Varus gained speed until he was in full throttle. He didn't even take the effort to walk around people, they fled from him themselves.

"Varus! Stop!"

Ahsoka had seen him run a lot, but this was different. He was so hunched over throwing himself into running that it scared her. He wasn't just running, he was fleeing.

A knot clenched in her heart. She was losing ground, and if she lost sight of him, what then? Would he disappear? Would he find himself in a dark alley and commit suicide? With the way he was right now, she couldn't say anything. All she knew was that she was not going to let him be alone right now. She was not letting him go. His fleeing wasn't him drawing on the Force and it wasn't controlled. It was mindless and afraid. He knocked people aside with the sheer amount of Force energy pouring out of him like a typhoon. Varus neared the edge of the wall and jumped without looking. Cars that neared him on the way down were tossed aside without ever going near him, only to crash or spin out of control before the driver desperately stabilized. Varus landed on the top of a building, rolled, and kept going as though he didn't notice the fifty meter drop. Ahsoka followed after him, jumping the roof of car to car, from the top of one building to the next. Varus turned corners when he hit a wall, otherwise nothing could get in his way and he only moved straight.

She pushed herself into overdrive as well. Ahsoka felt her ankles ache as she pushed herself further. Inch by inch she managed to gain on him. She was never a runner like him. She was never as strong or powerful or fast or skilled as him, but right now she was desperate. She didn't need to be any of those things, but for this brief moment, she needed to be all of them.

Her lungs burned and her legs nearly gave, but she pressed forward until at least she came in reach of him. She grabbed his vest and spun him around. Between their momentum and suddenly jerking, it was a wonder they weren't sprawled all over the ground. She spun him around herself and slammed him into the wall. Between the energies coming off of him and how fast they had been both running; the wall cracked behind him and she was nearly thrown aside herself. It took all of her physical and Force strength to not be pushed away in the violent winds, and this was just him using his power subconsciously.

She feared deep down just how strong he was capable of being if he was focusing it. His growth since he had picked his training back up was staggering. She pressed forward into him with her while body, pinning his arms and legs, fearful that he would disappear if given the freedom to move again. Her head was barely centimeters away from his ear and she gripped his arms like a vice.

They sat there for a minute just breathing. Ahsoka was exhausted and hurting from the chase, and she twisted her ankle when they spun around. Varus, on the other hand, wasn't breathing hard at all. He just laid back limply. His head was back against the wall and his hands and legs draped across the ground haphazardly.

"You idiot." She hissed into his ear. "You almost died, sacrificed yourself for me, got thrown in prison, and was considered dead when the prison ship went down! You can't… you can't keep almost disappearing on me! My heart can't take it! I've lost enough friends! I don't want to lose any more!"

Varus didn't say anything.

"Did you even think about what was going to happen to you if you ran off like that? You could have gotten lost and... And... Varus?"

"No... Please..." He whispered.

"Varus?" Was he even hearing her? She gave him a few inches of room to look at him, and saw he was weeping silently. Tears poured down his face and chin. His eyes were glazed over. He didn't see her. His sight was lost in memory. He shook violently.

_Revan was Bastilla's husband. Varus is feeling his pain._

Varus at once stopped shaking and leaned his head back. His eyes stopped appearing as if he was looking into memory, but he also wasn't focusing on anything around him. Ahsoka couldn't tell where his mind was anymore. When people think of a memory, their eyes move to a specific corner, and when they think it's similar except in another corner. Ahsoka learned that was part of picking up unskilled liars. They focus more on thinking of fantasy than remembering reality. Varus... was neither of those. He wasn't thinking. He wasn't remembering. His face lost a portion of its disbelief and horror. He was still crying and mourning, but he had come to some kind of fact in it all.

"I give up..." He whispered.

* * *

The casket containing Starkiller and Jedi Master Rahm Kota rolled into the medical lab. Jedi Padawan Falon Grey followed along with the body of his former master. A group of scientists and doctors awaited. The head doctor put a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder, "I am to understand you want the body turned over to you for burial rights?"

"Yes, I do."

"Is it alright if we take a sample to ensure identity? We will be doing it with the Starkiller body, and can do your master's as well."

Falon frowned. He knew it was his master. Even without his sight, and without the Force left in the body, there was little need for it. "Just let me hold his hand a moment, and I will know, but if it helps with anything official, he would have wanted it done."

"Certainly, take all the time you need. I'll leave a nurse to help you if you need to move around. There are fragile instruments all around you, you understand."

"Yeah."

The doctor hit a few keys on the casket, and the faint humming of the casket's shielding disappeared. "It's open..." Departing steps followed by a door opening and closing told Falon he was semi-alone. The nurse, a male interestingly from the heavy breathes, stood to the side and watched him silently, yet letting him have his moment.

Falon reached a shaky hand in and took the calloused knuckles of his master. With clones being a more and more common issue, between the Sith and Mandalorian versions, it was understandable their desire for accuracy. However, clones tended to not have the same scars. So even if Kota was ever cloned, the scars wrote into his body told a story as singular as his life. Scars might be mimicked, but that would take more expenses than was necessary to consider right now, even if someone managed to clone and replace Kota's body, all in the span of minutes.

Really it was just impractical, but was something to think about. Gave his mind something to theorize and pick at while he held the man's hand. A part of him wished he hadn't promised the Ravager crew to stop using his special time-perception Force technique. With it he could extend this moment into hundreds, thousands. Days even where he could sit in silence and memorize every callous detail of his beloved master's hand. Unfortunately he also knew that would cost him everything. He had been studying under the Miraluka woman in how to see like one, and had come to realize they were not joking about his 'skeleton'.

He had managed to succeed in what was apparently record time. He could see the world around him, but it was a scramble of lines and images he couldn't make out yet. Like looking at an abstract painting after having been blind your whole life, and being told its the picture of a fork.

Trying to do so only made him horrifically dizzy too. There was no sense of up or down when you can see things around you from every perceivable angle. The only way to center himself is the 'feeling' of gravity, and possibly looking at himself from outside his own body (which was just freaky as hell).

Falon attempted to use the technique again.

The way it acts in theory, is that all Force-users broadcast their presence at all times. The Force literally sings inside you whether you know it or not, as well as all around you. Jedi and Sith are trained to listen to the singing and interpret the meaning and various attributes related to strength or stereotype of light vs dark. The Miraluka listen, and instead judge distance. How loud is the singing? What is the pitch? Every object has a different pitch based on its made material, and energy around you, such as light, distorts it just enough for you to know the energy is there. Similar to the way an open fire distorts the imagery just above it from the rising steam just before it turns to smoke. A more advanced skill is to actively 'aim' your Force presence in a direction and listen to the response, thereby making a stronger signal with more depth. Falon was just a beginner, he still couldn't tell the difference between a chair and a box.

Regardless, he did his best to interpret what he was seeing around him. There was... a lot of... thick flat surfaces. Rooms? Or the desks? No, it had to be the walls of the room, there was stuff inside it. There were a great many rectangular objects inside the box, any of which could be a casket or desk or just a box of some kind. There were also two pole-like objects.

With there being himself and the nurse, that was logical. Falon moved his head around to pop a kink in his neck, and one of the poles moved its 'top' area. Okay, so that was himself... Based on the positioning of other rectangular objects to himself, like a map, the one... 'There' had to be the casket of Master Kota. Falon breathed in and out slowly. The technique took a lot of effort for him thus far, and it took every bit of concentration not to spiral out of control and see all kinds of randomicity and mess.

After focusing on the rectangular object in question from every perceivable angle, he figured it to be nearly hollow, but with a lump inside.

Another several minutes of focusing and he was able to perceive Kota's nose out of the lump, followed by a chin and two small dips for where the eyes rested. The hair was actually funny looking, like a giant wart coming out of the top of his head. Still, sweating and exhausted, Falon smiled. "I did it... Master."

It was Kota's pet project with him going back years. Getting his sight back in one form or another. Kota was by far not a genius. He wasn't original in nature. He was good at learning and using the knowledge of the past, not of inventing from his own perception, but his attempts to help Falon regain his sight was... heartwarming. Falon wished he could go back and be less of a childish brat. He thought too highly of himself more times than he thought possible, despite his claim to be just an everyday person. But Kota didn't mind that. If anything, his rebellious nature brought out the best in Kota, his sergeant trainer side, which case it just turned into two men butting heads. But all in all, Kota far surpassed what Falon ever expected of him in a master.

Ironically it was an inside joke of theirs for years. Falon could all but hear Kota tease, 'That's nice. Now, if you're REALLY good... You'll add wings.' Kota was always pushing him to push his limits. Every time he beat something, Kota would either acknowledge it, or think Falon could do better, in which case he would throw in 'Now, if you're REALLY good... you'll take that and do it again with a handicap, or add this to make add an extra layer of complexity.' Of course, being blind was enough of a handicap anyway, Falon chuckled.

"Now... If I'm really good..." Falon murmured to himself. He thought a moment before smirking, "I'll do it while walking backwards. hehe... that would brighten his mood."

"Did you say something?" The nurse asked from the corner.

Falon shook his head, remembering himself. "It's nothing."

Falon allowed himself a few more minutes just holding his former master's hand before figuring Kota would find it creepy if his ghost was watching. Falon asked for help leaving, and they walked out.

The doctors and scientists returned, whispering their sympathies for the boy, and started their work. Kota was sent off to be cremated, and the Starkiller casket was opened. Inside, they found a device that was... peculiar.

"A droid?" A scientist asked. He lowered a scanner over it.

"Is it broadcasting?" Another asked. Security was a big risk there.

"No." He shook his head. "No power source detected. It's fried. Nor are there any explosive compounds or perceivable dangers detected. What a piece of junk..." With careful tongs, they extracted the droid and placed it in an anti-static box nearby to be studied along with the Starkiller corpse. The droid was then taken elsewhere and placed inside a warehouse.

The warehouse door closed, and the Ravager droid lit up, shook itself, and sputtered. "Piece of junk... that's just rude! I am the mighty Raveger! Master told me so. Lady Visas, the coast is clear."

A gentle poof was the only indication she arrived. "Good job." She whispered. "I'm in. Go back to sleep. In fact, Ravager, let this little one go entirely. It would spook them if it disappeared."

"Awww... okay. I'll make another one." It said before the Ravager turned the hardware off permanently.

* * *

Ever since the day Ahsoka met Varus, he had proven himself to be a difficult person to get to know, but she saw them and got to know them. He was a man of many layers. On the outside, he's childish and sometimes stupid, socially inept and adept at getting on people's bad side. Beneath that, he's a fighter who refuses to give in and cares so deeply about people around him that he believes it his purpose to walk the darkness to help them. That was the side she grew to care about and depend on, despite the choice in his method. But beneath that, beneath all of that, was a layer that was as deep and hollow as the darkness he walked, and only made painful by how much it contradicted his caring heart. His innermost layer was one of guilt and despair. Guilt for the path he walked, the people he killed, and the choices he made and the despair of everything where the choices were beyond his control where he lost everything. To Varus, he considered these sides like completely different personalities, but she knew better. Galen, Varus, Starkiller, they were all the same person, but a multitude of conflicting layers in flux.

His layers was a combination of light and darkness in massive conflict, and something she admired about him, despite never saying so, was how he could endure such conflict in himself and do his best while being true to himself. Because in the end, he was a fighter. In many ways, she considered him too dumb to know how to give up. Some people just can't full grasp that concept, it's so ingrained in their nature.

_I give up..._

Those are three words she thought she would never hear from his mouth, and it broke her heart. If Varus, the most stubborn idiot she ever knew, could give up, then just how great of a burden did he carry?

She didn't even realize she was squeezing his arm so tightly she would leave bruises, nor did she realize she was crying with him. She was too stunned to know anything.

Varus looked down and numbly blinked at her. "Ahsoka? What are you doing here?"

"Chasing after you."

"Ah..." He put his head back and looked up again, this time in comprehending of where he was. "Go away."

"No. If I do that, there is no telling what will happen to you."

"Does it matter?"

She gulped and suppressed the pain at hearing how defeated he sounded. She knew it. Even if she didn't think it consciously, she had a bad feeling after seeing him run off like that. If she hadn't followed him... would he have committed suicide? She felt her heart clench painfully. "Don't be stupid, of course it does!"

"..." He sighed.

"Varus, I know-"

"No, you don't. You have no idea." He responded. He didn't sound angry, he sounded tired. "You have not had to live with your hands stained in blood."

"I was in the clone wars. I did kill a few."

"Those were droids..."

"Not entirely..." She whispered. She didn't want to remember, but if he was going to listen, it would have to be honesty. "There were... several rebel armies made up of native soldiers. I focused on defending the clones I served with, but there were an enemy here and there that I needed to... remove in battle. If anything, you are better than me. You remember, honor, and feel guilty for the people you've killed, while I was told to consider it for the greater good the few times it happened."

"Again... you have no idea..." He whispered in growing aggravation.

"Then explain it to me! Tell me! Talk to me Varus! I can't understand if you don't-"

"I'M A MURDERER!" He interrupted.

People stopped all around them to stare or ran off to alert authorities, but Ahsoka saw Anakin and her students standing nearby turning people away. He wasn't so close as to interrupt, but was close enough to be in earshot and watch over them. Anakin nodded to her and ushered people away saying it was Jedi business. Varus didn't seem to notice him. Her students were nervous. It was clear in their eyes that they felt they were involved in something very personal.

"You kill a warrior who is out to kill you in war while under someone else's authority?! Congratulations! You're a ******* normal person!" Varus laughed like a madman even as tears filled his eyes. "I've killed... so many... good people. Bad people. Civilians. I've broken defenders and lead cities to slaughter." He looked down. "I remember... the flames. The screaming. But I don't remember the people. I don't remember the faces. They were sheep. Little more than insects to stomp that were unfortunate enough to get in my way. I didn't honor them! They were weaklings I pitied for being a waste of time!" He looked her straight in the eye. "If you knew the list of people I've killed, you wouldn't be sitting here trying to tell me not to feel guilty. Everyone's life would be better if I wasn't born."

"Varus..." She whispered painfully.

"Bastilla... Maris... Falon... My people..." He listed.

"Varus!"

"You..." He said.

Her? No, she didn't blame him for having met him! Ever since he had been given to her as a partner, and a friend, she felt she had only grown. She found someone she needed to be firm about, in more ways than one. She found someone she needed to be strong for, both to fight him and fight for him. She found someone who was in darkness that actually depended on her enough that she could say... maybe... just maybe... she could save him... And if she could truly save even one person, than it would have all been worth it.

"Varus, I don't-"

"I killed Plo Koon." Her students gasped, Anakin froze, and Ahsoka stared back into his eyes.

There was no hesitation, not hiding it, no lying, and no attempt to divert guilt or blame, but simple fact. He was obviously guilty, and felt it, but his tone was so factual that he was purposefully pushing her to go to his side... and give up on him like he wanted.

Ahsoka felt her world shatter around her. The Sith that had haunted her since childhood was none other than Varus. Like the missing piece of a puzzle, his face fit into the face of the hooded teenager, and like that she saw Varus standing over her master.

Ahsoka knew what Varus was doing. Even as her world crumbled, her memories invaded her thoughts, her nightmares became real, and her heart broke for the twist of fate set upon them, and the irony of who she had chosen as a friend; she knew why Varus said it. It was a test. He wanted to see how she would react. Would she blame him and prove him right in his self-destructive mindset, or would she prove yet again to be someone who can pull him out of the darkness, or would she be left in conflicted silence for a third time when his fate mattered?

Ahsoka had half expected Varus to list a crime or two, but the level of affect it had on her left her speechless, even as she wanted to scream at him for using her feelings to his advantage.

She, however, did not get the chance to say anything, as Anakin stepped in, and physically hauled a protesting Varus onto his shoulder. "Okay, we're taking this inside!" Varus struggled against the older man, but to no avail, and Anakin worried about the fact that Varus's struggle did not include his legs. "Come, Snips, younglings." Then, quieter, he said, "I will get him to open up, but what happens after that is up to you... I get the feeling your opinion means more than mine."

Ahsoka nodded dumbly and followed along, disbelief over her face. Her students were a pale comfort by her side.

Anakin entered a nearby pub and asked how much a room for the night would be. "Twenty credits... per night..." the man eyed the protesting man on the older man's shoulder.

"Jedi business." Anakin said and subtly opened his robe to show the lightsaber, to which the man simply nodded and handed them a key.

Anakin took them to a room, opened it, and dropped Varus on the bed. Varus immediately crawled away from him and glared. "You. Stay." Anakin pointed to him, then the bed. "Snips, make sure he stays." Ahsoka nodded, although Anakin doubted she would be as she was right now. She had been hit by something huge, and as usual with big things around Varus, it took a while for Ahsoka to grasp. With any luck, she would get better and be able to do what she needed to do before it was too late. Anakin trusted Varus not to move for one moment, and departed. He returned barely two minutes later with a bottle of wine.

Anakin sat at the table, pulled out three glasses, and started pouring. "Now, we are all adults here, save for those two, so rather than have this conversation out where every stranger can hear us and make this more complicated, let's have this here, in peace. Aramas, Slavian... What you hear today will never be uttered again. Are we clear?" They both nodded in a confusing combination of awe and fear. Slavian gaped and Aramas was distantly composed. Ahsoka sat down, but Varus refused to move. Anakin left a glass by Varus' chair and pulled out his lightsaber. "This is my emblem of my Jedi status. This represents justice, my responsibility, and my position. From now until... nine in the morning, everything said in this room is forgiven and will not be taken into court."

"Everything...?" Varus asked. He eyed him, then the kids.

"Everything. And they have the right to hear as Snip's students."

"How the hell can you claim to make a blanket statement like that?!" Varus demanded. "I DESERVE to die! After all that I've done forgiveness is not possible for me!"

"Everyone does things Varus. Remember, I killed the entire sand people-"

"Ghorfa."

Anakin corrected. "Ghorfa village. I murdered them. Yet I was forgiven. Do I deserve to live?"

"Of course, you're Anakin. The Jedi's 'Chosen One', and-"

"And I killed dozens of people. Including woman and children. If they were citizens of a more civilized society without Hutts driving them into extinction, I would have been put on trial. You know the Ghorfa better than I do. If I walked to Tatooine and wiped out a load of them, how would you react?"

"I would be infuriated."

"His brother and niece are both Ghorfa." Ahsoka explained.

Anakin blinked in surprise. "Oh... That I didn't know. Is it Koj? Yeah... that was more than I expected, but it doesn't change anything. But knowing that I did, can you forgive me, Varus?"

Varus stared at him long and hard. After a long moment, "Yes... and I think Koj can as well." Although Anakin suspected it was more because the tribe he wiped out was an enemy of Koj's. The part that made Anakin feel sick about it, after all these years, was that he didn't know or care. They could have been Koj's tribe and that wouldn't have made a difference.

"So..." Anakin said after a moment. "Why don't you start from your first crime, and go until we met?"

"It's a long list." Varus argued.

"Well we have... over twelve hours to do it."

Ahsoka put her lightsabers on the table as well, much to their surprise. Varus looked away and asked, "Why... why can't you just leave me to rot." It sounded rhetorical, so neither responded.

The minutes passed. Varus stared out the window in thought, and Anakin watched Ahsoka. He recognized there was... something between his two former students, some kind of bond that was being put at play. He didn't know what it was, but it clearly made their relationship and opinions of each other more important than his own.

The time extended to an hour... then two, and still Varus looked out the window in deep thought. Anakin and Ahsoka stayed quiet, and Ahsoka braved the wine. She flinched at the bite. It was very cheap wine. Anakin smiled apologetically and threw a bit back with practiced ease. He wasn't a drunkard, nor drank to excess, but he had grown accustomed to it. Years of drinking a small glass before bed to prevent nightmares from Nihilus had come to mean something.

Anakin felt that Nihilus was still with him, but the strength of his presence and influence was marginal compared to how it was before. It was... nice. He was almost giddy over the idea of sleeping without nightmares or being alone without a voice. The only setbacks would be getting out of the habit of drinking before bed and having lost a good chess partner. (He could live with that.)

At some point Varus put his two lightsabers on the table and sat down. "My first kill... the one I was named Starkiller for, was a former police officer. Nihilus had possessed him..." He took a sip of the wine and bristled when the dryness kicked in.

As Varus talked. Anakin and Ahsoka didn't interrupt except to make sure he knew they were listening. He went from one thing to another. A number of crimes were talked about that Anakin had never even heard of, or heard of from reference at some point or another. The crimes put against Varus five years ago were few compared to the ones he talked about. In a chronological sense Anakin could see Varus' degrading life go from the distraught Galen Marek seeking revenge on a single mass murderer into the Starkiller that they all saw on the news today. A slave to destruction that lashed out and destroyed everything in its way to becoming free.

And Varus talked about Plo Koon.

The detail of that mission was... morbidly fascinating. To hear about the progression to finally murdering the Jedi Master from another point of view rather than the victim, and to hear how the city fell. Varus saw Plo Koon as a massive stepping stone to power and revenge. In a sense, the respect was clear that even as a Sith, he had a more Mandalorian view of the duel with Plo Koon, but that didn't change the outcome, and Anakin came to see how Varus and Ahsoka were so closely tied.

Varus tried to set Ahsoka on a path to vengeance, much like his own, so that she could stop and kill him after he killed Nihilus. Instead, he may very well have set her on her path of forgiveness out of sheer stubbornness against him, and the desire to be the person Plo Koon would have wanted as a pupil, and just simply hero-worshipping the Jedi Master and the example he set.

And whether he knew it or not, that path of forgiveness Ahsoka was on could stop and kill Starkiller in its own way.

Ahsoka was deathly silent through the whole thing, especially the talking about her former master. It hit her deeply, and Anakin suspected that she saw the irony just as much as he did.

At last Varus was done, and the sheer magnitude of his crimes left Anakin speechless. By the end, Varus had turned his chair and face out the window to gain distraction from his thoughts. "If you all knew everything originally, you would find my rap sheet would have been as lengthy as a Hutt's. Only... I'm worse. Hutts steal gold, they steal riches, but I... I steal people's lives... There was a man once who lived just long enough to say 'Damn you, and damn the horse you rode in on'. I thought it was something funny to say at the time. I don't understand the reference completely, but... he was right."

The minutes passed and Anakin looked to Ahsoka. He had managed to get Varus to open up with silent understanding and patience, but would she be able to finish it? Anakin knew he could argue with Varus, but Ahsoka's opinion was more important, and arguing was not what was needed to be done. If they couldn't convince Varus to get past this... there was no telling what would happen to him. He was able to talk to them, but Anakin could see the deep weariness in his eyes. He lost the will to live.

"You're an idiot..." Ahsoka whispered.

Well, he certainly hadn't expected that approach. Varus didn't respond, although he clearly heard it.

"You really think..." Ahsoka seethed. "That you can just give up on life, and then USE my feelings for Master Koon towards your selfish ends to make me give up on you too?!" Varus looked like he had been slapped. He refused to look at her for shame. "I told that Sith that I would forgive him. Don't make me into a liar!"

Varus turned to look at her in naked shock. Anakin couldn't help smiling. Varus truly underestimated Ahsoka's heart it seemed.

"How... how can you forgive me?" He asked. "And after... after ALL I'VE DONE?! I DESERVE TO DIE!"

"And that's precisely why YOU'RE AN IDIOT!" She yelled back. "Forgiveness doesn't come with an exception clause where you fill in the blank and get back permission on what can and cannot be forgiven! It isn't a 'by your whim' idea nor a 'if you feel like it' thing! I forgave you for that! END OF STORY! We didn't know each other at the time, so you can't act like you betrayed me! Yes, I'm hurt you never told me, but then that is not something I can't understand."

Varus stared at her aghast. Anakin watched as the idea that she truly had forgiven him already for that clicked in his mind. He clenched his teeth and looked away again. "Thank you, but you're one out of thousands I owe."

She jumped up out of her chair and stomped over to him. "Oh, no you don't." She turned him around. "You are Varus Wynn. You are not Starkiller! The ONLY similarity the two of you have is shared memories! You and Starkiller have walked down two separate paths in life."

"Hardly, it is both of our goals to kill Nihilus." He argued.

"At what cost? Starkiller is doing it while damning the galaxy just as much now as he had started to do six-or-seven years ago! You are doing it while protecting your friends, keeping innocents out of harm's way, and doing what you can to help your people, all while acknowledging that you are not Varus-Almighty! The path you and Starkiller walk are different because you choose to go about it by different ways... Varus, the fact is, if you had turned your back on all of us and become a mass murderer again, as the news portrayed you as, then yes, you would get no argument from me that you have a lot to pay for, but that would be you paying for things you did as Varus!"

"And what about the debt I owe for when I was Starkiller!?" Varus demanded. "It is my personality, my drive, my ambition as Starkiller that has carried over into my clones! It is because of the choices I made then, that the galaxy will suffer now! It is because of how dark I became, that now my Bastilla is dead!"

"She is not your wife! You owe her nothing!"

"I HAVE REVAN IN MY HEAD!"

"AND YOU HAVE FAMILY ON YOUR SHIP!" Varus flinched. "You have a brother, you have a niece, you have a mother and brother and a bunch of idiots who follow you because, seeing as how you are not remembering it right now, you have not failed ANY of them! When it counted, you were there!"

"The galaxy needs me gone! That's what counts."

"DAMN THE GALAXY!" Anakin spit up his drink. Aramas snorted in laughter. Slavian gaped, again.

He dropped his glass and coughed. The one sip of wine had turned into juice all over his face. They had been drinking slowly for the last few hours. The bottle was only half gone, but it was being worked on slowly, now he had a bunch on his face. He grabbed a napkin and wiped his head.

"Sorry, Master, but that is something I've come to realize is the main problem with the Jedi! We think that it is our responsibility to bear the burden of the galaxy. We turned into cold politicians because we thought we could fix the world's problems! Well guess what, WE CAN'T! AND YOU CAN'T EITHER!" She poked Varus in the face. He stared at her dumbstruck. "The galaxy is too big! All we can do is choose what we can and cannot fix, and focus on them. You can't save the galaxy Varus. You can't save everyone, and dying will save no one! You made for yourself a small gathering, and you focused on them, and have had success. Think about it, what is the biggest difference between you and Starkiller?"

"We're going after Nihilus in two different ways..."

"No. You turned from Galen into Starkiller because you thought you could fix the galaxy! You thought you could fight Nihilus all on your own, and in order to achieve it, you bore a burden that would break anyone, and plunged yourself in darkness since it was the only conceivable way to do that! While you, Varus, are only do what you feel is right for a small group of people! I may be wrong, but it doesn't look to me much like you are giving much of a damn about Nihilus these days!"

The seconds ticked by as Ahsoka caught her breathe. She was flushed from anger and embarrassment for being so outspoken, and Varus was just staring at her dumbly. His eyes dropped to Anakin, and the older man put his up hands. "Don't look at me. She's the one who demands your attention."

Varus gulped and looked confused. "I'm... sorry?"

Ahsoka fell back in exhaustion and sighed deeply. She was sweating and wiped her forehead. "Varus... I won't deny you have a crime list a mile high... but don't think giving up is the way to fix it. It will fix nothing. Everyone will be dead still. If anything... everyone who loves you will have lost family... and we would lose you. Do you want Squirt to lose her Uncle who is like a second father to her?"

"No. But..." Varus stopped. "I love her... but... after all I've done."

"Think about this... if there was one defining moment in your life that would separate you from Starkiller, what would it be?"

Varus thought about it, and answered, "I saved Squirt. I had been building up resistance to the neck-implant, and was finally able to use my power to escape, and I chose to use it to save her life... and threw away my freedom."

"Then hold onto that. There will be consequences, in one form or another, but no punishment should be self-inflicted. That would deny everyone else the right to punish or forgive... and don't you think they have that right at least to choose? And don't you think instead of paying back with nothing, you should pay back with good? And how will Squirt react to her savior having left himself to die on the street? She might follow you into death. Suicide is practically contagious, Varus..." Her voice steadily dropped to a whisper. "One person... then another... then another... I'm sorry, but it's not as rare as it sounds."

Varus looked devastated. The thought of his family committing suicide... because of him... Anakin smiled as he saw Varus's expression change rapidly, he could almost read the man's thoughts. Varus was not fixed. His guilt would follow him all of his days. But he clearly loved his family, and would hold on... at least for them.

"Then..." Varus hesitated and briefly, Anakin could swear he saw the confused child Galen in his face. He looked like a lost, innocent, confused boy behind the body of a grown man. Even his voice dropped to seem younger. "What do I do?" He rested his head against the window like an old man tired of life. The first drops of rain splattered on the window.

She stooped down in front of him and took his hands. "You asked to become the embodiment of my rage... for me to let another go after Starkiller for all that he has done. In return, I ask that you let me be your forgiveness. If you cannot forgive yourself, let others... me forgive you at least. Turn away from the hatred and anger that has driven you, and instead choose to do what you must because you want to protect the people you care about. Do not kill unless I allow it. Do not go after innocents or get them involved... In short, let me be your moral compass. Your morals are based around the teachings of a monster... and your path is a self-made construct to achieve an impossible goal. It's time to start a new path."

"…"

"Let us help you... Varus." She whispered.

Tears appeared in his eyes and he turned back to the window. "A new path... sounds nice."

Slavian whispered, "Um... you don't strike me as bad as you claim... that shouldn't be too hard."

Varus replied with a smirk. "Then you're a dumbass... I'm a Sith, boy, the embodiment of your nightmares."

"Varus..." Ahsoka growled.

"Alright... alright..." He sighed.

"The sun will rise, Varus." She smiled. "If you let it."

Anakin couldn't be prouder. He considered going into the bathroom to get some napkins for his eyes as well. He wasn't crying, but he felt he could. They spent the rest of the night talking. Ahsoka and Varus talked terms of what they would be doing on the ship. Ahsoka would take training from him in becoming stronger to be able to defend better, and Varus would meditate with her to be able to forgive himself, forgive others, release his anger, and find inner peace. Anakin asked Varus to tell them about Bastilla, and while he was hesitant, he did. It was good therapy for him to talk about her, and while most of the galaxy would not mourn her, not even her husband, at least one man would. Anakin was surprised how... intimately he knew Bastilla despite not having seen her once, but then he figured he shouldn't be surprised what with Revan's memories in there.

Come morning, Anakin said, "I don't mean to break up this night... but there is something very important for us to consider. Varus, you now know the pain of losing family." Varus nodded. "Well, Starkiller will be declaring the location of Padme and my children this morning and..." Anakin didn't want to add the possibility of losing them, but Varus got the idea. His face hardened and Anakin saw the spark of determination in him again.

Varus would take a long time to heal, but he understood the pain of loss intimately now, and Anakin needed for him to focus. What better therapy in a sense could there be than for Varus to take his pain, and turn it into drive to prevent others from feeling the same?

"We're going after them." Varus declared. "You will not lose them, I promise you."

"That's all well and good, but remember these Starkillers may be among those going after them. Boba and I found the Starkillers are associated with a Force cult called the Eternal Hand, and the Eternal Hand is everywhere and spreading, rapidly. Odds are, we will be seeing them again. What can you tell me about Starkiller?"

"The old or new?"

"Is there a difference?"

Varus shrugged. "My identity as Starkiller, and the clones are different. Our drive and path was the same. Our determination was incorruptible but the clones have techniques and power I never tapped into, and they have far better resources and numbers. The goal is also different. I hunted Jedi, any Jedi Master, to earn trophies and earn a duel from Nihilus and training when I wasn't strong enough to kill him. The clones have a way to defeat Nihilus and are after you specifically."

"Me?"

"Yes. Every move the clones have made since the beginning has been to either find you, draw you out of hiding, or create a massive distraction or hold hostages. Even the game they started yesterday is merely a way of going after you."

"I figured as much from the terms..."

"Why would they be after Master Anakin?" Ahsoka wondered.

Anakin grimaced and Varus said, "You want to say it, or should I guess?"

"No... It's fine. I-" Anakin narrowed his eyes at Varus briefly. He really shouldn't be surprised that Varus figured it out. He glanced at the kids again, "This, will also not be repeated, ever."

"Understood?" Slavian wondered. Aramas nodded.

"I have been hiding the Mask of Nihilus ever since the fall of Coruscant."

"What?" Ahsoka responded blankly. A third time, or maybe sixth time today, Slavian was gaping in shock and surprise.

Varus nodded. "I figured as much. Is there an influence on you?"

"Yeah, isn't it... dangerous?" Slavian asked meekly.

"Only whispers. I'm in complete control of myself, and even then the voices and feelings from him have diminished since I turned over the mask to Mandalore."

"Good. Good. Carth and Canderous would see it kept safe. They hate Nihilus almost as much as I do."

Anakin didn't like Carth or want anything to do with the scoundrel, not after his implication in knowing about Padme all this time, but he could forgive at least. Enough to tolerate his presence if he needed to. He wasn't sure yet. Whether he openly despised Carth would have to depend on how the Revanchist treated his family. Bastilla he could understand, after talking with Varus he figured that her actions were professional, and what she believed was necessary and good. Carth? He wasn't an outside agency. He wasn't rooting for another side. He was supposed to be on the same side as Obi-Wan and himself and he had been supposedly helping them find her all this time. It was lies. It was them being lead by their nose. It was personal.

Ahsoka looked between them feeling completely lost. "Did I miss something?"

"The Starkiller clones are after me because they believe I was a host for Nihilus, or at least in possession of him." Anakin explained. Ahsoka's eyes exploded wide.

"H-host?!"

"I'm fine." Anakin assured her. "For some reason... I am the first, and only, person Nihilus has never been able to control or kill with his power. On Coruscant, he didn't spare me because of my good looks or anything. He tried to kill me just as much as all the other Jedi, but his ability to consume my Force energy didn't work. The only amount of influence he has ever been able to have on me is whisper in my ear, show his face in the mirror, nightmares... or be a chess partner."

Ahsoka pointed an accusing finger at him. "You! He? Tha-that explains so much!" Anakin smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry, Snips. But hiding Nihilus has been beyond top secret. Not even Obi-Wan knew. But yes, that is why I started drinking and playing chess. In return for alleviating his boredom, he would be less... obsessed."

She growled but forgave him. "I'm forgiving Varus. Might as well forgive you!"

"Might as well." He repeated with a smile on his face.

The five of them headed for the Ravager in various states of mood. Anakin was ready to jump on the chance to go after his family, Varus became quiet again and depressed, and Ahsoka had to keep an eye on him. Anakin didn't think Varus would try to hurt himself now, but depression and guilt like his was dangerous in how difficult it was to deal with. Varus would have to fight against his own depression and guilt for the rest of his life... and it showed. After a while they had to help him walk and keep moving forward.

Slavian and Aramas hung back, clearly trying to process everything they had learned. They asked questions of Ahsoka, and she answered. Anakin wouldn't be surprised if those two felt out of the loop. Big things had been happening all around them, and as difficult as it was for the old Skywalker team to get a grasp on events, it must be harder for them.

They stopped in front of the Ravager and Anakin gulped. "It's rather... imposing when it's not in pieces."

The Ravager was a full dreadnaught, perhaps even bigger into the Leviathan class. It was several miles in length and half a mile in width. And every inch of it screamed monster.

"Oh, her? Pft... She's as harmless as a kitten on three legs."

"Uh-huh... I don't see it."

They walked up the massive ramp to find Koj'Ineh standing at the top. Anakin did not recognize him without his Ghorfa robes. So far as Anakin was concerned, it was just some alien with a connection to the Ravager and Varus. The alien stood directly in their way, drew a sword, and plunged it into the ground. Anakin saw it as very unusual, but Varus and Ahsoka both gasped.

"Stop." Varus said. "Let me talk with him."

Anakin looked between them curiously, "What about it? He stabbed the ground."

Anakin continued walking, but Varus barked, "STOP!" Anakin stopped in surprise. Never before had he heard Varus use that tone... with anyone. It was commanding and not to be ignored. Varus took a deep breathe, exchanged an oddly knowing look with Ahsoka, and walked forward to the alien.

* * *

"Koj… buddy…" I swallow. "Move."

"No."

"Koj!"

"I will not move."

I look between him and the others. I motion for everyone to stay back, and Mother Hen, to her credit, gets the memo. She tells Anakin, Slavian, and Aramas not to get involved. We have a hostile Ghorfa in the way that needs to get out of the way. I don't know what his deal is, but I have a very bad feeling about this. That sword he thrust into the ground is a very clear message, and only Mother Hen and I understand the gesture.

If we walk the line, he has permission to cut us down, in his mind. I don't think that whatever problem Koj has with me could be this bad. Yes, he might feel like less of a father since Squirt wants my attention all the time, and he might want to keep his daughter away from Ahsoka because he thinks she will take her from him... so that leaves one person.

Koj already told me he didn't blame the servants of the Jedi, but the leaders and Anakin is a leader amongst Jedi now. Anakin may not be at the top of the Force-pole, but he's high enough to be considered responsible for the actions of those under him. Which... for some reason... Koj does.

Koj has never told me specifically why he despises Jedi. When I met him, his hostility was equal with all Force-users because they lie and steal from his people and call them barbarians. It can't be that he blames Anakin for killing that tribe so long ago, he already forgave even before we met. So... why?

"Koj." I plead. "My clones are going to spring a whole lot of trouble on Tree-Hugger's family to get him and prove a point if they fail. I understand you don't like Jedi. I understand you may have a problem with him, but for the sake of his child..."

"Children." Anakin corrected.

"Shut up Tree-Hugger... fine, whatever. CHILDREN, plural, two or more kids all that have never met their father, and a woman who I have met and think might be one of the nicest people I've had the privilege of meeting after the first time." It helps she was one of the first good impressions I've ever made. "I need you to set aside your anger and hatred long enough for us to do something."

"…"

"Okay, Koj! You want to push it? That's a direct order!" I bark. "As your captain, you will stand down and move!"

Now he looks at me and I feel something begin to strain. Never once have I given him an order. A request, sure. Advice, lots of times. But never have I usurped any kind of authority over him. The words sound alien coming from my mouth, and judging from Ahsoka's expression she is surprised as well, but she doesn't say anything.

He's my sworn brother. I threw away my freedom for him and my niece. Damnit, Koj! I shouldn't have to order you!

"I will not move." He repeats, and this time he changes his stance ever so slightly to the side so he faces me now just as much as them.

And in one gesture, he might as well have punched me in the gut or thrust a knife in my heart. Why is he doing this?! Why is he looking at me now as though I am his enemy just as much as them! I DON'T NEED THIS TODAY! All I want to do is sleep and get past the turmoil they helped pull me out for the last night. I need this day to end!

"What is wrong with you?" I yell. "I realize you never have liked Jedi, I am not particularly fond of them myself, but damnit! Koj! PEOPLE ARE GOING TO DIE! WHY CAN YOU NOT JUST SUCK IT UP AND LET THEM-"

"THEY KILLED MY PEOPLE!" He yells back.

And it's like a bomb just went off and left us in the aftermath of silence. No one moves, no one breathes, and I'm pretty sure my heart stopped as well. Koj has never once raised his voice in the time I've known him. Okay, correction, maybe once or twice when I irk him and manage to get under his skin, but never with this much anger. The hate is rolling off of him in waves. Koj is a calm, collected, precise, exacting person. Every word and action is precise, exact, and perfect. He hates waste of words or actions. He never lashes out. He never yells. He never hates.

"Five years ago…" He breathes venomously. "When the Cartel attacked… who do you think it was that led them?"

"Fatass slugs?"

He shakes his head and turns his hateful gaze on Tree-Hugger. "Jedi. Not the Sith. Not some outside sect. Jedi. You want to know why I cannot just 'suck it up'? You should know why. Jedi slaughtered my people. Nihilus slaughtered yours. Can you forgive Nihilus?"

"No…"

"Then DO NOT tell me hypocritically what to do. I will not hunt down the Jedi out of vengeance, and I will not murder others in some path to destroy them, as you have done with so many. DO NOT preach to me like you are my better, when you have killed so many to reap your selfish vengeance on a singular individual!" Every word is like a physical blow. He has never said anything like this before. Is this what he thinks of me? I'm selfish and hypocritical? "I will not hunt down Jedi in revenge, but all the same I WILL NOT tolerate their presence on our ship!" He directs his anger at me, and it is paramount.

If I stop him, he is going to lash out at me too.

Koj… "Don't do this…" I plead. It is difficult to breathe, and it takes so much effort just to whisper.

Ahsoka looks at him with just as much pain as I feel, but Anakin winces in sudden realization, and some pieces fall into place.

"Back when the Republic was still around…" He says slowly. "You remember that first, and only, war meeting you were in, Varus?" Ahsoka gasps when she realizes what he is talking about.

War meeting… war… OH! Oh no…

Right after I started my apprentice to Tree-Hugger, back when I was a slave to the Jedi, I had been in a meeting involving stuff. I didn't pay much attention, but now I remember.

Koj isn't stupid. Far from it. He realizes something just from watching us, and let's just say his realization hurts more than anything he could have said otherwise. He can scarcely believe it, but he isn't stupid. He isn't the type of person to delude himself or lie to himself in an effort to deny things just because he doesn't want to believe it. "You knew…?"

"Koj…" I don't know what to say.

Tree-Hugger steps up in front of me against my own brother and Koj's hurt turns to hatred on the man. Tree-Hugger says, "The Jedi made a deal with Jabba the Hutt six years ago. In return for our… help… in purging a rebellion from Tatooine, we would gain shipments of medigel for the war effort… I'm sorry."

Koj's expression is going through a lot of different emotions today. I have never seen him this exposed or with his heart so easy to read before. Pain, betrayal, hatred… it all goes through his face and eyes, before landing on one I have only seen a few times in my life.

It's the same look a Sith has almost permanently sketched into his face. Pure and unrefined bloodlust and animalistic hatred. But also a measure of disbelief and shock.

Koj suddenly steps across the line he himself made, grabs his rifle, and brings it down in Tree-Hugger's face. Tree-Hugger looks squarely into the barrel of Koj's sniper rifle. "YOU MURDERED MY PEOPLE FOR DRUGS?!"

Tree-Hugger doesn't move, Mother Hen doesn't move, and I'm too hurt to move. Koj doesn't move either. The end of the rifle shakes furiously, another small sign of the naked and exposed emotions flowing across his face. Tree-Hugger looks calm, but the gentle shine on his skin shows he is beginning to sweat.

Tree-Hugger slowly lowers himself down, ever so slowly so as to not make any sudden moves, and bows his head. If it weren't so serious, I might find the occasion hilarious. So many surprises today. General Anakin Skywalker, the 'chosen one', champion of the Jedi in a sense, bowing his head in apology. "I am sorry. The Jedi have become cold and heartless. Our code prohibited emotion for the greater good and our thoughts are on the whole galaxy to the point that we had forgotten the individual. When troops die, and cities fall, all we had to do was take a peg off the board, and that was it. But while we stood around maps and discussed strategy and philosophy, we never had to hear the mourning of mothers and screams of children. We never had to watch homes burn and entire civilizations be uprooted."

That's not entirely true. From my time as a Sith, I remember seeing Jedi on the front lines. They did see troops die, and they did watch as chaos ensued with their own eyes. But that's not the point he is trying to make, I guess. He is speaking generically of the Jedi as a whole. He is speaking from the perspective of strategists in a war room discussing logistics and troop movements.

Koj keeps his weapon aimed on Tree-Hugger's face. "Koj…" I plead again.

He fires.

He misses. Smoke rises from a spot directly behind Tree-Hugger, the shot went right by his face, and yet again I get to see Skywalker with a shocked expression believing he is going to die, and the realization that he wasn't dead. I am seeing it entirely too often.

Koj lowers the gun and whispers, "You think an apology will fix this, Jedi?"

"No."

Koj nods, and his expression becomes unreadable. "There is only one way to resolve this now… Get on."

"What?" The rest of us ask.

"Don't make me repeat myself." He pulls his sword out of the ground and stands to the side. Immediately the Jedi run in, but my focus is on Koj. He is being too unreadable, even for me, and something is very wrong. Why would he make such a huge turn in demands? He is resolved. He has made a decision, and what it may be scares me. Especially once he starts walking down the ramp and walks past me without as much as a glance.

"Koj?... Koj! Stop! KOJ STOP NOW!" He stops. "What are you doing?"

"Leaving." He states.

"… Why?" I ask, afraid of the answer.

"These particular Jedi are not to blame for what happened to my people, brother…" There is a small hint of warmth in his voice. "You have a family to save, and I cannot and will not tolerate their presence. That leaves only one alternative to resolve this. I will not be there to have to tolerate them."

I run down the ramp after him, intending to drag his butt back myself if I have to, but stop when he raises his rifle at me and I skid to a stop. "There is something I have to do... I know you cannot accept it…" He says. His mask drops and in its place is something I would never have expected to see. Love. "And for that… Thank you." He shoots me.

I don't have my light sabers on me, and I curse myself to being too hesitant to dodge. I could have if I focused. It's just a stun shot, but I still could have dodged it easily.

"Watch over Cahjinawl in my place, will you? You are a better father than I." That's the last thing I hear before I see a metal floor coming up to meet my face.

Then there are lights. "KOJ!" I jump up to stop him, only to be held down by Tree-Hugger. "Get out of my way, Tree-Hugger! Koj is-"

"We're in orbit..." He says with dark finality.

I stare at him a moment as realization dawns on me. A couple of the others are here as well... and I'm in bed. We're on the Ravager. We're in hyperspace.

"We received the coordinates to... Padme... leaked from the holonet. With Koj... missing and you unconscious. You're crew took a vote on what you would want, and are heading there now." Well... they're right. It is what I would want. It's also what Koj would have wanted...

Damnit, Koj.

I bow my head and sigh. I feel tired... so tired, and I just woke up. I'm getting tired of life. Not that I am thinking of dropping out of life again, but I'm still tired. Squirt isn't here. "Does Squirt know?"

"No." Ashley sniffs. I glance up and see Ashley Marr is upset. She isn't crying, or being in mourning or anything, but she is showing the same tension in her face that Visas does when she is angry and upset.

"Good... Until Koj returns, you and I will have to take care of her."

"She's not going to take it well... Losing her people, her family, constantly being afraid for you and Koj, being pulled in and out of school at his whim. Losing Koj..."

"Pulling her out of school was my idea. She needs to be with us more than with strangers filling her head with garbage. Blame that on me."

She frowns, but continues, "But still... I'm afraid of what will happen to her."

"We can take care of Squirt. She has us... it's Koj I'm worried about. He has always been stoic, but even a grown man, so to speak, he can take things hard as well. He lost his people, knew why, and knew the consequences of genocide. She didn't. She could recover... he could not. I want to say he will be better... but I can't. I don't see him returning until he overcomes his pain."

"And when do you think that will happen?"

"When he learns to forgive..." I say honestly. I feel like the biggest hypocrite saying that is what he needs, but I know him. He won't return until he is past this. His problem was not as small as I thought it was... but he is also a Ghorfa to work through problems. "Don't worry." I smile reassuringly. "He will return... one day. He may be bad at showing it, but he does love us. We just have to be patient and wait."

She nods. "And Squirt...?"

"Koj is going to either sit or get into a mood for a while, or he is going to move around and seek to calm the pain in his heart. As such... tell her that 'Papa' is on a journey for enlightenment. It won't be a lie... Can I trust you to educate Squirt?"

Ashley gulps. I continue, "I'm not asking you as a captain or Keeper, but as her uncle. There is a lot of things I need to put my mind toward, and as much as I want to be, I can't be there as much as I have been. I'm there for her, but teaching her requires more..."

She nodded. "You can count on me."

"Thank you."

"Should I teach her of the Force too?"

That's a good question. "The beginning and things most agreed upon."

"Uh... but-"

"No offense, Ashley, but I am uncomfortable with her being taught anything of the Force from the viewpoint of Sith, Jedi, or Miraluka. Whether we like it or not, we're all biased about our views. Let her decide for herself what path to follow, but she does need to learn power and control in balance."

She nods. "I will do my best."

"Thank you." I wave her off. I will make sure to see Squirt later... right now there are more important things to deal with. "Visas, did you find what you were looking for."

She notices my vague question and says, "I did."

"Good. Get warmed up. We may find ourselves in a fight once we arrive."

She leaves. This leaves HK, who is missing an arm, Ahsoka, who is sad, Tree-Hugger, who is bruised on the face, and Falcon. "Did you give Kota the honor he deserves?"

"Yeah..." Falcon nods. He looks as depressed as I feel, but he's a tough kid.

"I'm glad." I turn my eyes to HK. "Do I want to know? Did you try to kill Tree-Hugger?"

"Confusion: You said you did not want to know. Why are you requesting information?"

"You did didn't you?"

"Please take notice of my previous inquiry."

I sigh. "Can't you two play nice?"

Tree-Hugger raises an eyebrow, "I'm the oldest one here, and I was the one attacked. I believe its exact words were: So you have returned, my adversary. You may have won previously, but now that I have an improved hardware, I shall take great delight in... ripping the flesh off my bones, I think it was?"

"Your statement is accurate."

"So, yeah. I took its arm off and it decided keeping vigilante over you was more important after that."

I groan. "HK. No more declaring war on Tree-Hugger."

"Disappointment: Aww... Yes, Master."

"Tree-Hugger, would you mind fixing its arm? We need him ready for when we arrive."

"I'll see what I can do..." Anakin look at HK. "But it's such a lousy piece of junk that adding anything to it might give the rest of it a massive system error." HK growls.

"And please don't aggravate my personal assassination droid into attacking back..."

After that, everyone left, except Ahsoka. "What is it Ahsoka?"

"I... just wanted to see how you were doing. Koj couldn't have left at a worse time."

"Yeah, his timing sucks..." I sigh. "Damnit, I wish I had seen it coming. The coward walked off and purposefully left me holding the bag on what's left of his family."

"One thing about friends and family... they are good at hiding things until it is too late." She sits down next to me. "Will you be okay?"

I rub my temples. "I'll be fine... I know Koj will return. I know him. He needs some time to think, but he will be back."

She smiled. It was good to see Varus had faith in his brother, even after Koj hurt him. It was a sign of forgiveness. It was a big step. She was proud of him.

"I just... I need today to end." I don't say anything more as I crawl in bed, still wearing my jacket and boots and everything. I can't be bothered to remove them… I'm too tired. She stands up and leaves, but just before she closes the door I say, "Oh, and Ahsoka... Thanks for earlier."

"You're welcome, Varus." The door closes, I close my eyes, and ready myself for the usual nightmares. I'll probably get only a few hours of sleep.


	47. Interlude - Exchange of Ideals

**Note: I can't promise this chapter is the best... I was working on editing it and proofreading, but I am not doing well right now. I am actually heading off to my best friend's funeral in 15 minutes... He died a few days ago. I met him while I was alone and contemplating suicide, and he saved me from it. So... I'm a bit shaken up. Writing helps me cope and process feelings, but doing quality writing takes some focus that I lack right now.**

**I am also trying to open up Ahsoka and Varus a bit more to each other and being attracted to each other physically, but also staying true to themselves in the Jedi/Sith teachings they have been raised in. With Varus, its somewhat easy yet hard, because while he has had his eyes opened by Revan's memories, he still is a kind of child inside when it comes to girls. He gets uncomfortable, so getting him to the point that he can be comfortable with his own growing feelings is necessary.**

**Ahsoka will be easier. She has a more normal head on her shoulders. :P**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, so no sue!**

**Remember to Review. I want to know what you think and how the chapter is to you. Is it good? Is it bad? Anything I need to know? Any ideas or things you want to see in the future?**

* * *

**Interlude - Exchange of Ideals**

* * *

With the departure of Koj, and entry of Anakin, there were some changes made to the Ravager.

Squirt was moved into the 'big girls' room with Ashley Marr. Squirt loved the idea, considering it to be moving in with her big sister. Varus thought Squirt looked up to Ashley more like a mother at times, but if she wanted to call Ash 'big sister', then that's up to her. Squirt was visibly depressed by her father leaving for enlightenment, and it worried them. That first night, Varus had woken up to find Squirt crying in his arms again. She had her teddy bear and had snuck in.

Now he had to explain to her that girls her age don't sleep with males anymore.

"Why?"

"Because."

"Because why?"

"I don't know actually..."

"Yes, you do..." Ashley grumbled. She stopped eating breakfast long enough to participate in the conversation. The empty seat usually taken by Koj, directly next to Varus, was now taken by Anakin, who was silently amused by everything going on around him. Cupcake tried telling him some stories of his glorious conquests, but Anakin had better ones, real ones, and the lizard shut up fast.

"Okay. Is it because-"

"Do not finish that sentence if you actually know." She threatened with her fork.

"I already said I don't know."

"Yes, you do."

"How am I supposed to know I know if you don't listen and tell me I'm right?!" Varus demanded in growing aggravation.

"Because SOME people at this table are actually innocent! She doesn't need you destroying that!"

"Name one." Visas inserted from the other side of the table. "We have an assassination droid, a Sith, a bunch of people from prison, a bunch of Jedi who have received an education in taboo subjects or participated in war or sexual activities, as well as you and me, and I am most certainly not innocent."

Varus rolled his eyes. "Pft. Please, you're the most innocent person on this ship. Your stuck in your books and rooms so much you don't have time to-"

"My every impulse when in your presence is to throw you on the floor and take you." She said flatly. Then continued eating as though she hadn't just left him gaping and uncomfortable, and caused Ahsoka to choke on her food, and most of the table to either be stunned silent or laughing hysterically. "I have enough self-control... don't look at me like that, but like I said: Name one. The girl has seen death multiple times. She can take it. Stop being so soft. If she doesn't know about men by now, it's about time she did. "

Ashley was one of the before mentioned who was stunned. She put her head in her hands and groaned. "Fine! Varus, what's the damn reason?"

"Because I said so. And I have nightmares. Almost killed her by accident a previous time in my sleep."

"Oh..." Ashley said, not expecting that. She deflated. "Well... that works."

"Huh?" Squirt asked Visas. "So wait... if men have nightmares, does that mean I'm a man? That makes no sense."

"No. Everyone has nightmares. Men have di-"

"NOOO!" Ashley yelled, desperate to interrupt that sentence before it went in a bad direction. "Visas! Stop filling her head with junk!"

"Well, if you want to call that particular thing a man's 'junk' instead. That's up to you."

Ashley grew angry and directed it at Varus. "Varus! What have you done to my sister!?"

Varus put his hands up defensively. "I didn't do anything! I'm an innocent bystander!"

"The hell you are!"

"She's the one thinking about shoving me to the floor all the time! Take your problem up with her!" Varus pointed at Visas desperately and squealed. "Visas! Defend me! Offer yourself as tribute to your angry sister!"

"No." Visas replied, casually, as usual.

"That's mutiny!"

"You're the one who told me to do what I want with my life."

"Request: May I kill the mutineer, master?" HK prompted, its interest suddenly peaked.

Varus grumbled. "No... unfortunately I need her... and like having her around."

"Oh..." it said in disappointment.

This whole time Anakin just watched with an amused smile. He had no doubt Varus' life was interesting, the man's life had a tendency to pull excitement to him or create it when there wasn't any, but he couldn't help but be fascinated by the way they interacted. It was just too funny. In only a short time they had grown into a kind of family.

Varus turned to Ash. "Ash, you will have to get over it and realize your sister isn't all goody-goody two-shoes like you. If you hadn't noticed, we're kinda messed up."

"AND we don't give a crap." Visas added in between bites.

"AND we don't give a crap." Varus agreed. "And Visas... ... No."

"Very eloquent. I can see why you are on the Council. You have such a way with words. Perhaps you could oblige us with perhaps something intelligent?" Visas teased. He blew a raspberry at her. "Yes, Keeper. Please follow up one dumb comment with another dumb comment. Please share your unintelligence with us."

"Okay, why is the sky blue?" He grinned. It was slightly surprising he could follow such long words so rapidly, but he was used to talking to her.

"You cannot be serious..."

Falon said. "Its High Definition. It's full of pixels. Where do you think holograms or monitors come from? It's reshaped and repackaged air."

"Oh..." Varus's eyes widened in amazement. "That is so cool."

"You seriously don't know?" Visas asked, dumbstruck. Anakin burst out in laughter.

Ahsoka groaned loudly. "Falon! Please don't screw him up more." Ash nodded in agreement.

Another change, temporary as it was, was the moving of Anakin into a room large enough for two, and a second room cleaned out for his kids. Visas prompted that the Jedi would want his woman to his room while his children to a room not too close but not too far. So the kids would end up with Slavian and Aramas 'Firefly' Welcraft.

After that, it came down to waiting. The coordinates were found to be leaked on the holonet, and the journey there was tense. It wasn't just a quick trip after all. Tense most of all for Anakin. When they weren't messing around to alleviate the tension, they trained or meditated. In the case of the non-combatents or non-force users, they did work around the ship.

Falon had visible growth in his training. He was able to see shapes and describe the shape, but textures and features of the shapes were difficult, as well as smaller objects. And when things were right next to each other he thought the two was one giant mass. He also did not see energy in any form like Visas did. That was simple, since Visas was a trained Seeker, and Miraluka specialized in training to discern to 'see'. But he could see to the Force. That was practically step one, and being able to walk around without running into people or walls was enough to lift his spirits.

Visas, as usual, did her own training, but also supervised Falon's training in his Force senses.

Slavian and Aramas trained with Ahsoka, and partially as a sign of good faith to Varus, asked for his input.

"Okay, what do we need here?" Varus asked. Anakin walked over, infinitely curious, and needing something to occupy his thoughts. Tension rolled off him in waves.

"Fighting Sith is a reality of Jedi." Ahsoka explained. "So something that would be helpful is to understand Sith."

Varus raised an eyebrow. "You want to become one?"

"No, but if you understand how a Sith thinks, what skills they use, and train with one, you will be prepared for future ones."

"Ohhhh." Varus looked to the kids. They were scared, but excited to try new things. Varus nodded slowly. "Alright, well. uh... What do I do?"

"Why don't we start with the code?"

"The first thing to understand is the Sith code. Similar to the Jedi being based on a code at their core, the Sith are the same way. It goes: Peace is a lie, there is only passion. Through passion, I gain strength. Through strength, I gain power. Through power, I gain victory. Through victory, my chains are broken. The Force shall free me. Every Sith memorizes it, and in some cases, tattoos it to themselves in the old Sith script."

"Did you do that?" Slavian asked with wide eyes.

"No."

"Now, what does the Code mean?" Anakin asked. He knew already, but prompted the teaching along.

"Right... the code is based on instinct. The general perception toward Jedi is that you spend too much time thinking and not enough time acting, which is stupid in a fight. It makes you hesitate." Varus suddenly turned and swung his lightsaber at Anakin, who blocked it. Varus turned his saber off.

"Instinct is the core of combat. Training is about building rhythms into your body so your body will do all the thinking for you. This is about passion as well, since when you fight to the death, you are putting everything on the line. You cannot go into it casually like your just sitting down having a cup of tea. A true fight is one that tests everything you have ever learned, and determines if you are better than your opponent. Just like if you get a good grade in math or reading on a test, you are tested in combat by your body to see if you are good enough. Leading to victory if you are stronger, and ultimately, making you stronger as well when all of your training is put against a more real scenario. The more real a scenario, the better the training, and a fight to death is as real as it gets."

"That is why HK always seeks live opponents for his 'patches'." Anakin added.

"Yes."

"That is... greedy... and selfish." Aramas wrote.

Varus argued. "It depends on the Sith. All the code that I have explained thus far involves is making yourself stronger by training. In a way, all training is about that. Even your Jedi training. Training is about power. What goal you have for that power is what decides it. The Sith code does encourage a very predatory mindset and competition, but a few a more... selfless and merely seek to use to their power to protect what they believe in while understanding the reality of wars. Such as Revan or... possibly Treya. I would like to think I learn toward the latter as well." He frowned deeply.

"Don't worry about it." Anakin ruffled his hair, much to his chagrin. "Continue."

"Anyway, the end result of the Code is in 'Through victory, my chains are broken.' Now, what do you think are the chains spoken of?"

"Law." Aramas wrote.

"Enemies keeping you from hurting other people." Slavian said.

Varus grimaced. "Uh, not really. It refers to the body. The Sith Code is about growing in the Force, through training and becoming stronger and stronger, until you effectively are 'evolved' to a higher person. You are the best. In the end, a real Sith might seek to ascend into a higher state of existence, such as the Force itself, in this way. While you Jedi... I'm sorry to say this, but Sith are lead to believe you are children who have to be spoon fed the Force on a silver platter and ascend without any will or effort for free. That you take it for granted and think you 'deserve' it just because you exist."

"That's not true!" Slavian argued.

"And again, that's what I was taught by Nihilus." Varus explained. "True or not, that is what Sith are taught. At our core we are competitive, striving, and seeking to evolve through hard work while seeing Jedi as wimps who lose a credit or two and go 'Well, that's the will of the Force'. If your goldfish dies because you forgot to feed it, you go 'Oh well, It was the will of the Force.' In my case, I saw Jedi not doing anything about Nihilus, and thought you all thought Nihilus was free because 'it was the will of the Force'. Jedi are seen as people who are too lazy to try and work for things."

"Why do I get the feeling you were taught differently from other Sith?" Ahsoka wondered.

"How do you figure that?"

"Sith tend to have much angrier outlooks..."

Varus nodded. "True. Nihilus is a very cold, factual Sith. In that case, a normal every day run-of-the-mill Sith has a huge pinecone shoved up their ass as though they have some huge grudge on the Jedi. Mine was that none were doing anything about Nihilus and let him slaughter freely, but I don't know what their problem is. Tree-Hugger, to be fair, why did no one try to stop Nihilus before he reached Coruscant?"

"I think that would be due to the perception of going after missions and problems you are capable of fixing, rather than ones you cannot."

"But then how can you ever strive to be better? or to do more? If you're all about doing good, then wouldn't you want to do more good? Wouldn't you want to strive to fix big things?"

Ahsoka said, "While striving is something the previous generation lacked in individuals, striving to fix things too big for us as a whole lead to us trying to fix the whole galaxy. Which... is impossible."

"Hmmmm." Varus thought about it.

"Anyway!" Ahsoka chimed in. "Slavian, Aramas, based on that, how would you defend yourself against a Sith?"

"Become stronger!" Slavian answered enthusiastically.

"Use their instinct against them." Aramas answered.

"Varus, what do you think?"

"Yes on both counts. The seeking of combat does make Sith easy to ambush and encircle. Our persona makes us easy to bait and fool. And if you are stronger than the Sith, they usually don't have brains to back up on. But there are plenty of exceptions. Part of training involves the mind, so Sith can easily be smarter than you too."

"Pft... yeah right." Slavian muttered.

A single claw of lightning formed just in front of his face from Varus' finger, and he squealed in fright. "I didn't mean text-book brilliance kid." He smirked. "Sith are about fighting and combat, so our knowledge is poured into it. Sith invent techniques Jedi rarely dream of, and figure out new ways to use our power. It is rare for Jedi to use lightning, so it is difficult for them to imagine claws, whips, and a body of lightning... I think Starkiller also invented a technique to transform into a lightning bolt and move as one briefly. So... lightning teleportation or something? Lightning morph? Not sure what to make of it yet."

"Thanks, Varus." Ahsoka smiled. "Now. Slavian, Aramas, based on that, what do you think?"

"That... they know... unusual ways... of using... basic abilities... and make them... appear... deceivingly... advanced." Aramas wrote. Slavian just shrugged.

"Exactly. A recording of the battle between Nihilus and a thousand Jedi on Coruscant showed he was using very basic techniques. Barrier, push, pull, wall-walk, and perception were all he used and he was able to fight off dozens of masters at once because he used them in ways most would not consider in the midst of combat."

"Let me guess." Varus saod. "He wrapped his hands in barriers to grab lightsabers by the blade without being hurt? I figured. That's one he liked a lot. Also walking on ceilings doesn't do anything to him. Blood rushing to his head has hardly any effect when he doesn't feel physical discomfort. He just didn't like doing it because it was too unusual for his OCD to handle."

"So... what do we do?" Slavian wondered.

Varus said, "A Sith's biggest weakness is his self-reliance. We seek to empower ourselves, and we draw energy from ourselves. We do not renew ourselves constantly with the Force in the way Jedi do. Now, a lot of Sith do draw strength and energy from our opponents and their fear, but that is a bit more advanced. The cost of not relying on the universal Force leaves us cut off from it. Jedi can overcome a Sith if the fight lasts long enough and you do not lose yourself to fear and... keep yourself... uh. What do you call it?"

"If you let the Force flow through you." Anakin said.

"Yes, that. Basically relying on the Force is a good counter, but even then that doesn't always work because... as much as I don't want to say it. A lot of Jedi claim to rely on the Force, and don't."

Anakin coughed.

"Sorry, but that's what I see." Varus apologized.

Slavian and Aramas nodded. "Alright." Ahsoka smiled evilly. "Now for some actual training."

Varus smiled just as evilly, "Ohhh, which do I get first?"

"Both." The kids yelped, even Aramas.

Varus smirked, "This will be fun."

"Nothing that can actually hurt them, Varus." Ahsoka told him.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah..." Varus eyed them like a hungry man trying to decide what to devour first. Lightning rippled over his body, and for emphasis, he focused it into his eyes making them glow slightly while also being red. It was a dumb technique he invented for the coolness of it as a young Sith, and it was paying off. The kids looked like they were going to wet themselves.

Now he knew how Kota felt.

So he went for the scared-er one first. Slavian pulled out his staff to defend himself. "Too slow." Varus said. He grabbed the boy's staff next to his little hands and shoved it back into his face. Slavian fell back and looked like he was seeing stars.

Aramas responded much faster, but it took time for his plasma balls to fly out of his jacket and create a shape that he wanted. He couldn't stop Varus from knocking Slavian down, but he did create a barrier with four balls that kept from him going further.

Varus halted in front of the barrier. Four balls. One in each corner. A plasma field between them. "Good response. Slow, but proper. Unfortunately..." He sent a weak lightning wave large enough to encompass all four corners of the field, short-circuiting the machines briefly. "It has an obvious weakness."

Varus rushed in on Aramas and Aramas tried to leap away. He called more balls out, the ones already out still quivering in midair from electrocution. With two balls he created a kind of plasma rod and threw it at Varus. Varus smiled. The kid was inventive. He had potential.

Varus rolled under the rod and met a another rod coming at him, only spinning. He had to jump over it, but the second rod stopped under him and spinned like a fan. Varus spun in midair, touched the ground briefly with his hand, and had to leap back up off of it to avoid having his hand cut off or burned.

The first rod came at him from behind. He grabbed it and sent lightning down the plasma field into both balls, destroying the rod. "Sorry kid, but techniques get old after the first or second attempt." He rushed Aramas again, and Aramas struggled to keep a distance. He hit the wall and threw up a barrier between them.

"Didn't I just say they get old?" Varus poured lightning into his fist. The web of lightning spun and formed into a bunch of claws. Claws that spun rapidly into a thinner circle at the joined epicenter faster and faster until it blurred, thereby making a drill. He shoved the lightning drill into the barrier.

Sparks flew off the plasma field, but the drill broke it and Varus released the lightning to grab Aramas by the throat. "And that, I just invented off the fly. That's how Sith instinct works." He sent a brief shock into Aramas and let go.

"Varus..." Ahsoka warned.

"It's okay, I barely sent enough to make him feel it. Now then..." Varus turned to the one struggling to stand through eyes strained from a bruise. He stepped up to Slavian, cracked his knuckles, and smirked. "This is going to hurt you a hell of a lot more than it will me!"

The next hour involved three screaming boys. Two in horror, and one in maniacal glee. When Ahsoka had enough, Slavian and Aramas collapsed. They had not been pushed that far, ever, and it didn't seem so tedious this time as it was more terrifying and a struggle not to die. (Not that they thought Varus actually would.) They walked away covered in bruises and Slavian could barely see. They collapsed against the wall. Slavian fell asleep on Aramas' shoulder.

"I'm going to say I killed you both a hundred times over, and you both suck! You don't stand a chance against Sith!" Varus chastised them.

"That was a bit harsh, don't you think?" Ahsoka asked.

"Nah, that was gentle compared to how real Sith train. I didn't break their bones, cut them, or leave them scarred." Varus yelled to kids, "BE PREPARED AT ALL TIMES! I'M GOING TO ATTACK WHEN YOU DON'T EXPECT IT AND KICK YOUR ASS!"

"You're enjoying this..." Ahsoka accused.

"Oh yeah!"

She sighed. "Don't do anything to them, unless I authorize it, please. I trust you, but I also don't want this... arrangement... to go too far too fast." She wanted to have Varus feel more involved with Jedi and them heal his scars, and open up to him more, but it still made her a bit uncomfortable having a Sith-trained participating.

"Alright." Varus pouted. "I really wanted to kick their ass."

"I'm sure you did and I may let you... sometimes." She allowed. He was happy instantly, like a kid at Christmas. "Now, mind if I have a turn?"

"Come again?" Varus asked.

"My turn. I haven't had proper training in a while. A lightsaber duel would be nice. This is training hour, yes?"

"Uh... yes." Varus watched as she took up position on the other side and readied herself. He had not expected this. But it was... nice. "Okie." Varus called a training lightsaber to him and removed his outer robe. He hadn't bothered with the kids. Ahsoka saw he was going to be somewhat serious and did the same.

"Ready?" She asked.

"You don't even have to ask." Varus answered. He leaped in and struck hard. Ahsoka barely had to strength or speed to block such an aggressive strike, and Varus was already spinning his saber for another attack.

Ahsoka had to quickly remember that Varus was a very aggressive fighter who specialized in chaotic movements, speed, and suddenly shifting strikes. However, it seemed that being older had also given him extra strength. She had known he had filled out a bit with muscle, while still being lanky, but what it produced in his fighting was not something she had expected till now. It took all over her strength not to lose ground every time their lightsabers clashed.

He also had a much higher stamina than she remembered. Five years ago, it never took long to exhaust Varus. He threw everything he had into battle every moment and held nothing back. That took a lot of energy. Now she was the one getting exhausted, sore, and pouring sweat and he was only beginning to break a sweat.

He wasn't quite as fast as she remembered, but the drop in speed was marginal. He was still specialized in it.

As for Varus, his assessment of her also was changing. Before, she was somewhat easy. That hadn't changed. He was fast and it seemed like she was moving in slow motion half the time, barely able to follow him with her perception, much less block. Now she was having an easier time doing both. Still weak, but better. The biggest reason would be flexibility. She was always flexible, but her training over the years had taken advantage of it more so she could block him easier and return strikes without using excessive movements.

She was also getting very very sweaty. Something in the back of his mind, something newly awoken by memories of Revan and feral, thought it was attractive. He stopped long enough to shake the thought away before focusing into his Sith training again. Now that he had a better understanding of Revan, he understood the more complex emotions better. Didn't mean he had to let them control him. He also wasn't comfortable having them for... people he cared deeply about.

Despite her improvement, he still kicked her butt easily when he chose to. He forced her to block an attack that was high while simultaneously dropping, spinning, and knocking her feet out from under her. He caught her. She gasped in surprise and looked at him. "Uh... thank you?"

"You're welcome." He dropped her. She was only an inch off the ground, so it didn't hurt as much as surprise and anger her.

"Ow! Hey!" She barked while rubbing her head. He laughed. Despite how much she may have wanted to, she didn't have the energy to stay angry, or get up. She laid on the ground and breathed heavily. "Damn... I'm out of shape." She grumbled. She was covered in sweat.

Varus avoided looking at her. That feral feeling was coming back. "You're actually better than I remember. You were just never as strong as me when I am at my full strength. I've nearly caught up to where I need to be before I can catch up to Starkiller."

"As nice as that is to hear, you probably shouldn't kick everyone's ass before we get there." Anakin suggested heavily. "Or exhaust yourself."

"Fine fine fine." Varus waved him off and put his lightsaber on the wall.

"Kota would say something else." Falcon chimed in from where he meditated.

"Oh, what would Kota say?" Varus asked.

"Depends, what was that technique you just did?"

"I created a series of lightning claws joined together, and spun it rapidly to make a drill."

"Interesting..." Falon bowed his head in thought and grinned. "Kota would say, 'If you're REALLY good, you'll shoot them out of your fists like a shotgun'."

"Ohhhhhh."

Anakin chuckled. "As nice as theory crafting is, let's wait to have fun and experiment until after we finish. I don't want Varus exhausting himself coming up with all kinds of cools things."

"But it's so cool!" Varus grumbled. "And I'm the captain! Who are you to give me advice!"

"I'm the man who will not forgive you if we fail to rescue my family because you barely have the energy to lift a finger from having too much fun messing around."

"Good point." Varus turned to Falon. "Maybe later, Falcon."

"It's Falo- forget it..." He sighed. Varus wasn't going to care anyway.

There was also a third change to Varus's life. Well, technically there were many. Falon kept him aprised of Mandalorian interests and coordinated with him to combat the Eternal Hand, and Admiral Rebhorn was stubbornly demanding he return to the fleet.

But both of these things were negligible. He didn't really care.

The third change came in... daily meditation. Or sessions of some kind.

* * *

I stare at the door and fidget with myself. This is really uncomfortable. I've talked to Ahsoka plenty of times. I am more comfortable around her than most other people I know, and she knows how deep the darkness in my soul goes. Its not like I have many more surprises for her.

But to be invited to her room... at night. (Its always night in space, but the ship has regulated lighting based on the time.) Its... different. Before, I might have figured it was ridiculas emotions, but now I have a fair idea why it is. I'm a man that is very uncomfortable with intimacy or sexuality in any form, and being a man, I can't help the part of my mind that wonders what I will find behind the door.

Except I know Ahsoka isn't like that. And I do not want to think of her in that way. She is the closest, most trusted friend I've ever had. I care about her in ways I can compare to the equality I have with Koj, but there is also a part of me that is acknowledging... other benefits. A new part I never had that I can only describe as primal, feral, animalistic.

It doesn't help that she isn't ugly!

Shaking my head for the five millionth time and reigning my emotions in, I knock. "Its me." I call.

"Come on in." She sounds far away.

I enter in and look around. Her quarters are spacious. There's a little table and chair near the window, a small kitchen and couch and a door leading to a second room where her bed must be. My room is empty of everything except a bed and lamp. Figures normal people actually have furniture.

There are plants everywhere. Flowers, little bushes, a very very small tree on the table. There is also a few candles here and there. "When did we get plants?" I ask. This is the Ravager. It's a giant broken metal construct. Not exactly green thumb friendly or a very fertile place.

She doesn't answer. Whatever. The place actually feels... comfortable. Makes my personal preference feel empty and devoid of expression. Of course, that's because it is. I'm not big on buying things for the sake of comfort. My whole life such things have seemed like a waste.

A pillow hits me in the face. I blink in surprise and hold it. "Uhhh... what's this for?"

"Most people I know like to meditate on the ground, but I find a pillow helps." She walks out of the back room and my first instinct is to cover my face with the pillow.

"Ah! No! I burns!"

"Varus!" She grabs the pillow from my hands and throws it on the floor. "Sometimes you act like a man, and other times like a kid. I am wearing pajamas!"

Yeah, except her arms and legs are exposed. By 'pajamas', it apparently means shorts. And tight clothes. "Uh, that is still a lot more than usual."

She follows my eyes and raises an eyebrow questionably. "Jedi do not always wear robes... and I'm a girl. We do like to feel pretty at times."

"Right..." That's a lot of leg. I look away and refuse to meet her eyes. Did the room just go up fifty degrees? We might have a ventilation problem. The primal part of me fights against me, but I push back.

She rolls her eyes. She extends her hand and a bathrobe flies out of the backroom. She covers herself with it. "Better?"

I glance at her and find it doesn't put me in conflict with myself anymore. "Better."

"Good. But Varus, you have seen me in pajamas before. All the time years ago. I was dressed very liberally compared to now. What's the deal?"

"Well, now, uh... I... know why uh... woman are shaped... like that... and other... things. Blame Revan." I force out.

She smirks and leans in. "Aww, so you think I look nice!"

"I-no! I... Well, yes! But I mean-" I struggle to find words, and grow angry. So many emotions hit me and so many sides come into play in my head, its chaos. My first thought is that she is toying with me, and that makes me angry.

She stops smiling and steps back quickly. "Sorry! Sorry. Sometimes I forget. Even as a grown man you really are a child in some ways."

"Thanks for the reminder..." I feel a headache coming on. "Can we just... move on?"

She nods. "Alright."

"You said you wanted to do this daily to... show me a new path. What do you have in mind?"

"Well, it depends on the day. Sometimes we might meditate, sometimes train, but most of the time just talk."

"Talk." I repeat in disbelief. She nods.

"How is just talking going to fix what I am or have done?" I demand. "I mean, honestly, how is that going to do anything? I'll do it." I assure her. "But... I don't understand."

"And I don't know how to explain it to you. But if you are honest at all times, and we talk, I think it will help a lot. I don't plan to turn you into a Jedi, Varus."

"Thanks."

"But I do feel that, Sith or not, you can be a good person, or a better one, if you can forgive and let go of your anger."

"Forgive who?" I ask.

"Yourself. And everyone else."

I stare at her. A huge part of me wants to reject the offer. Talking is not my strong trait. Its requires too much thinking. I ramble, yes, but it sounds like she will want me to be serious if she asks a question. It all takes too much thinking. And thinking only reminds me of what I am. My nightmares, darkness, and demons are a never ending presence just out of my sight.

I sigh. I was all but willing to throw away my life on Mandalore. I could have fallen to my death, and I wouldn't have cared. I would have sat there and starved to death, or gotten worse and purposefully committed suicide. But she forced me out of the dark place I was in, mentally. A part of me still is there, but I crawled out of it under the promise of being helped.

Least I can do is see where that help goes. Plus... I trust her. She is my forgiveness. In some ways, she is more than that. I am an empty man that can be transformed into anything, and I'm trusting my heart, my ideals, my life in her hands.

Without a word, I drop the pillow on the ground and drop down onto it. "Go ahead."

She smiles. "Thank you." She drops her on pillow a foot or two in front of me, and takes off the bathrobe.

"Whoa, what are you doing!" I blurt out angrily.

But she sits down anyway. "Varus, this is part of what your problem is. You have the body of a man, the skill and training comparable to a Sith Lord, but the emotional understanding of an infant in many areas. And that makes you unstable. Now look at me."

I refuse. She continues patiently. "We already confirmed I am wearing pajamas. Now. Look at me."

A long moment goes by before I do. I clench my jaw angrily but look at her. "I'm not going to strip down naked and walk around, Varus. I'm not going to touch you. I'm going to sit here, fully clothed. I'm going to be wearing pajamas to be comfortable in my apartment, and there is nothing wrong with that. Woman have bodies. Men have bodies. It doesn't mean we are going to be reenacting anything you may have learned from Revan, nor does it mean I am tempting you."

"Yes, you are." I growl. I struggle to maintain any kind of eye contact. I start to feel light headed.

"No. Being tempted is natural and would exist whether I was here or someone else. Doesn't make it wrong, nor right. Everyone is tempted at some point."

"Even you?" I wonder.

"Once or twice. Like I said, woman naturally want to feel pretty. A confederate boy was cute and kissed me. I had a crush for a while." My blood pressure rises instantly. I growl. "And I got over it." She affirms. "It wasn't wrong, it wasn't right. It simply was. There are many things that are like that. There are some concepts that are clearly wrong, and some that are clearly right, but many that are not. I did nothing about it since my desires lied with the Jedi Order over my own wants. I chose that. Every time I saw a cute guy, I chose to do nothing and move on. Now, is that wrong?"

"…"

"Is it wrong that I chose a selfless life without being attached to anything? That I chose not to engage in dating every little cute guy I came across?"

"Its unnecessary." I answer.

"Explain."

I think a moment. "Did you choose it because you were ordered to by the Jedi, because you were a force user? Because why?"

"I chose it because I wanted to help as many people as I can. I lead a very mobile life. I would be away for months at a time. I don't see a relationship staying strong in such a case if you only see someone perhaps once or twice a year. Relationships are about being a part of each others lives. Not about... being side dishes."

She continues, "Yes, I can admit that being a Jedi played a part in it. The Order explained the logic of the reasoning, but I saw that even if I wanted to, the struggle, the uncertainty, the potential lack of trust made by being gone so long wasn't worth it. And what was to keep me from believing the same thing as the guy?"

"You could have dated another Jedi. A Jedi in a similar position would have had an easier time understanding the difficulty." I argue.

"I could have, yes." She agreed. "In that way the Order's code played a larger role, I will admit. Now that there is no longer one central order to the Jedi... now that Anakin is accepting relationships and showing that it isn't wrong: I can possibly date another Jedi. Then the time away would be more easily understood, or we might even go on missions together. But then what about the risk? Could I bear to see my lover die and still be as strong to help people?"

"Depends on the person..." I guess. "People die. Maris' master died, and it broke her. My presence probably didn't help. But just because there is a possibility of death, do you let that decide for you? My parents were married, father is dead, and mother is still holding strong, mentally." I chuckle. "The woman has enough willpower and fiery determination to spare."

That's probably where I get some of mine from. Ahsoka smiles.

"What?" I ask. Her good mood is infectious and makes me grin. "What? what?"

"You haven't stopped looking at me. See how easy that is?"

I narrow my eyes on her and realization hits me. I look away in embarrassment, receiving a weak laugh from her. "I hate you." Damn teasing woman.

"Love you too, Varus." She teased.

Over time looking at her became easier.

Over a long time... Doesn't help she looks... nice.


	48. Ep11 - Kiddy Race Part 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, so no sue!**

**Remember to Review. I want to know what you think and how the chapter is to you. Is it good? Is it bad? Anything I need to know? Any ideas or things you want to see in the future?**

* * *

**Episode 11 - Kiddy Race Part 1**

* * *

"You spend way too much time looking at her ass..."

"Well, it's not like there's much else to look at around here!" His companion replied.

The two guards talked as they walked the streets of the little community. Whereas once they were armed with blaster pistols and rifles on their patrols, they now wielded wooden spears. Whereas once they walked marble streets and through stone buildings, they now walked over dirt roads and between huts. The village was one reduced, in the eyes of the galaxy, to the stone ages. Realistically, it was more comfortable than that, but living a lifestyle without any form of electricity of any kind, and starting with no power tools, set them as far back as they would like.

The village was formed on a planet with an unusual gravity field that disrupted electricity. All equipment, attempts to scan the planet, and landing fail. There is only one day of the year where the gravity equilibrium is aligned so as to allow entry and departure.

The existence of such a village is to safeguard a certain family from the outside galaxy and her husband.

"And she is going to kill you if she catches you, again."

The second man rolled his eyes, but stopped to wave to someone. "Good afternoon, Henry." As small as the village was, everyone knew each other.

"Good afternoon." Henry responded. He was an elderly man whose profession was to teach, at first, but due to demand had to move on to medicine as well. "I am sorry to impose, but I can't help but noticing my shipment hasn't arrived. Do you know anything about it?"

The first patrolmen said, "It never came. The militia traveled to the landing pad and cleared it of plant life and waited... but nothing came. We waited two days and returned only a few hours ago."

Henry squinted his eyes in concern. "Odd. It has yet to miss a single shipment."

"I'm sure it's nothing to worry about. We can manage the cold season on our own."

"Possibly, but the flu is my concern."

"Just use your medicine."

He scoffed in good nature. "Young man, the flu evolves with each passing year. What I used last year is now obsolete."

"If you say so." The patrolmen stepped aside as a black fur ball ran past before disappearing into a nearby tree. "Freakin' thing needs to watch where it's goin-!"

"GET OUTTA THE WAY!" A little girl yelled. Before anyone could notice, the little girl and her twin brother squeezed roughly between them and burst out the other side, and stopped.

"Well shoot!" The girl yelled.

"Where did he go?" The boy wondered. He was a dirty blond, and the twin sister was more of a brunette.

"Hey! You!" The girl pointed at the guards. "Where'd Snowball go?"

"Leia, that's not very nice." Her brother said meekly.

"You wanna find Snowball or not?"

"I do but-"

"So where's Snowball?" Leia turned her fiery temper back on the guards. They were twice her short size and she was not feeling the slightest bit scared.

"Now, Leia." Henry chastised sagely, "You need to speak more properly with your elders. Say 'please'."

Leia growled, "PLEASE, where's Snowball?"

"Much better." Henry smiled.

"That doesn't sound much better..." The boy murmured.

The guard could only stare at them and feel his eye begin to twitch. The second guard laughed. "I don't know."

"That don't help nobody!" Leia yelled accusingly.

"Well, you asked you brat!" The guard yelled back just as loudly.

"Hey, hey..." The boy whispered. Wasn't the man supposed to be the even-tempered one?

"Don't listen to what I say! Listen to what I do! You're the smarter one! You should know!"

"What do those things have to do with each other!?"

"I don't know you figure it out!" Leia yelled. "You're a big... strong... manly man, SO GET OFF YOUR BUTTOX AND HELP ME!"

The second guard laughed till tears reached his eyes and the first guard could feel both of his eyes twitching.

"Leia, Luke, stop giving the gentlemen trouble." An older woman said as she neared.

"But mooom! The jerk knows where Snowball is and he isn't coughing up!"

The mother smiled warmly and apologized to everyone for the kids giving them trouble. Leia pouted and shared glanced with Luke. She said, "Leia, Snowball has always found his way home. He will return when he is ready."

"But I'm ready nooow!"

"I'm sure you are, honey, but he isn't. He needs some time for himself."

"More like time away from her..." Luke whispered.

"HEY!" Leia yelled.

She looked like she was going to bop her twin brother on the head, but suddenly they both stopped and looked into the sky. They grew a large grin, looked to each other, and ran off. It was... bizarre.

Not that it was the first time Padme had seen them be bizarre. Something that both pleased and frightened her was how they were both natural Force users. They didn't do things with control or scale like trained ones, but when a pot mysteriously flies across the room, or clothes crawl under beds behind their smiling backs, she tended to notice things. They also had a far-off look periodically, like they were both looking at something miles away, and most of all had unspoken conversations. Padme knew that twins had an uncanny sense to know what the other thinks, but the degree to which her kids had it gave her the impression they could do it in the literal sense.

Having twins that could read each other's minds was a handful, and left her at the end of her rope. Especially when they schemed together. Thankfully, Luke was a momma's boy. He was the gentlest, humblest soul she had ever seen and was the perfect counterbalance for Leia's fiery belief that she was the center of the known universe.

The old man looked into the sky and looked around. "Odd. The last time they looked up like that, they knew it was going to storm. But I don't feel a change in the air."

As for the twins, they ran off into the nearby woods. At first it was to look for Snowball, but after half an hour of still not finding the cat, they gave up and stopped at their favorite pond. The village was surrounded by waterfalls and little rivers and ponds. They loved all of it. Their mom said it reminded her of home, and said it was a peaceful gesture from whoever gave them this place.

Luke reached an old tree and willed that the bark came off. As he wanted, a bit of wood hovered in the air from where he hid a fishing pole.

'You and your fishing.' Leia teased.

_'_It's peaceful and nice.' Luke defended.

'Yeah, yeah.' She stripped out of her nice clothes. Mom would be mad at them for getting their nice clothes wet. Being only five, nudity meant nothing to them. They bathed together regularly and shared the same bed on the bunk below mother. Sometimes it got so hot during the hot seasons that they had to sleep naked to keep from getting heat exhaustion in the middle of the night. Air conditioning was a foreign concept for them. Electricity and power of any kind was foreign. Their lighting came from the sun and fires. Tools were either metal or silver shipped from the Revanchist, or wood they made themselves. In the case of Luke's fishing pole, it was wood. Most of the other fishing poles were metal, but he preferred his. The old man taught him out to carve it.

Luke sat down and threw his line.

'You know. The other men were sitting around talking about comparing the length of their fishing poles. I wonder if mine is any good.' He sensed her curiosity. 'Yeah, the winner claimed to have a nine inch pole.' He looked his fishing pole up and down. 'How long is eight inches? Is mine longer or shorter than that?'

'Shorter. They are adults. They are better fishererses then you.'

'Yeah, but I never see them fishing.' He scrunched his brow in thought... 'So why do they all have fishing poles and never fish?'

'I don't know. It's probably a stupid adult thingy.'

Luke sensed where his sister was aiming. 'Don't!' He said in his thoughts. Leia immediately ran past him, and cannonballed next to where he was fishing. The water splashed him and he jumped up, a little upset at being wet, to brush himself off. He got his nice clothes wet...

'Leia! I'm gonna tell mom if she yells about why my nice clothes are wet!'

'Sissy.'

'I am not a sissy!' He yelled.

'SISSY!' A brief explosion of Force energy from under the water caused a burst of water to fly up and hit him. He was now thoroughly soaked. Leia had basically slapped the water from underwater. Her head came up and she giggled madly at the sight of him standing there in his nice clothes dripping in cold water. He was aghast.

'It's cold!' He yelled and wrapped his arms around himself. He struggled to get his shirt off, but it stuck to his skin. He managed to get it over his head, but it gripped his head and arms tightly. Leia slapped the water with the Force again and hit him in the exposed stomach with it, causing him to squeal. 'STAWP IT!'

She just laughed and watched him struggle. He finally got his nice clothes off and hung them on a branch. 'Now they're gonna get bugs...' He complained.

'Then eat them.'

He shuddered. 'Ewww.'

He grabbed his fishing pole and returned to his fishing. Leia swam around his line a bit and dove under. 'There ain't any fish down here.'

'Not with you swimmin' around there ain't! Get outta there!' He suddenly got a tug on his line. 'AND YOU SAID THERE WAS NO FISH!' He tugged on it, but fell on his back as the pull suddenly released. He heard Leia laughing hysterically in his head. 'LEIA! Stawp it!' Now he was getting upset. He had a very laid back personality and was considered even tempered. He was told it took a lot to make him mad.

He was getting mad.

Leia sensed it and swam around. She knew his limits. He returned to trying to fish, despite Leia getting rid of them all, and she swam around a bit and splashed around. When she got tired she climbed back up and sat with him and watched him fish. She was very cold.

She also made sure to shake her head like a dog and get him wet.

The sun dried them and after a bit they put their nice clothes back on. Leia didn't feel like swimming no more. She was tired. Luke didn't get a single, real bite. He could claim later to have caught Leia, but that's about it. Normally he would stop fishing, hum a song, or carve, but he stared into the water thoughtfully. Leia shared his thoughts and it made her pensive.

For as long as they could remember they had sensed a presence in the sky. It moved around periodically, and sometimes felt stronger or weaker as though it was coming closer or moving further away. This presence also had different moods. Most often it was either emotionless or very emotional, as though it had two faces. Recently this presence had lost one of its faces, and was suddenly coming closer and closer like a sun that was becoming warmer and warmer.

They didn't know what to make of it. It was coming closer rapidly. It had always turned back by now, and the fact that it wasn't scared them a bit.

Mommy had said there were people in the sky. She even said that their father was a sky walker. He walked the sky and watched over them every day. They figured it had something to do with their name, Skywalker. So sometimes they confused constellations and stars for daddy Skywalker, but then the stars didn't necessarily move. It was mind boggling for them, and now it was scaring them.

Their biggest theory was that it was their dad coming down from the sky.

'Luke.' Leia whispered in his mind. 'You think daddy will like us?' She leaned her tired self against him and closed her eyes in a vain attempt to sleep.

He frowned, unsure. Mommy had said daddy was a big hero who saved a lot of people and did incredible things. They couldn't grasp entirely what to make of the stories, so he was a kind of god in their mind. A titan that could smash mountains and slay entire armies just by standing there and smiling. Supposedly, Leia had inherited his attitude, but she feared she wasn't strong enough to impress him. She could wrestle the other kids, but they were just kids.

On the other hand, daddy was supposedly super super smart. Luke considered himself smart. He was often picked on for being a 'nerd' or book worm. But then daddy had supposedly created something living with his bare hands as a child called... Threepio? Luke liked to carve, but then nothing he ever carved moved on its own. It was also kinda bad and didn't look like anything much.

Compared to the legend, they were nothing. They were just kids barely going into 'big kid' age.

'I don't know.' He responded grimly.

* * *

I grab my lightsaber and get into my jacket. I feel good. I don't remember sleeping this well in a long time. I still have nightmares every night, but... ever since I started talking with Ahsoka every night, I don't get three hours of sleep a night. I don't know how long I slept, but I feel good. I feel like an actual human. Or as close to human as a Miraluka can get.

"Varus, the Mandalorians are calling." The Ravager droid lets me know.

"Yeah, I'm on my way. Make sure everyone else is ready and waiting." I fit my shoes on and note how worn they are. I wear boots, but in my line of work I probably should get metal tipped boots. The small floating Ravager droid perches down on my shoulder like a bird and I run out.

I meet the rest of my crew in the throne room, aka the bridge, and note how everyone is armed and ready.

"Okay, pull 'em up Ravager." I order, and like the narcissistic Sith I am, I sit on the throne. A few people chuckle at the sight.

A Mandalorian appears on the screen. I don't recognize him. "Ravager, this is the 'Furious Rapper' reporting. Boy am I glad dear you are on our side now. Wouldn't want to be on the opposite end of that ship of yours."

Yes, yes, I know. The Ravager is huge. It technically is designed for a crew of ten thousand, as a minimum, but thanks to being a living ship, it doesn't need any. Still, a crew of less than twenty makes it seem like a ghost ship if you take the entire length of it into perspective. We take up the bridge area and it still feels spacious. "Don't worry about her, she's harmless. About the worst she can do is hug you to death."

"Well she is the scary side of harmless than. Her size alone should scare off half the dominion." The Mandalorian chuckles. "We got the Dominion and Cartel just entering long range radar a few hours ago. They are after the jackpot just as much as we are." His eyes move away from me slightly. "Sorry to say it, Master Jedi, but we don't have the N.R. or U.S.A. in our sights. It's just us. From what intel we have, the jackpot has a small escort already going back a few years, so we can be thankful for that at least."

"What do we know about this place?" Tree-Hugger asks.

"You didn't receive the package? We sent it to your ship last night."

I answer with a smirk, "The Ravager loves mail, she thinks it's nice and tasty."

"What?" He looks confused. Can't blame him.

"How about you just tell us what we know about the planet." Tree-Hugger suggests.

The Mandalorian captain sighs and takes a moment to pull up his datapad. "The planet is marked as P.O.D.1309, otherwise called Pod for short, and is a planet the Revanchist and local systems have been studying for its unusual gravitational anomalies. I'll save you the hundred-page garbage and just say it screws up all electronic equipment, plasma power, and just about every other power source known to man. No ship survives orbit without crashing and cannot escape except once a year, unfortunately that day is now past. The occupants have no power of any kind and we pushed back to the stone age, except for what little is provided once a year via a nearby space station. That space station evacuated with Starkiller's little stunt. The space station has no contact with the surface either, and the electric field screws up our radar. We can't use sensors to scan the surface, and no one down there knows we're here unless we yell out the window."

Of course. You want to a hide a family in a galaxy designed around technological marvels, stick them in a place where none of it works and nothing can escape. Bastilla was always a smart woman.

"Is the planet harmless otherwise?" I ask. "People have electricity in their bodies, so if that is messed with, it's dangerous."

"Well, people have been there a long time studying it, or otherwise getting away from modern society. It's livable, although I personally wouldn't go there without some migraine pills."

Tree-Hugger says, "Judging from the electric occurrences, we can rule tinnies out."

"We're thinking along the same lines. The Cartel may still send down a few mercs. My concern is how the hell we are going to get people off the planet. Either we secure the jackpot and get them out of there, or we take control of the system and wait a year."

I say, "I think I can speak for Daddy-Jedi over here and say we don't want to wait a year..."

So... a planet where most ships will crash. But then, that's based on the power source, and the Ravager has a very unusual power source. It is run by my electricity only so far as to give the Ravager some extra energy, like a kid on sugar. It can run purely on the Force flowing through its veins.

"Listen, uh... 'Furious Rapper', I think I can test the field with the Ravager and see if it messes with us. The Ravager doesn't need electricity or plasma to work, so if we can get close enough and be fine, we should be able to land as well."

"You think you can test it under battle conditions without suddenly losing all power and crashing if your idea fails?" He asks.

Well, the ship can split into pieces. If one piece can get into orbit and not fall, the rest of the piece should be fine. Like the Ravager dipping a toe in cold water. "Yeah."

"It's your ship. We'll do what we can to cover you, but we are not getting too close."

"Alright, thanks. We'll see you when we get there."

The transmission ends and I lean back and sigh. "Something wrong?" Ahsoka asks.

"I've never done this before. I've boarded ships and destroyed them from the inside and I've pulled ships out of orbit with the Force. But I have never captained a ship into battle and had a crew to worry about."

"Think of it like swimming." Falcon offers.

"I can't swim..."

He nods slowly. "Yeah... We're screwed."

"We'll be fine..." I assure him. I rub my eyes and think. The Ravager is a living animal in a sense, and she has fought ships before, so I know I can trust the Ravager to act on her own. My position is more about decision making in this case. We need a plan.

We need to get to the planet...

The crew will need to be split in half between those that can leave to retrieve everyone and those that have to be protected. And I know just what to do... The gym is built to withstand wild Force energy, but it won't do that well against cannon fire. There is only one place that is built to withstand it.

"Ravager, tell Ashley, Squirt, and the Stooges to hide in the heart. Falcon, I want you to join them."

"But-"

"Sorry, Falcon. But until Visas can tell me that you can fight again without dying, I'll take you. The rest of you get ready to leave. If the Ravager can get close to the planet without falling out of orbit, then I'll have her send a wing down."

"And who is going to continue the fight on the ship?" Tree-Hugger asks.

"The Ravager will do fine on her own."

"No one to pilot the guns?"

"Again, the Ravager will do fine. Everyone get ready."

* * *

Leland Marek stood before the statue of his father.

His father... Or rather, one of his fathers anyway. The man had a powerful presence, even as a statue. Leland ran his bandaged hand over the statue's face curiously. He looked nothing like the man. Leland's flesh did not resemble the man, but rather made him look feminine. While Leland's monstrous side more resembled his other father, Nihilus.

Leland didn't allow the sentiment of wondering if the man's presence in his life would have changed everything. Whether his black heart and simmering hatred would have been stopped before he found something evil enough to hate. Leland merely wondered what kind of man the man was. Was he intelligent, strategic, and logical? Was he wild, driven by emotions, and instinctual? Comparing himself to his mother and Varus made him wonder. Victoria was compassionate and passive-aggressive, and Varus was instinct through and through.

Or was Leland's empty heart due to his birth from Nihilus?

Leland stood there contemplating deeply until a maid walked over, bowed, and said, "You're mother will see you now."

Leland smiled warmly and turned fully to her. "Thank you." The maid blushed, not expecting such appreciation to something so small. And he was also a very beautiful man, despite having half of his body covered in bandages. He carried himself like a noble and was charismatic.

"Y-your welcome, Lord Marek."

"Just call me Leland. Such titles as Lord is unbecoming to me. I am a commoner like anyone else." He continued to smile brightly. He walked by her and brushed the back of her hand as he passed. As he expected, she jumped slightly and didn't respond. She didn't have to. He predicted her mind was mush right now.

His smile dropped briefly as he walked to the door and knocked. After hearing confirmation, he pasted the perfect smile back on, entered smoothly, and didn't let his façade drop in Admiral Rebhorn's presence.

His mother and the Admiral were in the same room facing him. He didn't doubt their unusual relationship, but it also had its rivalry. For both of them to be standing there as a united front, it had to be big.

Leland quickly ran through a quick inventory check. His datapad was wiped and the hard drive had been shattered. His bugs were all accounted for. That annoying agent that had been tailing him for days was spaced in an unfortunate accident. Truly unfortunate.

They might have found out he had visited the Marr estate, but then he had a reason for that. He had left a letter for Ashley. The letter had been an apology for how he treated her years ago, and well wishes and understanding for her to move on without him, if she hadn't already. He no longer had much interest in her. Unfortunate that she had left already before getting his letter. Truly unfortunate.

They couldn't have trailed his Warp path from the ship he arrived on. They wouldn't know where he had traveled through the galaxy over his long journey. They wouldn't know where his pilgrimage led him, where his eyes were opened to the nature of reality. After all, the recording had been lost in an unfortunate electromagnetic storm a mere hour before arriving with the fleet. Truly unfortunate.

He couldn't think of a reason why the two would be standing against him.

(**Note: The following part may be confusing, so I'll be putting a translation in.**)

"Some peculiarities have come to my attention that I believe you can offer some insight into." The Admiral said.

_Something has happened and I know you're involved._

"..."

_I'm listening._

"One of my men on patrol disappeared on route a few days ago. Your neighborhood was in his route, did you see anything?"

_You took out one of my agents. What did you do to him?_

Leland thought a moment, then snapped his fingers. "Actually, yeah, I remember him. Talked with him once. I found him quite annoying."

_Yeah, I know what happened to him. I approached him. He was in my way._

"Annoying..." Rebhorn repeated.

Leland offered, "Perhaps he entered a dangerous neighborhood. You never know who you can trust around here. Such things are... unfortunate."

_I killed him. _

"Yes, very unfortunate." Rebhorn acknowledged tightly. "At the time, there were reports of screaming coming from your apartment complex."

_You tortured him..._

"The previous complaint was about noise if I recall. The neighbors make an unbearable amount of noise. I've told them to quiet down, but as you can see, they have resorted to insane music."

_Think you can prove it?_

"Is that what you say it is?"

_I can try._

"Are you accusing me of something?" Leland returned.

_Try it. Prove it if you can._

They stared each other down briefly before the Admiral continued. "The man was found in space... he was cut all over his body like he was tortured for several days, missing fingers, and most of his flesh on his skull was burned away."

_What you did was excessive and unusual. We will find something._

Leland smiled, enjoying the little game. "As much a fan I am of details, I think I will pass on that note. I don't appreciate morbidity. This sounds more like a job for autopsy than me. If there is anything else I can do to help, be sure to give me a call."

_Bring it on._

Leland bowed. "Goodbye, Mother. Admiral."

Leland left.

Rebhorn growled deep in his throat as his old protégé departed. He turned his senses toward Victoria and noted her frightened expression. She was terrified of her own son. She knew him better than Rebhorn did. She knew him to his core, while all Rebhorn had to go on was his actions and choices. For her to be so terrified... It was gut-wrenching. "I'm sorry, Victoria."

"It is... our fault..."

"No it's not. He chose what he is."

"Yes... and he... has chosen... to become... the embodiment... of all of... our hatred... and pain." She cried softly. Rebhorn put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

He was not a particularly philosophical man. But when he looked into Leland, he couldn't help but see himself and all of the Miraluka. The Miraluka suffered, and continue to suffer, a wound that has not healed. Without a homeland, no Miraluka can forget the loss of their nationality and identity. In turn, without the power to fight Nihilus, they turned it on a child rumored to have been conceived partially by Nihilus's power, a child of Nihilus. A child just as damaged by Nihilus as the rest of them.

He had no doubt Leland had murdered his agent after torturing him and taking his anger out on him. He had little doubt Leland was here with the worst of intentions. Leland chose what he had become. But it was the Miraluka who taught him...

So as much as Rebhorn wanted to deny it, he couldn't.


	49. Ep11 - Kiddy Race Part 2

**Note: Sorry this has taken so long to work on. I have been dealing with finals and other things… and I periodically fight off panic attacks. Its lessened since my friend's funeral, but I doubt things like this will go away for a while.**

**Anyway, I hope everyone has been having fun! :D My expectations of myself is incredibly high. I go into every story aiming for epicness, character development, drama, stuff personal to the characters and readers both, stuff true to the characters, fun, and pushing along individual relationships and scenarios one step at a time towards an ending goal. Unfortunately in order to do that takes a lot out of me and a fair bit of time. I honestly am afraid of not accomplishing everything I set out to do with my story.**

**Anyway, I'm sorry if this episode is a bit boring. What I have in mind mostly comes into play in Episode 12. The power of the Eternal Hand will be revealed. Things will explode. A couple people will die. Same old same old.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, so no sue!**

**Remember to Review. I want to know what you think and how the chapter is to you. Is it good? Is it bad? Anything I need to know? Any ideas or things you want to see in the future?**

* * *

**Episode 11 - Kiddy Race Part 2**

* * *

"Is everyone set?" I ask.

"Yes, Master." The Ravager tells me.

I nod. "Excellent."

"With one exception..."

"Who?"

The door opens behind me and Ahsoka walks in. The sight of her aggravates me. I ordered her to go and be ready with the rest of the away team... "What are you doing here?"

"I'm staying beside you." She crosses her arms and her eyes dare me to argue.

"And I said for you to be ready to land. You remember what is at stake, yes?"

"Of course I remember! But you are also at stake..."

...

"Come again?" I ask. I motion around me. "I'm safe and cozy here. I won't be in unnecessary danger."

She shakes her head. "That's not it." Her eyes soften. "Varus... remember we made promises to each other."

_To become her rage..._

_To become my forgiveness..._

_To be my moral compass..._

_To show me a new path..._

"I remember, but-"

"But we are about to go into battle. You only just came out of a near suicidal episode, and despite the constant dumb jokes, the smiles, the caring you have for your friends and family you are still fragile. You said battle is a test... and you're right. I have only just started helping you find a new path and I... feel I must see it through." She hesitates, uncertain as to how to express something.

I hate seeing her eyes so uncertain. It doesn't belong in that head. It's like saying she is too weak to have conviction. Too vulnerable... "I... want to be here. Even if I am a useless spectator, I feel this is where I belong."

I stare at her a long moment. A part of me feels... warmed. Comforted. A large part of me wants her to be by my side. A part of me that loves looking at her and arguing with her and having philosophical discussions based on our completely opposite views of the Force.

But a growing part of me is frightened by her. Because I depend on her. I'm vulnerable. Her opinion means more to me than any other of my peers. When she is hurt, I'm enraged and my first instinct is to protect her. When she is suffering, I'm trying taking on her pain from her. When she is happy, the galaxy is all bright and dreamy and it scares the hell out of me... Before I just figured it was her... But now that I have merged more and more with Revan, I know it is her. It's her...

And that scares me because it shouldn't be. I made her in a moment of self-loathing. She should hate me. And she doesn't. I have come to accept that, but... I can't understand it.

She's Jedi. I'm Sith. I can't understand it...

I close my eyes and despite my better judgement I surrender. "Buckle up." I turn to the front of the bridge and stand in position.

I stand in front of my throne and extend my senses. I feel the Ravager's welcoming presence all around me, waiting, anticipating my commands. Energy thrums in her heart that ripples out across her Force veins, and like a drum I hear her heart in my ears. It beats faster and times itself with my own heart beats, until we beat like one.

As a Miraluka I see every hall, every room, every extension of her body from the nose to the engines. I see Nihilus hovering in his room reading. I see the away team standing by. I see the Three Stooges have a panic attack as pulsing light suddenly shoots down the walls. I see in the heart Squirt dancing and in amazement to the lights all around her. I see Ahsoka looking at me in amazement for what she sees and feels.

Ravager is coming alive. She is always awake. But now she is practically bouncing up and down like an excited dog. Life pulses in brilliant lights down her halls. It's not like sitting in a ship of cold, black metal. It's like being cradled by a warm, beating heart.

I feel Ahsoka's excitement and wonder increase steadily, and her presence calms my nerves.

"I told you it was a living ship..." I smirk.

I extend my power, and the Ravager accepts its. Lightning pours out of my hands into the walls surrounding me. Lightning extends from every one of my fingers by the thousands in every direction. The lightning holds firm, straightens, and becomes harmless like string extending through all matter it touches to its destination.

Moments like this, being so intimately bonded with my ship, I no longer feel like a Sith.

With my hands I feel the Ravager's hands.

With a twist of my fingers, the Ravager moves.

With a simple gesture, the Ravager comes out of Warp.

I feel like a Miraluka.

Through the Ravager's eyes I see all around us. I see the planets. I see the sun. I see the enemy ships, even as they are too far away for human eyes. I see every detail in three dimensions.

"Uh, Varus?" Ahsoka says behind me.

"Yeah." I say. I must be an interesting sight. Thousands of strings of light extending out of my body like a puppet master of some sort.

"There is no seat belt..."

Oh right. There's only a throne. "One sec. I gotcha." I flex a finger and several hundred strings suddenly wrap themselves around her.

She tenses in surprise and struggles briefly, but doesn't put up much fight against my hold. "This isn't what I had in mind."

"Would you rather I get back there and hold you? There isn't a seat belt."

"I-" She looks at me in wide eyes and flushes red. "No."

I smirk. "Then stop complaining and go with it. It's the best I got right now." A part of me takes further amusement out of teasing her, but I squash it down in anticipation of the upcoming battle.

Sith battle-lust pumps in my veins, and the Ravager shares my energy. I extend my hands forward, tugging at the string, and the Ravager agrees whole-heartedly. With a roar unlike what any ship should be capable of having, the Ravager's engines push us into the fray.

The battle was in full swing. The Mandalorians had engaged just minutes before me. The odds looked to be four to ten.

I like those odds.

The distance is far, but a full-sized leviathan class ship, being twice as large as everything else, coming at you at full ramming speed is a scary sight.

The enemy focuses fire on the Ravager and a small part of me winces in shared pain. We shrug it off and keep going. The Ravager smells fear in their actions and she is only made hungry and happy by the fear.

The Ravager is like a kitten when she is passive. But when given my full permission, and going into battle, she is comparable to a werekitten.

The enemy tries to evade us, anticipating us ramming one of them, but I pull the strings apart, and the Ravager flies into five pieces completely around one.

Our first prey.

"Here, let me make this easy for you!" I mutter. I slam my hands together, and the Ravager comes together again. It's an assault ship. They are large ships, but to me they feel like flies.

The Ravager comes together around the enemy ship and bites down on it between its sections. The ship continues to spray fire and explosions where it can, but it's only flailing around as its hull cracks. I bring my hands out slightly, and the Ravager opens its 'mouth' in turn, only for me to slam my palms again, and the Ravager bites down on it harder than before.

The ship crumbles and splinters. The Ravager shakes and sections of the ship is crushed in turn or breaks off. Comparable to losing a tooth.

But then, the Ravager can just regrow the tooth like a shark. That won't matter.

The enemy scatters in our wake, terrified, like proper prey.

"That wasn't going easy on them, Varus."

"It was easy for me. That's what counts."

With a fleeting gesture I extend one of the Ravager's arms toward the planet. A mere tip of the toe into water as it were while I send the Ravager after the next straggler amongst the enemy pack.

Enemy ships fly around the Ravager and the beginning carpet of bombs and insertion teams are laid down on us. The sudden shaking almost brings me to my knees, but I straighten up and extend my power. Great hands of lightning extend from the hull, grabbing, clutching, and grasping at anything to come close. Fighters are torn apart and explosions rupture all around us.

"Focus on the Dominion." Ahsoka says from behind me. "Less lives lost. Force them to surrender." She phrases it like an order, but I know she isn't pulling rank. She has no rank to pull.

I frown briefly. The Ravager doesn't like the suggestion. She and I are having fun, caught up in the slaughter and hunting of prey.

But then... this is exactly the kind of thing Ahsoka is worried about me dealing with. It's like a drug and I'm an addict.

I sigh deeply. "Yeah, Mother Hen."

The Ravager pouts in the back of my mind, but I just tell her to deal with it. We are still hunting. Just going to leave a few to live if they have the decency to retreat.

I feel the distant piece of the Ravager near the planet enter orbit, and suddenly it feels like my arm is dead weight. My arm becomes heavy. I struggle to life the Ravager piece and the Ravager herself cries in pain.

Yet... that piece is still flying in orbit around the planet, and slowly descending.

It will leave the Ravager vulnerable, in pain, and weak, but we can make it to the planet and back. The Ravager doesn't depend on electronics as heavily as other ships. The electronics help bear the burden of the ship and make her feel stronger, but she will live.

"We can make it." I confirm. "Ravager. Let the away team know. I'm sending them in."

Ahsoka lets out a breathe of relief and her aura brightens up in joy. "That's good. Let's go get them... You think his kids will be as crazy as him?" She giggles.

"I wouldn't put it past them. Just look at us, and we're not even his kids." I laugh and she chuckles. "If they aren't at least a little bit crazy, I'm going to demand a DNA test."

"I second that."

The first part of the Ravager I sent down touches on the surface, and I pull my hand back, rising it back into orbit. Its slow at first, but the section enters space and sparks to life again. Feeling returns to my arm.

The part of the ship with the Away team descends. I make sure to keep it slower than before, and before long the second section of the ship touches down.

Step one, success.

I breathe out a sigh of relief. It feels good... being in control again. Ever since my clones awakened every small victory, every good moment in life has been difficult or dampened with darkness.

Of course, they haven't shown up yet so far as I know. Right now it's just us.

I turn my attention to the enemy and see some of them had neared orbit enough to send drop pods. "Ravager, let them know they will be having company from the Cartel... and while you're at it, tell the enemy to retreat if they know what's good for them."

I turn my Miraluka senses toward the enemy fleet and smell their fear as they huddle together near the distant moon. They didn't take up my offer of retreat it seems.

Ungrateful. I wouldn't have asked if Ahsoka hadn't reminded me. What do they want from me? Cupcakes and coffee?

The Mandalorian fleet positions itself between us and the planet and make no more movements to head forward.

I smirk darkly. If that's a gesture to go on ahead and have fun, I'll give the good Mandalorian guy a drink as thanks. I don't plan to disappoint.

I extend my hands forward and the Ravager rushes into the midst of them with a roar, scattering them once more.

* * *

Entry into the planet's atmosphere was tense and uneventful. The away team was led by Anakin, and they had closed themselves off in a ventilated, air-tight room. The hanger was not considered safe. They sat in the room and kept themselves steady. The air warmed considerably, their ears were filled with the screeching of metal, and electricity and the Force pulsed off every wall.

The first clue to their entry was the electricity stopped pulsing, and Visas suddenly keeled over in pain. They tried asking what was wrong, but the atmosphere around them was too loud. The ship was heating to very high temperatures in the atmospheric entry, and the heat was warping the metal, making it grate and scratch.

Eventually the shaking calmed and the noise disappearing, leaving them with a loud ringing sound in their ears. One last violent shake, and the Ravager fairy fell onto the ground. She rotated her panel up and said, "Landed... so tired. Whew."

Anakin took off the straps and examined the others. Cupcake was ready with a massive mini-gun on each arm. Falon looked like he was developing a migraine, he rubbed his temples and panted slightly. Visas though had a far deeper reaction. She was struggling to breathe, holding her head, fallen to her knees, and whimpering weakly.

"Mrs. Marr?" Anakin asked. He stood by her and dropping down her level, looked her over. There wasn't anything visibly wrong, but she was incoherent. "Visas?" He asked again. Nothing.

"Oh... wow." Falon muttered. He struggled on shaky legs. "This place is giving me a migraine."

"I don't feel anything."

Falon was silent a moment, "Anyone else affected?"

"You can't tell?"

Falon shook his head and winced in pain. "No. I can't see anything, not even with my Miraluka sight. George?"

"I'm good." Cupcake said.

Falon let out a shaky breathe. "It must be something related to Miraluka then... The pain isn't so bad when I let myself be blind. It spikes when I try."

Anakin thought about it a moment. Miraluka see the Galaxy through the Force. They see multiple 'wave-lengths' ranging from energy to matter in various shades. He didn't know specifically what it was like, but from what he knew, and what he was seeing... "Don't try. Visas, let yourself be blind. The electric interference doesn't just affect computers, but you as well."

"I'M NOT A COMPUTER! GET OVER IT ***** BEFORE I KNOCK YOU ON YOUR ASS!" Visas barked angrily. Anakin's eyebrows rose. She had never yelled once that he knew of, and judging from Cupcake's and Falon's expression, they had never seen it either. No matter how aggravated she seemed, she never rose her voice except by very small octaves. This place was really affecting her. She was covered in sweat and panting like a dog in summer heat.

"No." Anakin acknowledged patiently, "But what you are seeing with your technique is being messed up and interfering so much with you, you are only hurting yourself trying to struggle through it. Let yourself be blind."

"I can't..." She begged. "I CAN'T! I can't go back to that! GO AWAY! PLEASE!"

Anakin watched her patiently as her emotions ranged from incredibly angry and violent to sad and sweeping to pitiful and self-loathing. Normally she was like a statue, still and cold, but right now she was like some DJ player doing a wild mix broadcasting all kinds of emotions. All self-control was out the window and they were left with a mess that couldn't make up its mind as to what to do or feel.

As much as he wanted to help and make sure she was taken care of, they were on a time-crunch for a mission that was very important and very personal. They knew the risks of going, and none of them, least of all her, would forgive themselves for failing just to emotionally comfort a blind woman with issues.

Slavian was visibly frightened by her and Aramas simply edged away.

"Falon." He said.

"Yes, Master."

"Will you be an asset on the field?" Anakin asked seriously. As much as he wanted the boy's help, if the Padawan was going in without enough senses to even have an idea of what was going on or where to go, there wasn't much he could do. He would be a danger to himself and to everyone around him.

Falon took it hard and turned away. "No... I can't see anything. I will only hold you back."

"I can't... please... no more! no more no more no more!" Visas continued to whimper.

"Alright... Stay here and keep an 'eye' on her." Anakin said. Visas continued to ramble on to herself, periodically barking and screaming only to whisper again.

"Ha. Ha." Falon mocked.

"George, let's go."

George nodded and with a war cry he ran out the door and to the hoverbikes. Only... they didn't work.

"Dang it... does nothing work?" George lifted his minigun and tested it in the air. It didn't fire. Anakin pulled out his lightsaber and did the same. It briefly flickered, but produced nothing.

"We should have expected this..." Anakin chastised himself. He looked far into the distance. "We will have to run. Unless..." He looked to George.

George returned the glance curiously. He didn't like the way the Jedi was looking at him. "What?"

* * *

The Cartel attacking commander surveyed the landing party around him and gave out orders. The landing spot was clear and drop pods continued to land all around them. "Get them clear! We don't need anyone getting crushed! Get the weapons out! Gather on the hill!" His voice was loud and his arms long, hence the nickname. He wore a vibroblade on his belt and pistol.

Looking up into the sky, he watched as hundreds of drop pods continued to skim through the sky in fiery comets around him. The battle in space was beyond his sight, but he could still see a faint shimmer of cannon fire in the sky when a bolt came closer.

He tossed the pistol after it proved to be useless. Some of the weapons they brought were proving useless in initial tests, but that was a variable they had accounted for. He pulled out a mechanical gun and checked it.

Old fashioned guns that ran on engineering and 'wheels' without any electricity were rare in modern combat, but was still utilized for stealth in occasions where electrical radar or EMP would be considered an issue. His choice was a six-barrel pistol with bullets almost as large as his finger.

Sticking it in his belt he walked up the hill where his men were gathering. Out of some of the drop pods landed animals for them to ride on. He had brought along a speeder, but it proved useless.

He was glad they had planned ahead. The steeds were little more than giant rats, clawing at everything around them, with giant thorns on their back, and razor sharp scythe extending out of the end of their long tail.

The Nexu were scary, nearly impossible to tame, and had more claws, thorns, and teeth than a sand shark. Reach climbed up on his choicest one, and the Nexu snarled and twisted around in defiance briefly before calming down.

One of his men climbed up on a Nexu, only to get eaten by it, but the rest went without incident. Hundreds of troops ascended the hill around him and he turned his eyes toward the distant village.

* * *

The Furious Rapper and its escort hovered over the planet's orbit, just out of range of the electrical interference. The commander watched the view screen with its bridge crew in amazement as the Ravager made short work of one dreadnaught after another. He had expected to be fighting a losing battle, or perhaps a tie, when he looked at the numbers. Ten ships, most of which larger than his, against a leviathan, dreadnought, and three assault and escort vessels. Now it was turning into five against five. The Ravager had single handedly destroyed half the enemy fleet.

But the cost was evident. The Ravager was slowing down. Massive portions of its hull was missing or in flames. The ship was crumbling and destroying itself in the process. He was not familiar with how much damage a Leviathan class vessel can take, but it looked to him that she was beyond her limits. Vital systems and sections already were destroyed... The Ravager was getting dangerously close to having critical points hit and exploding.

"Send another message. The Ravager is taking massive damage. We can offer support if they can just get to us. We cannot leave the line."

"Yes, sir... The Ravager is not responding."

Typical... She hadn't responded the last several times.

"Sir! We have incoming Warp signatures on short range radar! Two groups. Make that three groups!"

"How many?" He asked.

"Twelve signatures in total. They should be coming up on visual now."

The screen shifted and showed three images. In the first image he saw six Old Republic vessels enter the system with two dreadnaughts among them. From the second image, he saw five New Republic vessels with one dreadnaught among them. From the third image he saw... nothing.

"I don't see anyone on the third group."

"Sir, it's... gone. It was there one moment, and gone the next. We managed to take a picture of it before it disappeared."

The picture that showed on the screen revealed a vessel he was not familiar with. It was black, sleek, and looked deceivingly well equipped. He was used to seeing the vessels of many races, and among them they tended to go for bulky ships that focused on capability over visual design. But this ship... From its shape to its armament... the first impression he had was of a bird of prey. It was designed to be a hunter, a stalker, and while he saw only two large cannons, one on each wing, he had little doubt it was covered in more than that.

Disappeared... This ship was an unknown quantity.

"Sir, the NR fleet IFF marks it as General Onasi!"

Onasi was heading for the conflict. The miniature fleet slowly surrounded the much larger, and wounded, vessel from a distance. "SIR! ONASI IS TARGETING THE RAVAGER!"

The commander needed to move fast. This had changed everything. "Repeat the transmission to the Ravager to back off and return to us. Tell her she is about to be overwhelmed. Send all combat data to our allies and inform Onasi not to fire on the Ravager. She's an ally! Better yet, get me a transmission with him directly!"

Carth Onasi's image appeared on the corner of the screen. Next to him the Mandalorian commander could see Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and three other Jedi of which he was not familiar with. The party was getting bigger.

"I trust you have a good reason for telling me not to fire on the Ravager, commander." Onasi said with carefully tempered anger.

The Mandalorian was not about to back down. "Perhaps you were not informed, but the Ravager and its crew has been officially acknowledged by the Mandalorian clans as of recently. She is a mercenary working in our interests. Now, if that isn't enough for you, perhaps you might want to see the data I sent you. The Ravager has done almost all the damage to the enemy fleet thus far, and even though she looks like she is falling apart, she is still one fierce ship."

"Sir..." One of the crew whispered. "The Ravager is contacting everyone."

"Everyone?"

"Yeah... global frequency."

"On screen as well." He sighed.

The sight of the Ravager's bridge was amazing. First, the camera was moving up and down like it was held up by something instead of on a fixed position. Second, there was a blinding amount of light in the form of strings all extending out of the body of a young man like a cocoon... yet the strings also extended from his fingers and he motioned around like some kind of puppet master. In the far back he saw another person surrounded in light string as well, but he couldn't make him out.

"Hey! What's the deal?!" Varus yelled. "Why are we being targeted?"

"You!" Onasi barked angrily. The Jedi next to him didn't seem happy either.

"YES, ME! Got a problem with that!"

"Give me one reason not to shoot you out of space right now!"

"Okay, here's one. YOUR AIM SUCKS!"

The commander massaged his temples... This was going to be fun. The two captains started yelling at each other, and with each passing moment his patience slowed.

The enemy were distant and the ships the Ravager had been hunting limped away with their tails between their legs to their allies. The enemy had not approached, but it seemed they were hesitant and unsure what to make of this. Because as dumb as it was, the Ravager just had to be yelling at every ship in the system.

While Onasi and Varus had their pissing contest, the Mandalorian commander sent a private message to the Ravager.

"Master Varus." A child-like voice said from the Ravager off camera.

"What!" Varus demanded. He was interrupted in yelling at Onasi to shove it.

"We're broadcasting to everyone in the system, not just our allies."

For some reason that made the alien woman behind Varus break out in laughter. "What is with you and microphones!?"

"Shut up!" Varus hissed and hit some keys on his throne. "There. Fixed."

The Mandalorian felt a migraine coming on. He closed his eyes and massaged his forehead.

"Stupid kid... now look at what you've done!" Onasi yelled.

"LISTEN OLD SHIT-"

"Both of you SHUT UP!" The commander yelled. "Why don't you two just whip em out and measure for the next two hours like a couple of teenagers! Or, if you are up to doing something productive, you can remember there is a planet full of defenseless people here, some of which have huge value to our leaders! No? Okay. So stick them back in, and realize this is something bigger than your rivalry!"

Kenobi giggled madly and Onasi stared at him tersely. The commander had, perhaps, spoken a bit strongly, but right now he didn't need his allies questioning the situation. He could apologize later if he was up to it. He didn't question that Onasi was a good general, and a good man, but it appeared he was a bit... blind in sight of the Ravager.

At least the Ravager was getting the hint and leaving its hunt behind to head toward the Mandalorian ships. Varus muttered, "And he wonders why Dustil left..."

"What did you say?" Onasi whispered dangerously, but the Ravager already had cut the transmission.

Onasi growled for a moment before visibly calming down. "Taking defensive position around the planet alongside you. Passing to you the schema. Have there been any away teams to the planet?"

"The Cartel dropped a large load, and the Ravager successfully landed one of her... wings. I am not ready yet to send troops down without a means of leaving. Now, as the superior officer, can I trust you to take command of our forces without you getting into another pissing contest?"

"Yes..." Onasi said darkly. For some reason the commander was unsure about that. General Kenobi announced he was leading the away team, and departed with his Jedi.

Once the other General was gone, the Mandalorian commander asked, "If I may, General, what did he mean by 'why Dustil left."?"

Onasi glanced up at the screen and looked down in... shame. "He's my son. Was my son, anyway. Brat knows through Revan that my relationship with my son isn't exactly... positive. My single-minded obsession with certain enemies destroyed what little chance I had at fixing the family I had left after the Sith destroyed my homeworld. That's the short side of it."

That explained a lot of things. Onasi was considered particularly zealous against anything that had a Sith taint to it.

Onasi turned away from the camera to discuss something with the Jedi briefly. Kenobi nodded and the Jedi left. Onasi returned to the camera. "Something you... and the Ravager, should know is that I've known about this planet, and the plot to keep Mrs. Skywalker away from her husband since the beginning. I have worked with the Revanchist and Mandalore intimately for years, and due to reports of Mr. Skywalker being exposed to Nihilus and surviving, we have worked to keep him from endangering his own family under the precaution that he was a host."

"I believe Skywalker was one of those the Ravager sent down." The commander responded. He didn't know if the plot against the Skywalker family was good or not, but if it was Mandalore's order as well, then he wouldn't question it. They did it for a reason.

"Shit. I honestly don't know if that's wise. Some signs indicate Anakin is a host, and other signs say otherwise. Just in case, the Jedi have decided to go down. If Anakin isn't a host the aid will come in handy. if he isn't... then we will have to secure this system and find a way off the surface for them. If he is, he will be trapped on this planet and we will do everything possible to contain and destroy him."

"Let us hope it doesn't come to that..."

"You know..." Onasi sighed. "Right after this whole Starkiller incident where he killed Bastilla, I had the Jedi breaking my door down and engaging in aggressive negotiations to make me come. I would have anyway, but the incentive made me get here faster. They want her alive just as much as everyone else does and are none too happy with me."

"I do believe that sentiment will be shared by Mr. Skywalker. He will break your nose."

The enemy gathered and headed toward them. The commander readied himself for battle. The Ravager hovered just ahead of them, but he had his doubts about how much more the Ravager could take. Onasi took up their flank and, believe it or not, two of his vessels took up defensive positions around the Ravager.

The enemy fleet halted just outside of their cannon range. Now it would come down to who was willing enough to move first.

Onasi chuckled, "Hey, if he can prove that all of our information was wrong, and that he isn't a host. I'll let him..."


	50. Ep11 - Kiddy Race Part 3

**Note: Sorry it has taken so long to get to this point. I knew what I wanted, but getting the pieces on the board moving correctly was another matter. That and… my mind just hasn't been up to doing much lately. I've been going through a lot in the epic MMORPG we like to call RealLife©.**

**And just so everyone knows, I haven't given up on my beta readers. I just... haven't heard from them in a while, and I like to keep myself to a certain pace. (so yeah, beta readers, I know your still out there, and I haven't given up on you guys, but I do need to hear from you to know you're still alive! :))**

**CHAPTER 50! I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS! :D I never expected it to take this long to get to this point! **

**Oh no. This is going to take forever to reach the end... What have I done?!**

**Tell me what you guys think after so long! The highlight of my days is when I wake up to find reviews in my inbox, and then I smile like an idiot when I read how much people love what I read. I don't want to be selfish about it, but I feel genuine pride in my work and I appreciate every word people have that they can share with me. I've almost cried over some reviews, they have made me so happy.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, so no sue!**

* * *

**Episode 11 - Kiddy Race Part 3**

* * *

Padme looked up from under her hood at the gates towering over them. The caravan entered in. She was walked in closely by guards on all sides.

The guards were not there to keep her safe as much as to keep her from running off. The only way they were getting her out of the village was with her unconscious or threatened of being unconscious. She settled for the latter, but it still hurt.

Every step made her feel useless, worthless, a horrible mother. Leia and Luke had not returned home by the time the village had to leave. Her personal guard, and a few others, stayed behind to look for them, but the rest of the village, being Revanchist, was less inclined to find two kids.

One of the escort by her was a man she had come to know as a Jedi.

"Relax, Mrs. Skywalker. Your children are in good hands."

Despite his soothing words, she was seething inside, even though she was ice on the outside. "Forgive me if I do not share your idealism. You must know nothing about woman if you think telling a mother to relax will do you any good."

"It is not me being idealistic, it is me being practical. There is no good in worrying. Your children are-"

She snapped, "If you say 'they are in good hands' again, I will show you why Ani knew to fear me in a bad mood."

"I was going to say 'are experienced in the land'. They know where to hide and the forests and mountains better than even we do."

Children lost in a forest or mountain is not any better! She wanted to beat him over the head and wake him up. But that wouldn't do any good. "If you think something like that is practical, then you have truly lost your humanity."

"It is called having faith." He ignored the implication with a cool countenance.

"No, it's called being dumb." She picked up her speed and moved away from him.

In the last few years she had seen sides of former-Jedi she never would have thought. All these Jedi beneath the Revanchist... their detachment bordered on scary... like sociopaths. Bastilla was different, she was like a real mother and Padme could understand and eventually forgive everything, but it didn't make her any less scared to be around the Jedi now. They didn't see her kids as human, but as items to be coveted and protected against everything, yet ironically abandoned for her sake to keep from slowing them down.

Ever since the fall of Coruscant Padme didn't know where the Galaxy was anymore. She heard whispers of war. A war in which the Hutts and Mandalorians were key figures. She heard the Jedi were scattered and leaderless. She heard that Ani was host to Nihilus and that if there was any hope for Ani, it was in keeping his 'angel' alive. It was little more than excuses now. She had heard it hundreds and hundreds of times.

In short, she had no idea. So far as she was concerned, the Republic was still the center of the galaxy. But one change she noticed was in the Jedi around her. Or was it in her opinion of them?

Jedi had always been selfless and believing in the greater good. But their treatment of her and her children was both unfounded and colder than anything she had ever imagined. It was like her children weren't living beings in their eyes, but objects to be taken care of or tossed aside. All because of the same rhetoric that was said to the point of no longer having any meaning.

"It is the Will of the Force." The Jedi said as she walked away.

And that was the one line she had come to hate most. She didn't claim to be a Jedi or know intimately of the Force beyond exposure to her Force-sensitive family, but it seemed to her that people were assuming a lot what the Force wanted without any texts, discussion, or input from their 'god'. It was all presumption. It had been there before Coruscant's fall, but it would appear the Jedi Council had still kept their religion humble while they are around.

In short, without the experienced conflict within Windu, the humbled age-old wisdom of Yoda, the quiet strength of Fisto, and the democratic, self-searching voice of the other Masters, the scattered Jedi had fallen completely into presumptuousness.

The city itself was a fortress Padme was familiar with. It was inhabited by the natives and kingdom had allowed the Revanchist to freely come and go. Padme had lived in a nearby village to this kingdom the last few years. It was where her children were raised.

People stood in the streets in open-mouth awe to watch meteor showers in the distance and massive ships fighting out of orbit. On a planet without powered technology, it had to be an incredible sight for them.

But Padme knew the signs. Something was coming. It seemed the king, even if he didn't know exactly what was going on, was still cautious. The city was preparing for war. Soldiers armed themselves and ran to the walls. Peasants were told to stay indoors (not that they listened with the show in the sky to watch).

The city was a labyrinth of winding streets and layers of walls. The planet's natural atmosphere leveled the playing field so blasters and ships were useless. The enemy would have to resort to older weapons more in league with the natives.

She knew she would be safe, but with every step her thoughts were on her children. She had looked for them at the first sign of trouble. She looked for them at their favorite lake and waterfalls, but they were nowhere.

She only hoped Gregar Typho could do what she had failed... She would never forgive herself, or the Revanchist, if her children were not safe.

* * *

"They are gathering over there." Anakin said.

Aramas looked in the direction he was pointing. There was a small army assembling in the distance. It grew with each drop pod to land. Such as it was, three thousand wasn't massive, but without any idea of the defender's strength, it could be a lot.

"Could it be trouble?" Slavian asked.

"They're riding something... I can't make it out from here. Hey, Cupcake, can you smell what they're riding?"

Cupcake responded. "I'm not a dog!" Although he did appear to be used as a horse. Without any usual forms of travel, they decided in a 3-1 vote that he would have to carry them on his back and 'gallop' to the village. The unfairness of the vote was enough to make him mad and pull it off.

With his long arms and legs it was practical, albeit demeaning.

"Hopefully everyone will be okay..." Slavian whispered.

Aramas turned his attention to his friend. Slavian was down about something. As Aramas observed, he had been developing a mood. Slavian was naturally an outward person who felt he needed to talk to make up for Aramas's muteness. He wasn't necessarily happy to the point of being obnoxious, but he was a boy who looked for the silver lining in every cloud and appreciated even the smallest things with a smile. But for a while now Slavian had steadily been quieter, less energetic, more negative, and sighed a lot. Slavian also was not prone to thinking in silence as much as he had been lately.

Something was bothering him and it had developed to the point that even Master Skywalker was giving him sideways glances out of concern. Anakin and Aramas exchanged a glance and Aramas shook his head.

Anakin let it be and turned his attention back to where they were going. The village was in sight.

Cupcake stopped at the edge of the houses and the three Jedi fell from his shoulders. "That's the last time I'm your ride." The lizard grumbled. Having run his frustration out, his body slowly shrunk back down to seven feet.

"So, this is where they lived." Anakin observed. He memorized every detail. He tried to imagine how Padme and two unknown babies could exist here. He was a man of technology and so the idea of living in cabins sounded like hell to him, but he saw the well and pictured Padme pulling up water with two kids circling around her singing to some kind of 'circle around the mom' song. He pictured how close knit the village was with only a few cabins between them all, how everyone knew everyone else.

Did his children have friends their own age?

Did Padme have girl friends?

Did Padme move on from him?

Did his children get a father figure without him?

Thoughts of all kinds raced through his mind unanswered. There was no answer to be had here beyond viewing the living conditions of his family. He could sense in his bones how difficult life must have been, but also how the simplest of things could bring simple enjoyment without the complexity of social media, technology, or political struggles on a galactic scale. They only had the land around them, each other, and the gentle land.

Aramas walked past the Jedi Master and Anakin snapped himself out of his reverie. They were here for a reason. "Check the cabins. Someone has to be here." Anakin ordered.

"None here!" Slavian announced as he entered one. "Wow this place is fiiiilthy. Dirt is everywhere."

"Keep silence. We don't know if hostiles are near." Anakin reminded them as he entered a cabin of his own.

A few moments later there was the sound of struggling and Cupcake roaring. Anakin ran out to find Cupcake wrestling with a man with a spear. He threw the man to the ground and clamped his arms down. He looked about ready to tear the man's arms off when Anakin recognized the eyepatch.

"HOLD! He's friendly!" Anakin ran in and pushed Cupcake aside. He wasn't near strong enough to push him away physically, but the physical contact broke through the lizard's combat-tuned mind and he reluctantly leaned back, albeit still holding the man down.

Gregar Typho struggled to get up against the large lizard's strength, but could not move. He laid back in defeat and looked at his captors. His singular eye widened in surprise. "Master Skywalker?!"

"You know him?" Cupcake asked gruffly.

"Yeah, he is my wife's chief guard for... years."

Cupcake grunted in acknowledgement and released the man. Typho climbed to his feet, still staring at the Jedi Master. "Is that really you, Master Skywalker?"

Anakin smiled warmly. "It's good to see you too, Captain Typho." He extended his hand and the Captain turned his stare down to it. It took him a solid moment to collect himself and grab it. He returned the arm-embrace with all of his strength.

"You have no idea how good it is. It has been too long!" For his part, the Captain looked on the verge of joyful tears. Anakin had not seen the man this happy, ever.

"It has been." Anakin agreed. "... I do not mean to insult but... where are Padme and...?" The man's demeanor dropped instantly.

Anakin's first thought was to panic at some unknown negative fact he would drop on them, but he patiently waited despite his rapidly beating heart.

"Master. Padme is safe. The village was evacuated to the nearby walled city."

Anakin felt his heart go into his lungs, not at the information provided, but at information very carefully left out. "... And the kids?"

"They could not be found and-"

Whatever else the man said went into the wind. All Anakin could hear was the blood flowing in his ears and his increasingly rapid heartbeat.

They could not be found.

The children could not be found.

His children could not be found.

His children were not in the evacuation.

Half the galaxy was here to take vengeance on him, his wife, or to rescue his wife and children for their affiliation to many of the galaxy's known leaders.

Anakin had personally fought, and nearly killed, the Dominion leader on multiple occasions, and possibly threatened the Old Republic Senators to their face. Padme was a friend to Duchess Satine and Senator Organa and the Confederate high senator as well. The sheer number of connections his family had was astounding. And for all of those reasons their rescue or demise would have a grave impact on the morale of many of the galaxies leaders.

And two kids between the ages of one and six were in the middle of nowhere in what would very soon become a battlefield.

It was a father's nightmare.

Anakin became aware of someone's hand on his shoulder and his staggered breathing. Captain Typho looked into his eyes intently. "Are you okay?"

Anakin could only stare at him. "We... need to find them." He sounded weak, far weaker than he should have. He almost felt defeated already. If anything had happened to his children... before they ever had the chance to see his face or receive a bone-crushing hug... He didn't know what he would do. The possibility of their death was worse than his mother's, so much worse.

"We will. I personally promised Mrs. Skywalker I wouldn't return without them."

Anakin nodded numbly. "Thank you. Oh... Force." Anakin looked around. "Are they not here?"

"There are a number of places where they can be. They have their favorite lakes and waterfalls and hills and caves."

"Okay... Cupcake. Slavian. Aramas. Head toward this city of theirs and secure Padme. Bring her back to the Ravager." Anakin said weakly, barely above a whisper. He left it unspoken where he would be. It wasn't necessary to say. Whether Typho asked or argued against it, Anakin was going after his kids. His bones ached for Padme, but she would understand if he waited a bit longer.

For his part, Cupcake didn't argue. He yelled his fury to the skies and started doing some stretches. He punched the ground and forced his adrenaline to kick in. The more adrenaline to enter his veins, the larger his body stretched and before long spikes popped out of his hardened skin. "Oh yeah!" He popped his neck. Steam flowed out of his mouth and cracks of armored skin. "Get on Jedi."

Aramas and Slavian climbed onto his shoulders. Cupcake lumbered down on his knuckles and feet. He looked to Anakin fiercely, "Get the munchkins. We'll get the woman."

Anakin merely nodded in mutual understanding. Cupcake snorted steam and charged toward the city in the far distance.

* * *

Luke looked up and reached out with his senses. The feelings of nearby conflict hadn't lessened, but the 'Star' was nearby.

They were currently on the bottom of their favorite lake with an air bubble around them. They had figured out on their own at some point how to draw air from the water through the Force, and had taken a habit of sitting here to hide from the villagers and pout when they are mad, but never before had they done it out of fear like this.

'Think it's safe?' He asked.

Leia didn't know. She was scared and couldn't say. Never before had they felt the dark side and light in conflict before, now had they felt death in the air so strongly. They felt many die in the distant sky above them. So many lights and presences there one moment and gone the next.

'I don't know...' She responded mentally. 'Hope mom's ok.'

'Yea.'

Afraid to move, the two kids sat in the darkness side by side surrounded by water and the occasional fish.

'Told you this lake had fish.'

* * *

"Master!" The Ravager says, "Ship appeared directly behind us!"

I extend my senses behind the Ravager and see through the Ravager's eyes. A ship did appear out of thin air. The ship, akin to a falcon or hawk of some kind, had snuck in behind the Mandalorians and New Republic ships. The only reason the hawk ship was visible was because the planet's orbit had screwed with its power.

"Well, whatever it is, it's going to go crashing down." I reply.

* * *

Falon tensed. The Ravager was unusually quiet. Every sound echoed endlessly from their breathing to Visas's groans and moans of pain. She had quieted down as well, having lost the energy to yell any more. He had contented himself to being present and quiet. His presence alone had an effect on her, whether for good or bad, he couldn't tell. One moment she wanted to strangle him, the next she was commenting on how she was only half her age (as though that had relevance to anything), and then thanking him for being a good student.

Visas had quieted down and they were not moving, so who was walking? Skywalker couldn't have returned. He was too focused on his family to just turn around and increase the distance between them. Not the kids, steps too heavy. Not Cupcake, his steps were lumbering and lacked focus like this.

"We need to move." Falon concluded. He grabbed Visas by the arm and lifted her up. She flopped around like a drunkard.

"Heh, think you can lift me, Squirt?" She giggled like a little girl. "You're half my age. Pity you aren't older, you would be hot."

"It's Falon, not Falcon or Squirt. I know how old I am, you've only told me ten times now. My age has little to do with my strength when you don't weigh much more than I do. And please do not ever say that again." He said patiently.

Their pace was slow. The steps turned into voices that drew closer. Visas stopped talking as the situation came to her. Falon pressed on until they came across a fork in their path, and there was a voice from each one.

"Great." Falon turned his ear to each path, but whoever was there was coming closer.

He couldn't see, Visas couldn't see, and they were surrounded. Going with his gut, he sighed. "Don't think badly of me for this..."

"For what?" Visas asked.

Falon focused and used the very technique they had told him not to. He used his Force Insight.

He saw parallel timelines where multiple instances of himself took every path, every different action, and saw a way out. Interestingly enough most of the variables with the highest chance of success were similar. Normally that wasn't an odd thing to think about, but in his experience there were usually a variety of choices to consider.

With little other choice, Falon humbled himself and did as he saw. It didn't take long to escape without being seen. He hid when he needed to, he created distractions, he knocked one man unconscious, and he at times had to go on for a moment without Visas, but they made it outside and the area seemed clear.

Just when he decided it would be a good idea to stop, something remarkable happened. Every single timeline, every choice he saw laid out for him, shifted into one mass of the same choice. He saw himself continue to use his technique and follow it.

"What the..." He murmured in surprise. This had never happened before. Out of hundreds, thousands, of choices of different time lines, there was not a single exception of him doing a set thing.

Then the very images he saw turned around and looked back at him with glowing blue eyes, pointed at him, and motioned for him to follow with the same finger.

Falon cut off the technique in surprise. "You're shaking." Visas observed. She seemed calmer now.

"Yeah... well." He chuckled. "It's not every day the Force gives you a sign this obvious."

"A sign?"

"Yeah, I think we're supposed to go this way." He looked for the woman's hand and led her where the Force showed him.

"By the way, how's the head?" He asked.

"Better... The pain's mostly gone. I-I let myself go. I let myself be blind and guided along."

He scoffed, "Funny, so have I. Perhaps this is that humility thing people tell us about. We should try showing Cupcake."

She smiled. "If Varus hasn't shown him already, I doubt we will."

* * *

Padme stopped to catch her breathe. The escort had run her ragged.

She may have grown stronger in her time forced to rely on muscle and sweat rather than technology, but this labyrinth city was huge and she had been pushed into a heavy march for most of the day.

The Revanchist Jedi stopped to look at her gasping for breath with barely contained aggravation. He relented. "I guess we can stop for a minute."

Padme Skywalker sat down on a bench and the rest of her escort relaxed as best they could in their situation. She turned her eyes back toward home where the little cottage was where she had lived, and where she knew her kids were. She hoped vainly that she could see them from this distance. Instead, all she saw was a gathering in the distance of an army.

"They're here." She felt a knot in her stomach. A battle was about to start because of her. Because she was who she was.

It wasn't a feeling she wasn't accustomed to. She had been Queen once, and a Senator after that. Battles involving Naboo soldiers, Gungan or human, were in her name, as well as their deaths. But for deaths to occur because she was a mother, a wife, and for the sake of old loyalties and friendships, that was new. She felt she was supposed to be retired from this harsh reality of war-in-her-name, but it seemed reality had different plans in mind.

"Oh no..." The Revanchist Jedi said. His eyes grew wide as the invading army rushed at the defenders walls and disappeared beneath the perspective of the walls they were incased within. He watched something beyond their sight.

"What is it?" Padme asked worriedly. It took a lot to shake a Jedi and she half wondered what could-

The ground shook beneath their feet in the aftermath of a violent explosion from the distance. Padme grabbed hold of a guard to stay steady, but other people were not so prepared. Smoke flew into the air from the position of the gate.

Explosives?

"Sith." The Revanchist breathed.

That was bad. "Run?"

"Run." He confirmed.

They stood up and bolted away from the gate and the invading army. She didn't know if the defenders had a chance now that Sith were involved, but there had to be a destination. Every step took them closer to the palace.

Drop pods landed around the city from the sky. Invaders littered the city and Padme kept her eyes on the tall building looming closer.

She didn't know how long they had been running, soldiers from her escort had stopped along the way, insisting on slowing the enemy down or getting civilians off the street at her urging.

She heard the screams of the dying behind her and the firing of guns.

The guns were not accompanied by the energy and explosion of lasers, but the sharp impact of bullets. They were old fashioned guns designed to use no power. She had one on her personally to help deal with the nature of this exotic world.

She heard the panting and breathing of animals and the stomping of a stampede.

Seeing civilians all around her in terror and fleeing from a threat that lay behind her, she steeled her resolve. She had no desire to hide and flee and let everyone die for her.

"EVERYONE KEEP RUNNING!" She yelled. Padme stopped, pulled out her pistol, turned, and aimed it at the first rider coming up the street.

"What are you doing?!" The Revanchist Jedi yelled at her in realization. The rider and the rat the nearest invader rode on was a mere five meters away. She aimed a bit lower, fired, and hit the rat instead between the eyes.

She only had one bullet but it sent the animal down and crushing its rider in a tumble. More invaders ran around the fallen to her and Padme readied herself as the flood of fur and bullets came upon her and closed her eyes.

The roar overhead was louder.

Followed by an impact on the ground just in front of her.

A gentle squeal in pain was inches away from her face.

She opened her eyes to look into the eyes of a dying, crushed Nexu. The one that crushed the animal loomed in front of her like a wall of red, angry, steaming armor and flesh with thorns jutting out of it. The massive monstrosity turned to peer at her with red eyes and Padme stepped back as terror swept over her.

Instead, the creature smiled an evil smile. "Man, you are one gutsy little woman, aren't you? And a pretty little thing at that!" The massive creature turned around and extended a hand. "Marry me."

...

"What?" She asked. She couldn't have heard that correctly.

"Mrs. Skywalker!" A child said from atop the roof next to them. He was a boy in monkish clothes, with a shaven head and bearing a wooden staff. Next to him was another boy, a bit older, in street urchin leather clothes and with five orbs floating around him.

The two boys jumped down and the monk boy tackled her in a hug. "I have heard so much about you! It is so great to finally meet you!"

"Uh. Thanks?" She was still in a bit of shell shock. First she is about to die, then a giant thing jumps in and saves her, proposes to her, and now there are two boys. Judging from how easily they had jumped down two stories with the lightness of feline, she could judge they were Jedi or at the very least incredibly athletic.

"Am I dreaming?" She would have asked if she was dead and in some kind of fantasy now, but the exhaustion hadn't left her. Unfortunately pain was a sign of life... or Hell. And she'd rather hope she wasn't in Hell.

"Not at all, Mrs. Skywalker. Master Skywalker sent us to get you."

"Wait." The big... thing grumbled distastefully, "This female is the woman we're looking for?"

"Yes!"

"Ani sent you?!" Padme asked, still struggling to catch up. And he was a Master?! Pride filled her heart along with all the other emotions in the insanity of the last... thirty seconds.

"So she's taken..." The creature asked the children.

The boy's nodded. The bigger creature rolled his eyes. "Tsk... Damnit. Why are all the good ones taken? The Marr Death Goddess only has eyes for the fool of a captain, the tentacle-head isn't worth my time nor the little blind Marr, and this one is taken as well... Maybe the fiery little one might be something when she is a woman, but then the social norm will think it creepy."

"And Varus would kill you." The monk-boy replied.

"Yeah yeah." He eyed Padme again before turning his attention away painfully, "Lucky bastards."

Bullet fire interrupted their (insane) conversation and the big guy roared in more aggravation then pain. "DON'T INTERRUPT ME WHEN I'M TALKING!" Yeah, definitely aggravation.

The boy with the hovering orbs waved his hand around, and the orbs flew into a formation before activating and creating a hollow ball of plasma energy. Padme didn't know what power source it used, but it couldn't be electricity.

The enemy had chosen wisely to keep its distance and fired pistols, rifles, and machine guns at the walking tank. Said walking tank grabbed the energy ball offered by the boy, threw it, and knocked aside Nexu and rider like they were nothing more than pins in a bloody bowling alley. The creature roared in approval and lowered a high-five to the boy, which he jumped up to meet.

"Exactly who are you people!?" Padme asked, near the end of her wits.

"Doesn't matter. We're taking you out of here." The Revanchist Jedi grabbed her shoulder and pulled her away from them. He put up a metal blade towards them in replacement for a lightsaber that doesn't work, and the latest rescuers had a mixed combination of shock, aggravation, and cooled contempt.

"We're here to help." The monk-boy argued.

"Doesn't matter. She belongs to-"

The Revanchist Jedi hit a wall as he walked backwards and turned around to find himself face to face with none other than a very ticked off Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi.

"Hi." Obi-Wan greeted dangerously. Not giving him time to respond, he head-butted the Revanchist and the Revanchist Jedi crumbled to the ground unconscious with a bloody nose to wake up to.

Padme couldn't believe what she was seeing. Obi? Obi-Wan Kenobi? She could barely keep up with one thing after another, and here was an old friend. It had been so long. She barely recognized him.

Obi-Wan eyed the unconscious Jedi with distaste for a moment before turning his attention to her and having perhaps the brightest smile she had ever see on his face. He looked like a kid about to hug her to death. He did hug her. "Padme, it is so good to see you."

"Obi?" Was all she could say.

"Yeah, it's me." He let her down and wasn't sure what to do with himself. He felt like he was looking down at a sister of his he hadn't seen in ages. His smile felt like it was going to snap off his face and run off of its own vitality. "We're here for you."

"You came here... for me?" Padme suddenly realized the audience had grown. No more than twenty other Jedi were behind Obi-wan. A part of her feared them because of how the Revanchist Jedi's views had sickened her in its coldness, but if they were following Obi-Wan, surely she could trust them?

If anything, these Jedi had brighter eyes than she had seen in a long time. There was life, vitality, joy, laughter, and love in them almost permanently etched into their faces. Unlike the almost permanent frowns she had come to see on Jedi as a whole.

And to think they had willingly come to this place... A planet where there is no escape except once a year. "Obi, you're stranded! Why would you do that?" She whispered a bit harsher than she wanted to sound, but she was worried for them and it showed.

He smiled gently in turn. "Padme, I promised Ani five years ago that I wouldn't rest until you were found. I could hardly go back on that promise. Besides, if I can't get you back with him, how am I supposed to get all those free retirement dinners you two owe me?"

"Owe you? I hardly recall-"

"I've known since the beginning, sorry, but Ani isn't that hard to read when he is a hormonal young man. Ani knows I know now, and that I had kept the Council the dark the whole time." Obi said quickly. "Sorry, but the surprise is gone and will have to wait. Everyone knows now. We're here for you and your kids."

"Oh..." She said weakly. Padme felt like she was going to fall. The whole galaxy was spinning. Too much was happening too fast.

What was she doing before she stopped to defend the villagers around her?

Oh yeah... running.

That felt like years ago...

"Why do I get the feeling I have a lot of catching up to do?" She thought out loud.

Obi-Wan chuckled and pulled her into another brotherly embrace. "Don't worry, we'll get you back to Ani and we'll have the rest of our lives to catch back up."

"Hmmm." That sounded nice. "What do you mean 'we'?"

"Who do you think is going to be renting the guest room, for free might I add, and babysitting?" He teased. She laughed.

"Is that another one of the things we owe you?"

"That and all the ice-cream sandwiches this old man can eat till he gets fat."

"We'll discuss details later." She replied neutrally, but with a big smile.

"That may be best." One of the Jedi following Obi-Wan said tensely, and pointed down the street. Obi-Wan looked down and his eyes widened, then narrowed.

"You." His good cheer and joy disappeared and was replaced by battle-hardened derision. Padme blinked in surprise, for she had never heard Obi-Wan speak with such... scorn.

A figure in dark robes stepped over the bodies of the fallen invaders. More invaders were in the distance laying siege to the inner city, and some followed the figure, but Padme could tell by how even his own allies kept their distance that this wasn't a man to be ignored easily.

The figure couldn't be any older than twenty, judging from his lanky, tall frame. She saw two red dots under the hood where his eyes were supposed to be from this distance. The monster that had guarded her from the riders stepped back, for the first time showing fear, and the two kids readied themselves for battle as though they knew what was coming.

Padme wondered who this young man was, until he pulled back the hood and regarded them. "Isn't he Ani's second Padawan?" She asked.

"Long story short: Clone." Was all Obi-Wan said, his eyes never leaving the young man, ever alert for the slightest action. His tension sent chills up Padme's spine. For even Obi-Wan to be so cautious...

The young man looking like Varus Wynn pulled out his lightsaber and messed with it a moment. "Odd planet... It's truly illuminating to find oneself without the use of a lightsaber. But then, perhaps the Jedi and Sith have crippled their own growth by holding themselves to such constructs." He case the lightsaber aside like trash. "Let's free ourselves of it shall we? We are, after all, followers of the Force. That is all we should need."

He flicked his hands, then frowned as though he expected something to happen. He looked at his extended hands back and front.

Obi-Wan smirked when he saw the confusion on his face, "You won't be getting any of your lightning here either, Sith."

The Sith merely raised an eyebrow. "So it seems. Still." He smiled widely, too widely, as though it was a funny game. "That should only make this more interesting don't you think? I have my metaphorical hand tied behind my back. It's finally a fair fight!"

* * *

Anakin fidgeted with his robotic hands.

Ever since coming to this planet they haven't worked right. That was to be expected, considering the planet's electrical interference, but it was still very uncomfortable and worrisome. He could use them, if barely, but it was the 'barely' part that had him worried. If he got into a situation where he needed to use his hands with their normal dexterity... Well...

He just better not. Such as climbing up the side of a small cliff.

"Are you sure they might be up there?" Anakin asked.

Gregar Typho climbed up onto the ledge above them. "Possibly. The two brats have a dozen places favorite spots on the country side. When they aren't evading chores they're off exploring and 'being at one with nature' or something."

"Well they definitely aren't my kids." Anakin joked.

"Oh, I'm sure you will find they picked up a lot more of you than you think." He fired back.

"Really, which parts?" Anakin dared him to say.

"Sorry, sir, but I must side with your wife on this one: all the wrong ones."

"Ouch." Anakin chuckled.

The moment went into tense silence. Anakin forced himself to continue smiling in his attempt to alleviate the atmosphere and how rapidly his heart was beating. Thankfully, Typho had not said anything about it, but the man had to realize that the increased frequency in jokes was going up with each failed search.

"Great. They aren't up here either." The man said apologetically. He climbed down and Anakin sighed. Now his mood was down.

"Shall we search the lake again?" Typho offered.

"We already did. And under a tree with cavernous roots, and a tree-house, and behind a waterfall, and the top of the waterfall, and here."

"Yes, but the lake is their absolute favorite. I would find them there more often than not."

"If you really think it will work... lead on." He motioned off lazily. Despite his tone, Typho could tell he was terrified.

Typho nodded and lead him back towards the lake in question. They had found a hollow tree with a fishing rod sitting inside it, Luke's so far as Typho informed him, but now they found Falon and Visas sitting by the tree as well. "What are you two doing here?" Anakin asked, barely containing his aggravation. "You shouldn't be here! You should be at the Ravager!"

"It was attacked, sir." Falon explained.

Visas didn't pay them any attention, but kept her attention on the lake. She was murmuring something to herself. She looked mad, and not in an angry way.

Anakin deflated. "Okay... I'm sorry. Good job evading them. But, really, what are you doing here? It's a little out of the way and you two are... well. Blind."

"The Force showed me." Falon explained. "I... When I used my insight technique to help us escape, the technique itself was transformed and shaped in a way as though the Force was giving me a message. That the Force wanted us to come here." He turned his blind face back to the lake. "There is something special about this lake. Visas has been murmuring to herself about hearing things, but... honestly, sir, I think I hear it too. It's faint but there."

Falon looked up to Anakin, despite being blind, and said, "Come, sit. You might hear it too."

Not sure what to make of it, but trusting in them, Anakin sat down and meditated in silence.

Typho looked between the three Force Users. "Hear what? I hear nothing."

"The lake is talking..." Visas murmured.

"The lake never speaks, not in all the time I've been here. Have all three of you hit your heads on something?"

Anakin's eyes shot open. "No! She's right. The lake is talking! Not just one voice, but two!" Without another word he jumped into the lake. Long moments passed.

Anakin returned back up to the surface and swam to the side. "The lake is deep and wide. I can't see anything down there... They could be anywhere down here!" He stood on the edge of the look and peered into the water as if to try and see all the way to the bottom, but it was deep. The water was clear and pure, fed by gentle rivers and exited by the same, but it was too deep for the light to reach the bottom.

"Let me try." Visas stood.

"Are you sure?" Falon asked worriedly, "If you try to see again, the pain might cripple you."

"I'll be fine." She assured him, hard headed as ever.

"Okay, but use your technique in short bursts." Anakin suggested.

Visas turned her face to him and nodded. "Good idea. Thanks." She turned her face back to the lake and suddenly hissed in pain, keeled over, and fell to her knees while holding her head.

"Visas!" Falon jumped up and grabbed her to keep her from accidentally falling in. Visas put an arm out to keep him at bay.

"I'm good! I'm good! I'm ******* golden!" She barked, then breathed in and out heavily as though she was a woman in labor. "It's only going to be a short time, and doing it in short 'bursts' is making it... bearable."

Visas gave herself a moment to collect herself before jumping into the lake all the way down to the darkness where their eyes could not follow, and still she swam down deeper and deeper. "That's deep. If you had tried to stay down there and search for them, you might have drowned." Falon remarked.

Anakin grunted, his attention focused entirely on the lake. "Hm... remind me to apologize for even thinking you two were not proper assets."

"Oh? So the big and powerful 'Chosen One' is capable of coming down to us little folk and apologizing? Don't it just bring a tear to your eye?" A voice said behind them.

A chill went up Anakin's spine at the voice.

Varus Wynn. No... Too much malice.

Starkiller.

"And so evil chooses to hide in the darkness that has bred it. For as evil cometh out of the womb with nothing, so they enter into death with even less." A second voice said poetically.

Typho turned around and asked, "Are they friends of yours master Jedi? Who's the kid and the old man with the stick?"

Anakin turned around to see Starkiller and an Eternal Hand Prior standing on the hill over them. Starkiller burst out laughing and pointed at the Prior. "He called you an old man with a stick! HAHAHAHAHAHAH!"


	51. Interlude - Girl Talk

**Announcement: To all the 'guests' that are too cowardly to put their names on the internet and sit here and tell me how bad my writing is: I. Don't. Care. I'm not going to be hurt by your actions, and I'm not going to stop writing how I enjoy writing just because of trolls. If anything, I am tired of deleting your reviews. I don't appreciate hate mail, and consider it beneath you. If you want me to take a single word you say seriously, you will be brave enough to use a fanfiction account to do it.  
**

**I am no longer allowing guests to review just because I can't be bothered to waste my time deleting the hate mail sent by cowards anymore.**

**If you actually make the effort to read a story to the end and then tell me how bad it was, it must not be that bad, because you either enjoyed it enough to read to this point, or you enjoy torturing yourself. If its the latter, then have fun. I'm going to continue doing what I enjoy even if ONE person in the whole world likes it too.**

**Now, with that said, I'm sorry if that sounded a bit harsh, but I have had so many stories I've enjoyed and read stopped because the writers couldn't deal with the huge amount of hate they were getting every time they posted. Not that they are weak for stopping, but its cruel and almost criminal to attack someone to the point of possibly getting depressed and commiting suicide. (No, thats not an extreme. A huge portion of suicides are caused by bullying.) They lost enjoyment in their hobby because children on the internet like to show how immature they are. I do not put up with it, and I don't plan to become a victim of cyber-bullying. If anything, I'm the kind of guy who retaliates when I am wronged or see others wronged around me.**

**and I am sorry if this change keeps the friendly guests from reviewing. There are a fair share of those, and I do love and appreciate them for it all the same, but its an unfortunate sacrifice to make. I'm sorry. 3**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, so no sue!**

* * *

**Interlude - Girl Talk**

* * *

Visas entered the lounge to find Ashley frowning deeply over something. Her posture was defensive, her hands wrapped around each other, and her head was down. Nearby, Cahjinawl was chasing a Ravager flying-droid around the room in some kind of childish game. For all extents and purposes, Ashley appeared to be keeping a 'blind' eye on her young charge (student? adoptive daughter? girl she's babysitting? Girl she is being a nanny to? Visas couldn't say.) But to Visas, who knew her sister well, it was obvious her thoughts were elsewhere.

Anyone else also might have found some kind of gentle subtle way to get her to open up. Visas had only two strategies. Retreat and not bother to begin with or be blunt and direct. While she was a stealthy fighter, she chose to engage in casual with all the subtlety of a cave man.

She chose to go on the offensive from the start and sat down next to her sister. "Okay, what's bothering you?"

"Nothing."

"Uh-huh..."

"Really, I'm fine."

"Need I remind you which of us can see your heart skip a beat when you lie? Your Force sight isn't as high as mine." Visas pressed.

Now, as usual, Ashley would try to stay silent and hope Visas would just forget it and move on, or she would get aggravated and misdirect the conversation. Her sister was really predictable.

Five minutes later, Visas reminded her she wasn't letting go until Ashley opened up. "Fine! If it's so damn important, it's Leland..."

"Leland. Didn't you two break it off when he was exiled? What about him should be bothering you?"

"He was in our apartment leaving letters... to me."

Visas let the silence kick in a moment as she contemplated that. Something in the back of her mind raised red flags, but she couldn't figure out exactly why. She had a good grasp of politics, and knew Leland had been raised with a firm grasp of it. He had to know that entering the Marr estate on the mothership, after him and Ashley had broken off their relationship, and had not reignited it (so far as she knew) would have implications.

Gossip was like credits in a culture as small and community-focused as theirs. For the second son of the Marek family to be engaging, or attempting to engage, with talks with the second daughter of the Marr family, especially two that had once been lovers...

"Let me guess. A. You're concerned what the letter he left will say. B. You're scared of him in general and the possibility that the open hatred he showed in his trial is still in his heart. Or C. The Council is pressuring you to get in either good standing with him again, to be all romantic and kissy-face, or his bed -not- sleeping. And please notice I am refraining from being vulgar and more specific because of her." Visas motioned toward Cahjinawl with her thumb. She subconsciously took Ashley's hand since her sister continued to seem overly worried and nervous.

"If you must know... it's all of that."

"Now why would they do that?" Visas demanded. Her eyebrows furrowed angrily. "You don't like him. He's a little **********."

Ashley giggled. It was unbecoming to laugh at such a rude description, but she could always trust her big sister to go straight for the source of the problem. Almost made Ashley wonder why she had to bother being so worried and fret about things. That and the description fit. Not that she would say so.

Unfortunately, the truth was something else entirely. "Because so far as some of the Council is concerned, I'm your replacement."

Well, that was certainly not the answer Visas expected. "What?"

Ashley sighed. "Ever since you and Galen's, or rather Varus', disappearance, the Council had to find a new Keeper and new... chosen."

Visas' grip on Ashley's hand clamped down so tightly Ashley felt her bones pop out of place. "They did not." Visas voice was calm, neutral, ice, and with a small hint of anger. Only the slightest bit of rage that Visas couldn't quite contain.

"It didn't last long." Ashley assured her. "Leland's... situation kept him from being considered a proper Keeper, although he was still publicly humiliated for it like a bad replacement. Without a proper Keeper, there was no need for me to be chosen. And by the time talk of me being his chosen was around, I was too old to go into such... uh-"

"Slavery." Visas suggested.

"I wouldn't put it that... But I was too old to go into such a thing without being held back by a taste of what it was like before. So the whole matter was dropped... mostly."

"Mostly."

"Yeah... some of the Council still think I should be your replacement... with Leland. The small group thinks you and Varus are broken, hollow and incapable of fulfilling your positions."

Visas sighed. Ashley fumbled with herself quietly and squeaked in surprise when Visas took her in a hug. It was very much unlike the closed off woman. "Next time they give you trouble, tell them where they can shove it. Rather. Let me do it. I'll make their ears bleed. I won't even threaten them once. It's true, Varus and I will have trouble fulfilling our roles. That's what happens when you put two broken people like us in it, but that doesn't mean they should be going after you. I'd rather see Rebhorn win and overthrow the whole Keeper system before the Council subjugates you into some arranged marriage. Especially with that piece of work. Now. Take Cahjinawl off somewhere to play, wipe your eyes, and burn the letters. Then take the ashes and churn it into paste, then smear it on his door. Then burn the door. When you have-"

"I get it. I get it." Ashley shook her head in exasperation. She stood up, patted down her skirt, and called Cahjinawl to her. "I swear, you're picking some things up from Varus that are not becoming." They left.

"Yeah, well. He's a good master. I wouldn't want anyone else for it. Despite... things."

Visas let herself sit in silence a moment before walking out and finding Ashoka there. Actually, Visas knew Ahsoka was there the whole time. "It's not easy to spy on a Miraluka, alien."

Ahsoka's eyes widened in embarrassment. She had been caught. "S-sorry. I didn't mean to impose. It just seemed like a very personal thing to walk into."

"It was. And you heard."

"I wasn't here intentionally trying to eavesdrop... I was unsure whether to go in or not... I had already heard enough to worry and-"

Visas cut her off tersely and walked past her. "Whatever. I don't care if you have trouble dropping eaves."

Ahsoka opened her mouth to respond, but shut it. Instead she watched Visas move around the cafeteria. Visas threw together some meat on bread. Her posture was relaxed but there was a thick distance between them that Ahsoka could see and it didn't feel like it was just because Ahsoka had heard more than desired from outside the door.

Ever since she had entered the ship Visas had been polite, distant, and detached. Never were her words outright hostile like this.

Visas sat down and Ahsoka sat down in front of her. Visas was not the type to beat around a problem, so Ahsoka could respect and replicate that. "Is your problem with me about me being alien? Is it because I'm Jedi? Or is there something I've done to offend you without realizing it? Because if you are going to be prissy with me, I would like to at least know why."

"So she does have a backbone." Visas observed to herself out loud. "Interesting."

Ahsoka ignored her. "I am sorry for hearing more than you want, but this is more than just me hearing a few things isn't it?"

Visas continued to eat for a moment before putting the food down and wrapping her fingers together thoughtfully. "Yes."

"And?" Ahsoka demanded.

"You will destroy the Marek family."

"..." Ahsoka didn't let her surprise show.

"And quite possibly the Miraluka."

"You have no idea what you are talking about." Ahsoka responded.

Visas said casually, "And you say that because you know nothing of us."

"Then enlighten me, oh great teacher! How, by the Force, am I going to destroy a race of Force-Users who are, on average, stronger than I am?"

Visas sighed, before leaning back and facing Ahsoka directly. "The Miraluka is a close-knit family."

"I can gather that."

"The Miraluka are also unusual in our unity. Most species contribute approximately 30% of their people to war and large-scale causes between soldiers, workers, donations, and other factors without mandatory dictation. The Miraluka contribute approximately 90% without even needing to advertise the need."

"Wow..."

"The reason is because every Miraluka is united in the Force on the emotional level. Every Miraluka enters the 'Network' when they are young, and the Network is a complicated web of Force Bonds. Like any web, it has its center point, can be strong or fragile, and can be poisoned."

"I-I don't follow. What does this have to do with me? I'm not part of this web of yours."

"I'm getting to it. The center of the Network is the 'Keeper'. The Keepers role is to lead the Miraluka on an emotional level. While we can sense each other, the Keeper is always the one who stands out. If the Keeper feels a cause should be joined, we feel it in ourselves. There are naturally those that disregard what the Keeper's decision is, but they are few. No Miraluka feels alone. No matter where we are there is a brother or sister out there."

"Sounds nice. But are you sure you want Varus to lead your people on an emotional level?" Ahsoka smirked.

Visas smirked as well. "Perhaps there is some growing up for him to do before he is ready, but all the same, the Keeper's burden is a heavy one. One so great that it requires a second person called a 'chosen'."

"And this chosen helps bear the emotional burden of being the center-point of this network?"

Visas smiled. "You're following well. The last time a Keeper existed without a chosen, it drove him insane and he died. If he didn't have a twin brother, the bloodline would have been broken. The chosen also acts as a backup to keeping the network alive if the Keeper dies until a new one arises. Namely in Victoria Marek."

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't she the Keeper's widow?"

"Yes, and therein lies the problem. While I wish for Victoria's health, she has been sickly and weak since... Nihilus. There is pressure on Varus to find a chosen."

"Okay?" Ahsoka prompted.

Visas put her hands together. "Let me put this another way. The chosen's burden is to engage on a Force Bond with the Keeper stronger than anyone else on the Network."

Ahsoka quirked an eyebrow.

"It's the equivalent to Miraluka marriage." Visas explained bluntly. The response, to her amusement, was immediate. Ahsoka was quick to follow.

All this time Visas half wondered whether or not her speculation was true. Ahsoka may not see it that way, and Varus may be in denial, but Visas was not. There was obvious chemistry at work between the two former Padawans of Anakin Skywalker, and all the proof she needed was in the multiple shades of color Ahsoka's face went through.

Ahsoka never let on, but she was clearly attracted to the former Sith. Visas could see it because she had trained herself to understand and control emotions more than anyone else she knew. It was necessary to contain herself.

And Varus was rather obvious between the staring, awkwardness, and the gestures of emotion such as trust and... Kissing the alien while she was asleep. Forehead or not it was big for him.

Really, the only reason she wondered that these two hadn't jumped each other was their upbringings and being not as in touch with their emotions as she is. Of course, Visas has too much to feel, so perhaps she wasn't one to speak.

Ahsoka was stunned speechless, so Visas continued. "If you become his chosen, you will fail in the role since you are not Miraluka. You cannot be in the Network, and Varus will go mad if he tries without a chosen."

"You-we? Wait!" Ahsoka put up a hand to halt the conversation and steadied herself. "Okay... so you're saying Varus and I- No. No no no. Yeah, perhaps he is... hot, but that man's dumb and brash and... Oh! I cannot believe we are having this conversation!"

"And notice how difficult you find the conversation..." Visas added.

"Shut up, I'm caught off guard." Ahsoka snapped.

"If you were not finding him the least bit attractive and intimate, physically or emotionally, and considering him on at least a subconscious level, you would be laughing in my face and talking about how much of a brother he is to you. Instead, you call him hot, dumb, and brash in the same sentence. At once a word to describe physical attraction followed by poor and desperate attempts to further yourself away, including the phrase 'that man' which is a phrase used exclusively to emotionally distance yourself from the subject to keep from appearing to be lying while discussing the person. Really, I thought Jedi aren't about lying to themselves."

"I'm not!"

Visas merely quirked an eyebrow, again.

"I'm not!"

"Varus kissed you. You didn't know it at the time."

"He- he what?!" Ahsoka gasped.

"He kissed you. The only one on this ship who doesn't seem to notice that you have his attention and boyish affection is apparently yourself. Or... you might. He has all but promised you his heart and you do invite him to intimacy in your room on a daily basis."

"How DARE you!" She seethed, "That's for privacy and for the sake of helping him as a person! We just talk!"

"Intimacy and privacy go hand in hand, but the choice of your cabin? A place that you temporarily call home? You could have chosen the bridge room -I refuse to call it throne room-, and you could have chosen a meditation chamber or a broom closet. Instead, you go for your own personalized space that speaks of your personality and quirks and who you are deep down for him to observe without it being stated. Next, you choose to place yourself next to him on the bridge instead of the away team."

"He's a Sith trying to turn his back on his old ways! He needs someone there to lean on!" Ahsoka defended. She was starting to get angry and had to restrain herself. She didn't like being accused of something on such a personal level.

Also the phrase 'Varus kissed her' kept going through her head, and she couldn't figure out how to feel about it while being interrogated and bombarded like this.

"Admirable as that is, was it for his sake? Or your own? You have been neglecting your students a lot. And that is a very cold way of putting it when he has all but professed love. Do you really care about anyone or just toy-"

Visas would have kept going, but her own food exploded in her face, followed by the metallic plate colliding with her nose, and Ahsoka's lethal glare on her. Visas sensed Ahsoka was pushed to the edge, and stopped.

She popped a kink in her neck. Visas stood and brushed herself off, nonchalantly as ever. "Perhaps that was a step too far. My apologies. But make no mistake, you will destroy us, Ahsoka Tano, because Varus has no interest in females beyond the one he is comfortable with, being yourself. He will fail at being a Keeper, and you, even if you wanted to be, cannot be a chosen. The primary difference between Miraluka and all other's is how the Force works with us, and as a Jedi, even trying to enter the Network will fail. Therein lies the problem. You are simply incompatible."

"Then wouldn't Varus fail as a Sith?" Ahsoka responded in a whisper, continuing to glare.

Visas cocked her head to the side in thought. "An astute observation... perhaps he will find it difficult, but his blood is Miraluka and Keeper both. I have no doubt he will succeed if he has the proper backup."

"Such as you." Ahsoka hissed.

Visas stayed silent for a moment. She had not expected to be so... readable. She shrugged. "Varus has already proven to have little interest in me."

"So it's jealousy then? That's your problem. I am not as interested in him as you and yet you, despite how your pitch never raises, your voice never yells or lowers or fluctuates, it is obvious by your actions that you it kills you. You may be a cold bitch on the outside, but you're a burning sun on the inside threatening to explode into a super nova." Ahsoka glared at her. "I'm not the one who may destroy Varus's family. You are, and like the Dark Side that surrounds you, nothing will be left in its wake when that sun in your heart does explode. Everything will burn."

Despite the harshness of her word, or, perhaps, the truth in them, Visas showed nothing. It was as if she didn't hear it. Yet, she did, and so proved it by responding. "Then prove me wrong. Make him happy, succeed where I have failed, and be compatible with the Network despite all evidence to the contrary. Otherwise, let him go. His people, and the love we have for him, can help him just as much as you. You have no need to be on this ship beyond your own desire to be by his side, and so if you cannot become the woman he needs, then he will need to move on to one he does to complete his destiny."

Visas turned to leave, but Ahsoka had one more thing to say, "Is that because you're the slave to your birth, or because you are trying to enslave him to his?"

Visas was thankful her back was turned, because those were the first words to truly break her composure. She departed without another word. She didn't know what to say to that even if she wanted to.

* * *

**Note: Whew... that was heavy.**

**Leland has more to hate his people for, as his existence is not ONLY considered evil and a corruption, but as his only potential positive trait being a 'bad replacement' for a saint-like brother that is presumed dead.**

**Visas can really be cold can't she? She isn't outright evil, but there is a lot inside of her being barely contained, and at times pieces of her inner thoughts and turmoil breaks out. The one thing keeping her together is loyalty and a kind of love. Without that, she's insane, jealous, cold, murderous, hateful. Perhaps everything that Leland is... except with a lot more intense emotion inside. Not to mention that she see's Ahsoka as a threat to her own existance, since her birth and purpose in life is directly tied to Varus. He may want her to do what she wants with her life, but you can't get rid of 30~ years of conditioning overnight. Will she recover and become more stable in time or will she explode and hurt people one day?**

**Ashley has some pressure from the Council, but she is taking it well.**

**And oh dear, Ahsoka is getting her eyes opened more. She can't have private time, of any kind, with Varus anymore as innocently as before. I have tried multiple ways of professing affection, attraction, and confused-love between them in an innocent manner since neither really are good at being aware of it. It's hard to understand love when you're not used to feeling it. It's quite confusing. For one thing, if you pay attention to the various promises they have made each other along the way of this story, Varus has all but professed love and given his heart when he was on the verge of suicide. He already has given his heart to her, but doesn't even fully realize the full impact of what it means, while she took it in a slightly different way. Yeah, not anymore.**

**Sometimes with people who don't fully understand feelings and emotions, you need it put down plain and simple for them to see it.**


	52. Ep12 - Victory has its Cost Part 1

**Note: Sorry it has been so long in between updates lately. I have been finding it difficult to sit and write. Not that I do not have the time nor know what to write, I just... have had a lot on my plate. Been playing games and other things.**

**One thing I wanna bring up is that one of my reviewers and I have a little game (kinda) going where we try to figure out songs that speak of certain things. Starkiller's personality and story is best described as "Indestructible by Disturbed". There were a few others, but I don't remember and the guy has been quite accurate thus far, which is impressive. His ability to see into the core of the characters and plot is nice, although I disagree on the Stooges. I like them just because I like them, while he utterly HATES them :P**

**I'm rambling... Its way too late for this. Anyway! What I want to know is what songs you think fit with various characters and plot points.**

**I think Varus is described best by the song "What I've done by Linkin Park". But I also heard "My Demons by Starset" recently and it struck me as quite fitting as well. Tell me what you guys think, of course. :P**

**Question: So what song do you think fits the character you like most? I'll include the ones in future notes that I think fit so others can hear it and perhaps have a deeper understanding of the character.**

**I also think that Starkiller can be described by the song "Centuries by Fall Out Boy". He hates Ahsoka because her forgivness for Varus, all the way back to the Maris Brood time, is changing Varus and Starkiller does not want to 'disappear'. Only problem with the song is that Starkiller's personality is a bit more... metal than hip-hop. Hmm... So perhaps the song doesn't fit that well.**

**Bleh, I have got to stop posting near midnight...**

**ON WITH THE SHOW!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, so no sue!**

* * *

**Episode 12 - Victory at a Cost Part 1**

* * *

Nihilus floated in his room. The door was sealed and the runes prevented his power from leaking out unless others would feel him, but it didn't keep him from feeling the presence of others around him.

There were so many out there. He could feel it. Every soul around the Ravager by the thousands. So many delectable and savory one that made his non-existent mouth water. Hunger ate at him. Despite the deal he made with Varus, it took most of Nihilus' will to not reach out and take a bite. This room kept him contained and his mask was sealed on Mandalore in such a fashion that prevented him from escaping, and conveniently kept his energy from leaking as well. It kept his hunger at bay.

But what kept him most at bay was the gathering of people in his sights. So many pieces on the board had come together on this planet, and Nihilus could not say who would win. The Starkillers were weakened greatly due to the nature of the planet, but they were still strong. Skywalker was a powerful Jedi and could take them on. The gathering of Jedi in the capital city had a chance too. Varus was feeling strong and Nihilus felt a bit of... nostalgia at how at-peace his apprentice was, yet how strong he was as well. Whoever the female was by his side, weak as she was, she was giving his apprentice purpose and strength at once. Nihilus still didn't like them, and intended for them to pay for taking his apprentice away, but that was for another day.

What really made Nihilus stop and idly observe was Him.

The Prior, or rather, the One behind the Prior. The Hate behind him. There were many words Nihilus could use to describe the abomination acting through the Prior's eyes. Hate. Vengeance. Justice. Revenge. Void. Power. Sith. Even Teacher.

Though it was a strike against his pride, Nihilus himself once had a teacher. He didn't learn how to use his Void power alone. If he had learned it through trial and error, he would be long dead. Someone had to teach him. Someone that gave even him pause.

Nihilus had little doubt the Starkiller would lose. Skywalker, and those he surrounded himself with, were not your average enemy. But then they didn't know exactly what it was behind the Prior.

And that would be their downfall.

They would lose. Not just this battle, but all battles to come simply because they do not know what face sits behind the pale eyes and preaching.

And when they lose, Nihilus would have to resort to his own measures to do what he had to. He would not be taken!

"Prove me wrong, Jedi." Nihilus whispered to the shadows he lived and breathed. "Show me your growth. Show me you can overcome the past."

* * *

"Kindly hand the woman over would you?" Starkiller asked. He said cheerfully in sing-song, "Otherwise this will get meeeessssy. And we wouldn't want that now would we?"

Obi-Wan pushed Padme behind them and Starkiller rolled his eyes. "Come now. You can't possibly think you stand a chance? I've killed you in simulations so many times... I can kill you in seconds, Master Jedi. You're just a waste of my time."

"Why her? Surely there are better targets for your goals. Wouldn't it throw the galaxy more into chaos if you went after Mandalore or an actual leader?" Obi-Wan asked.

It went against his normal way of doing things to buy time, but he didn't think he could stop Starkiller.

"Well now... That would be telling now wouldn't it?" Starkiller mocked.

"So there is a reason."

"Of course." He smirked and said no more.

"I know too much." Padme said in realization. Obi-Wan turned to look at Padme in dumb shock. All eyes turned to her and more than a few of those eyes were widened. None of which were as wide or terrified as her own.

Whatever it is she knows has her scared out of her mind just as much as Starkiller.

Starkiller's smile dropped. "tsk... Like we thought... Blasted Revanchist told you."

"Told you what?" Obi-Wan asked her.

"Bastilla told me what little she knew from Revan. It's not much, but-" Padme started to explain, was cut off as a blast of Force energy hit them. If the Jedi were not paying attention it would have sent them flying down the street. As it was, it already took five of the Jedi knights to stop the shockwave.

Starkiller ran at them, "It always goes back to Revan. Doesn't matter, I'll make sure his legacy ends here!"

Starkiller pulled up stones by the dozens and shot them at the Jedi. The Jedi pulled out vibroblades and knocked the stones aside with the Force. Starkiller jumped over their front line and landed in their midst with a feral grin plastered on his face. "Mind if I borrow one?"

Black flame enveloped his hands and he reached out and grabbed a man by his face. The man yelled in agony just before collapsing into a pile of bones. Starkiller picked up his Vibroblade and was already on the move before others could retaliate. He blocked, knocked attacks aside, and evaded faster than anyone could keep up with. The Force attacks used against him were knocked aside like the wind.

He blocked an attack only to stab the man and push him back into his allies, then jump backwards and cleave a man's head off while in the air.

He landed nimbly on his feet facing Obi-Wan Kenobi and Padme Skywalker. His grin was feral and bloodthirsty. A perfect match for the blood covering his face and upper body.

Obi-Wan couldn't trust his old body to keep up with the youth, so he sent out the largest Force pulse he could. Starkiller matched it with his own hand, and for a moment, they were evenly matched. The air around them exploded and spun as if the two were in the center of a tornado. The dust and rocks lifted into the air from the sheer amount of Force energy.

Obi-Wan felt his body ache from the pressure of continuously pumping energy and power into the attack, and saw how Starkiller wasn't close to breaking a sweat. If anything, Starkiller found the whole situation thrilling.

Obi-Wan knocked the attack aside, and Starkiller's as well, before it would overwhelm him. The blast shot out like a cannon and exploded loudly. The air filled with dust and if he had taken the effort to look he would have found the entire series of buildings two streets across was gone. Not even rubble remained.

In the dust-filled cloud around them, all Obi-Wan paid attention to was the excited red eyes.

* * *

Anakin was afraid.

Behind him was his children, a woman underwater and vulnerable, a blind teenager who wouldn't last two minutes against this enemy, and a normal man with nothing more than a spear.

While before him was a Prior and a Starkiller. The Prior was one he did not recognize, but Anakin had a small idea of the power he had. He could infuse others with the Force, so what was to keep him from increasing the power of those already with the Force? Starkiller had always been strong. He was the apprentice assassin of Darth Nihilus, Destroyer of Coruscant, the Lord of Hunger. Nihilus had too many titles to recall and the young man was his greatest apprentice and legacy. Starkiller had always been powerful, but the presence of a Prior only served to tell Anakin that these Starkillers were stronger than their predecessor.

But as Anakin looked on Starkiller, he saw something in his eyes.

Every time he has seen Starkiller he saw something in his eyes. The first time, on Coruscant, it was quiet contempt with a hidden fire and rage. Starkiller was in control of his hatred and kept it tamed, but also fed it and let it stew in him. The second time, when Varus remembered everything and Starkiller awoke, it was without the control and tameness over his anger. His hatred and pain was fresh and new and betrayal was a powerful fuel. Anakin was still surprised that he was given.

The third time was too brief, but Anakin recognized Starkiller's contempt.

Now, as Anakin looked at Starkiller, he couldn't help but wonder why he looked so… empty. There was contempt, there was anger and hatred… but it seemed lacking somehow.

'Why?' Anakin wondered. 'Didn't Varus forgive me? Nihilus had no idea they existed until the first one appeared years ago. They could just as easily have hidden themselves and lived in peace. Why are they here? What is the source of their hatred?'

Did that make Starkiller any weaker if his hatred was not born of personal trauma like the original endured? Perhaps, but only marginally, and a marginal difference didn't matter.

What mattered was that two foes nearly as powerful as Anakin stood before him, and a lot of people he needed to protect were behind him. He couldn't move. If he attacked, then the Prior or Starkiller could hold him while the other struck his allies.

While Anakin contemplated what to do, Falon walked to his side. "I'll distract the older one."

Anakin glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. "You can't, you're too young! You're just a Padawan. I have to find a way to fight them both at once."

"You underestimate me, Master. Remember: I'm Kota's apprentice. I'm considered a prodigy for a reason."

"You cannot hope to defeat him." That wasn't a question, it was a fact.

"I don't plan to. I will keep him busy. I may have learned to see through the Force like a Miraluka, but that wasn't how I originally saw. I've spent the last five and a half years specializing in a technique no Jedi has ever considered to use like this. I'm a Timeseer."

"What is that supposed to mean? And don't smirk like it's cool, it sounds weird."

The teenager chuckled. "Sorry, I just came up with it. Basically I see the divergence of time with every possible choice from now to several minutes from now, and I can act appropriately. I can choose fate."

Anakin looked at him for a long moment as he made his decision. The Jedi Master needed backup. He needed to rely on someone… and his options were limited. As loathe as he was to put such a young man in peril with the fate of the galaxy on their shoulders, it was his best option.

It sounded like a very advanced technique that was also very draining. While the Force was only as limited as the universe itself, Falon was as limited as his body and mind. There was no way he could pull it off indefinitely. "How long can you buy me?"

"Not long. Normally I could do it for two hours before being too exhausted, but I'm told I have a fragile structure from overuse. Ten minutes is my best guess, but it might be shorter."

Ten minutes wasn't long at all.

"Our options include running or standing our ground." Falon said.

"Starkiller will kill us whether we hold our ground or not. I will take care of him. I don't know what the priest can do. You need to run if you can. I won't have my twins being in the middle of a battleground."

"Alright."

Still no one moved. 'What are they waiting on?' Anakin wondered. Starkiller wasn't the patient typ-

The kids! They know his children are in the lake (what they are doing in the lake, Anakin can't say) and are biding their time.

Anakin was not about to let that happen. He started it by running at Starkiller. Starkiller smiled madly and met him head on.

Anakin was not a Sith. He didn't use lightning or advanced techniques masked as elements. He was a Jedi. While that leaned toward being a pacifist, there were paths to being a Jedi that allowed the Force to be used as a sword and shield when necessary.

Simply, he allowed the Force to flow through him. He soaked it into his body and as he engaged in combat, the Force flowed out of his attacks and movements as an attack of its own.

He didn't like engaging in martial arts with a metal blade, but without a lightsaber, he was short on options. There was little in the environment he could use a projectile or wall.

Starkiller on the other hand resorted to using his hands in martial arts. He created barriers around his hands to block the sword and he redirected the Force energy Anakin threw at him. Starkiller returned the attacks with punches and jabs, out of which shot Force energy like a cannon, obliterating everything in its path.

* * *

The Prior watched as Starkiller and Skywalker fought.

The fight between the two was fierce and the amount of energy being thrown around stirred the wind and picked up the dust and dirt until a weak smog lay over the land. The fight moved slowly in the distance and the Prior turned his attention to the mission at hand.

The Prior walked down the hill towards the lake where the two seeds of evil waited. A youth stood in his way and the Prior sensed that this one intended to not let him pass. He was a Jedi.

The Prior opened his mouth, but the Jedi cut him off. "Stand aside, Jedi, lest I smite you down and bring you unto ruin."

The Prior blinked in surprise. That was what he was going to say. Again, he opened his mouth, but the Jedi spoke first. "And so out of the mouth of evil comes schemes and trickery, for what cometh out of the mouth cometh from the heart. Now you're going to say 'Do not seek to trick me, Jedi.'"

The Prior stared at him. Three times now the Jedi spoke for him exactly what he was going to say. Could this Jedi read his mind?

The Prior was unafraid of whatever difficulty would arise from the presence of this Jedi, but he was worried about the odds of successfully completing his mission now. Failure was simply not an option.

And if the Jedi could read his mind then that was something unexpected and something he didn't know how to fight. His mind was supposed to be shielded already.

The Prior moved to walk around the youth, but the Jedi matched him move for move at the exact same time, to the same pace, even matching his stance. They mirrored each other and the Prior's concern deepened.

It was clearly psychological warfare. Effective, he was getting worried, but he also had no need to stoop down to such mundane levels. The Prior called forth the power of the master and utilized it to knock the Jedi aside, but the Jedi, seemingly, predicted it and knocked his staff aside. The Prior slammed his staff into the ground, but the Jedi was already in the air over his head as the shockwave reverberated around them.

The Jedi said, "'It is the height of cowardice for a warrior to send a blind child to fight me.' Really? I'm insulted." He smirked.

And again, the Jedi said the Prior's words for him. Now he was starting to sweat.

How could this Jedi see while blind? Was he reading his mind? Was he in control of the situation? Every move thus far had worked to confuse him and make him question whether his actions were his own or if they were ones he made under the youth's influence.

'Do not let him affect you. End this with surety.' The Master said in the Prior's mind.

'Kill him. Purge the evil.' Another voice said.

'Show him what happens to those that turn aside from what is Eternal.' A third voice said.

"Such is the will of the Master." The Prior whispered to himself and lowered his staff in the direction of the child.

Blood exploded from the Prior's shoulder and he fell onto one knee in pain. It took all of his strength not to fall flat on his face. Half of a wooden spear was visible from this side of his shoulder. Slowly, he raised himself back up while leaning on his staff and tried to flex his arm, only to find it was no longer usable.

How? How could he have been fooled into such a simple tactic? Clearly the kid had baited him into taking an attack from the back, like the cowardice expected of the Jedi, but the Prior couldn't help shaking the feeling that he was being pushed around as if he wasn't even in control of his own actions. He was being played, controlled. The whole thing had played out too well to be coincidence, yet he had not seen them take the time to make any real plans.

Angrily, the Prior turned to find his other opponent. It was a dark skinned man with an eyepatch.

"WHOO! Got you! How did you like that!" The youth cheered.

Gritting his teeth in anger, the Prior aimed the staff at his own shoulder and blasted the entire area off. His dislodged arm fell to the ground as well as the spear.

The dark skinned man stared at the garish scene in amazement and disgust. He looked like he was about to vomit, and the youth wasn't that much better.

Unconcerned, the Prior used his power to seal the wound. In its place a dark mist flowed out and shaped itself into an arm, and hand with long fingers. It was almost satisfying to see fear come over the youth's face.

* * *

Visas, and her kin, were born to darkness.

They were born without sight and did not have the slightest glimpse of anything until they were old enough to open themselves to the Force openly and start training to see through it. For most, it was the first six years of their life. This defined such a large portion of their life that it only added another reason to be isolated from the rest of the galaxy. They had no reference for day and night, rather thinking of it as warmth and coldness.

This was also why the Network was so important. The greatest thing about darkness was how it accepted everyone's faults, but the worst part was how it naturally kept you to itself so you cannot see anyone else in the darkness. The Network prevented that. Even the youngest child could feel there were others nearby and know she wasn't alone in the darkness.

And why Nihilus was so terrifying. Nihilus didn't just wipe out the majority of their people. There were foes all through history that could be feared for massacres and genocide. What made Nihilus special to the Miraluka was that he was darkness. He was the shadow in front of their eyes. He was the very embodiment of the world they lived in. Now, no Miraluka could endure blindness without seeing him. When a child was born and lived in blindness, and asked what it was like, it would be compared to Nihilus.

Nihilus was the face that made them fear the darkness.

Visas all the more. That was why she hated this planet. She struggled to see here. She couldn't. She just… couldn't bear to be here any longer. The moments when she could no longer see, all she saw was Nihilus.

Swimming down into the bottom of a deep lake, with trenches it turns out, wasn't dark. To others it was, but she saw underwater just as easily as above.

She was surprised to see two children hunched together on the lake bottom. She had expected them to be in an air bubble in a cave. Sometimes caves have natural air bubbles up inside them. The kids were using the Force to create their own air bubble. Amazing.

She swam down to them and plunged into the first breathe of fresh air she has had for a solid minute. Of course, it also involved a lot of screaming.

The kids both yelled while holding each other just as Visas fell into their bubble. "AAAHHH! MAMUNA!"

Visas coughed and breathed in deeply. "DON'T KIDNAP US!"

"I'm not a swamp demon! I'm with your father. He sent me down to get you two." She explained. She struggled on her hands on knees while she took in deep breathes. The dive had been much deeper than she expected. "And I'm not near old enough, or ugly enough, to be confused to be a Mamuna. And I'm not hairy…"

"But you do have a big chest." Luke pointed out innocently.

"Not THAT big, what's wrong with you? How many woman are you exposed to, kid?"

"Mom."

"And?"

"Leia."

"Sorry, kid, but you shouldn't be comparing my bust to your baby sister." Visas laid down on the ground at their feet and relaxed. The water was freezing. She would get hypothermia in a minute if she didn't do something about it. "Close your eyes, kid."

Luke was confused at first, but squealed in fright when Visas took off her shirt suddenly. She wrung out as much water as she could and slipped it back on. She took off her headband, and jacket, and squeezed the water out of that as well. She would have followed up with her pants, but it didn't seem wise to scar the boy. She needed a minute to rest and going into hypothermic shock was not on her list of things she wanted to do today. That and resting her eyes. She had a migraine.

A few minutes later, Luke was still covering his face. Leia asked, "So, you're not here to take us away?"

"Oh, I am."

"I knew it!" Leia raised her voice and pointed at her from the other side of the small air bubble they sat inside.

"I'm not a Mamuna! I'm here to take you to your father! He's on the surface waiting for you!" Visas yelled back.

"And I'm not a baby!"

"What does that have to do with this conversation?!"

"Lady, don't bother. Leia gets everyone yelling with her all the time. It's what she' good at." Luke said from behind his hands. Leia smacked him over the back of the head.

Visas growled but conceded. "Here is-"

The kids suddenly looked up with wide, scared eyes as if looking at something in the distance. They glanced at each other in an unspoken conversation, and Luke said, "They're fighting. Father is fighting someone!"

Visas stopped and scanned the distance. There were a couple people and they were fighting. She also felt a clash of intense Dark Side and Light Side energies. "Okay, kids. Change of plans. We need to surface, but let's wait until its safe."

"Will daddy be okay?" Leia asked worriedly.

"He's a Jedi Master. He'll be fine."

"We could also hide." Luke offered. "There are some caverns down here."

"Or, we could do that…" Visas allowed.

Smiling, the kids grabbed her hands, and expanded the air bubble to allow her to stand to her full height. Slowly, they walked. She let the kids decide the pace while she marveled at the power they had. She didn't feel they were powerful in terms of magnitude like say, Skywalker or Varus, but they had an uncanny skill with the Force at only five. The Force flowed through them without resistance or blocked flow. Almost everyone had something resisting the flow, which was why Jedi spent most of their life focusing on unblocking it. Most five year olds were only just learning about the Force. They were using it as though it was as natural as breathing. Literally.

Visas wondered how strong the twins could be one day, and realized she couldn't. They could be stronger than their father one day. Not because they had a lot of power, but because the Force flowed through them so smoothly that they didn't have to be powerful. If anything, they didn't have to have any power themselves. They had the universe at their fingertips as their power.

'These kids will be something one day… I can't wait to see it.' She thought.

* * *

Starkiller pushed Obi-Wan aside.

Obi-Wan had held on as long as he could, but age had caught up with him, and Starkiller had experience in fighting Obi-Wan Kenobi holograms. Just as Starkiller claimed, the fight didn't last long. Starkiller stood over the unconcious Jedi Master with a 'borrowed' blade pointed at his heart. Around them the other Jedi were fallen, dead, or too scared and hesitant to engage him. A few had tried to stop him already from killing Obi-Wan and had been cut down for it.

Starkiller brought the blade down and was hit with a staff. The staff knocked the trajectory of his blade off course. It plunged into the stone next to Obi-Wans head. Starkiller turned and glared at the intruder. Slavian stood before him poised and ready. Behind him the boy's friend walked up to them with a bunch of balls spinning around him.

"Think you can fight me, little ones?" Starkiller sneered.

Slavian said, "Sorry, but we kind of have already. A bunch of times. Not that he's ever tried to actually kill us… or that we've ever won… Or lasted very long…" Slavian started to falter. Aramas rolled his eyes.

"Sounds like I have good odds." Starkiller pulled his sword up. He could stand to be entertained a bit more. He could finish off the Jedi Master after he was done with these small fries.

Starkiller stepped down from where he stood over Obi-Wan. His steps were matched by Slavian backing up, his staff at the ready. Starkiller smirked. His posture was loose, wide open, and obviously a bait. Slavian didn't react. He had seen Varus with the posture so many times, and had it hammered into him what it meant, to know not to fall for the bait.

If anything, Varus had taught them specifically how to fight him. It had been so they could endure training better with him. (Turns out he has a very sadistic side.) Ahsoka was training them harder than ever. It was like Varus was having an influence on her, and that worried Slavian. He didn't mind following his teacher onto the Ravager, but Varus was still a Sith, and the only one who didn't seem to notice he was influencing her was herself. Slavian spent half the time watching them duel wondering if they were going to make out after like he had seen other Jedi couples doing. Only, they would just stare, and move on.

Slavian didn't like it. Not that it wasn't going to be rewarding, esspecially now. Ahsoka had pushed them harder than ever, and the spontaneous, and seemingly random, attacks from Varus had helped. Slavian doubted he could do anything to most Sith, but hopefully he could manage to hold his own against Starkiller.

Varus had said the key to fighting a true sith was strategy and manipulating the fight into their favor, because a Sith usually chooses to go directly for the problem by overpowering it. Now he and his Padawan partner just needed to see if they could.

Just as Slavian expected, Starkiller grew impatient and charged at him. Starkiller swung wide at his face and Slavian lowered himself at the same time as hitting him with his staff. The staff knocked the sword aside to be extra wide and Starkiller lost extra time in recovering.

Of course, not everything goes as planned. Starkiller compensated by charging into him with a full body charge to use his build to his advantage. Slavian fell back on the ground. Aramas backed him up with a series of orbs surrounded in plasma fields spinning around Starkiller. Starkiller was forced to back up and maneuver around them. The orbs melted his metal sword and throwing raw Force energy at the orbs only knocked them away briefly before they returned through Aramas's control.

Starkiller reached out and grabbed one of the orbs through the Force to crush it. The little droid squealed as its parts slowly condensed and resisting the squeezing pressure. Slavian hit his wrist with his staff. Starkiller yelled in pain and turned his attention on the kid, only to notice Cupcake. Cupcake tried to crush him, but Starkiller proved to be too athletic and fast for him.

Aramas supported him as best as he could. The balls whirled around trying to find a strike against Starkiller. Two balls combined their plasma to create a rod, but Starkiller jumped over it, or grabbed an attack with his bare hands backed up by barriers. 'Starkiller uses the same tricks Varus does.' Aramas noted.

To his surprise, Slavian was stronger than he had ever seen him. He was stronger, faster, more focused than ever. And the one thing Slavian couldn't do, he was now doing. He was flowing with the Force. He let himself go and rely purely on instinct.

For as long as Aramas had known Slavian, the Force had not come easy to his friend. Slavian was a bookworm. He studied and researched and received top grades in everything because he worked and sweat and cried to digest everything. He would meditate until his legs went numb and strain to lift pebbles until he developed migraines.

Slavian was not pushing objects or crushing things or using the Force for any techniques, but he was flowing with the Force. It guided his actions. It gave his instincts wisdom. It opened him to opportunities he would not have otherwise seen.

Master Skywalker once said that the Force was the combined energy of the universe, and that the energy never dies. Energy does weaken, but it is changed forever. The energy can take on consciousness from a person, and that on the person's death, the energy from the person continues on with an imprint. The Force is the collective consciousness of all that have come before.

Aramas could only guess that there were a few elite soldiers somewhere in that collective consciousness that passed on their instinct to the Jedi that opened themselves to it and that was no more obvious than in the sudden skill Slavian was professing. He was clearly not a Force user that used the Force in external methods, but internal. He had trained for that possibility and been tested for it, naturally, but it seemed that the pushing and training with just a dose of Sith influence had broken whatever it was holding Slavian back.

Starkiller grabbed Slavian's staff and with a burst of energy, shattered the wood into pieces. The same energy knocked Slavian back for the millionth time. This time, Slavian didn't hesitate or rest. The pre-teen grabbed sword off the ground. He never touched swords. He was also injured. Aramas motioned for him to stand down.

Aramas formed a plasma barrier wall between Cupcake and Starkiller. Starkiller looked at it in surprise and curiosity, expecting it to be a wall to stop him from using a blast on the twenty foot lizard. Cupcake took it as a different thing entirely.

Cupcake rammed into the plasma barrier. His thickened shell burned with the barrier's touch, but it was nothing. What really mattered was Starkiller. All this time, Starkiller dodged and evaded Cupcake's wild attacks because he was evasive and quick and there were ways to dodge the lizards attacks. Now, with a huge monster-driven-plasma-barrier-wall coming at him, there was no evading. Starkiller tried to get out the way, but it was too late.

Cupcake drove him into the building, through the first wall, across the room, through the second wall, and into the building on the otherside. Starkiller crumbled to the ground. His arm was bent badly and he coughed up blood. He bled from the head and spit blood out. He glared up at them with such hatred. The pain fueled him and he realized that while the two Jedi were young, and the lizard was dumb, they were still a powerful team. They also seemed to understand him in ways he couldn't deal with. There were moments they predicted him and it unnerved him.

The orbs flew to Starkiller, but did not strike at him. Instead, four of them circled around his head at right about his… neck level. Starkiller's eyes widened in surprise as a thought came to him, and he dropped down isntinctively. Just as he did so, the four orbs generated a plasma field between them. If he hadn't dropped he would have been decapitated.

Starkiller yelled out in anger and sent a Force pulse that knocked all of the orbs and debris away, and was powerful enough to make Cupcake take a step back.

"I will acknowledge you." Starkiller said. He spit more blood out onto the street. He formed Void around his hands and his skin blacked.

If only he had lightning. He could defeat them all instantly. He relied on lightning and lightsabers so much that now Starkiller realized he was handicapped. These pesky kids and their big dog. They knew him, too well, and that unnerved him. But not as much as the thought that he might lose.

* * *

**Note: I don't like this. Reading back over this chapter, it feels rushed... But that just might be me. I didn't rush it. I planned it out and tried to make it fluid and full of nice action and plot... but reading it back over it feels rushed. I don't know. Anyone else feel that or is it just me?**


	53. Ep12 - Victory has its Cost Part 2

**Note: Sorry if this is a little short. I have so many parts to this episode that I realized I might have to extend it beyond 3 parts to make it work properly, yet still keep each part self-contained and focusing on one progressive stage at a time.**

**Anyway, like I mentioned before, I am trying to figure out what songs fit with various characters. Here is what I think so far, personally at least.**

**Ahsoka - "Sunrise"**

**Starkiller - "Indestructible"**

**Visas Marr - "Numb"**

**Nihilus - "Death Warrant for Qui-gon and Obi-Wan (Instrumental)" (I find it compares quite nicely in the lack of actual words and the tone it gives.)**

**Varus - "What I've Done"**

**Let me know what you think. :) As always. This was an exciting chapter for me. I am also busy writing clips for future chapters.**

**I have... I think three chapters written later on. two interludes and a fight scene for a later episode. The fight scene had me crying my eyes out. I'm not joking. It was so sad I had to stop and cry while I was typing it. I'm still on the verge of tears just remembering what I wrote. I can't wait to show everyone! But I must refrain... I can't just dump crap on you guys when you don't have the context or have been built up to it yet! I have to do this one step at a time!**

**Which sucks! I WANNA PUT IT UP! Q.Q WAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, so no sue!**

* * *

**Episode 12 - Victory at a Cost Part 2**

* * *

Eight minutes…

Falon was getting very annoyed. It took a lot to make him angry, but it didn't take much to make him annoyed. Right now, he was very annoyed.

Whatever technique the Prior was using went beyond his sight or perception. When he saw into the future and predicted every move the Prior made, none of them took into account the Void arm. He could predict the staff, but the Void arm was not something that even time seemed to take into account. Then there was the brief flashes of Miraluka sight he chose to use to figure it out, and all he saw was a darkness that sucked everything in. Miraluka sight saw the Force as light bulbs or stars with bright connection strings going from one to another. It was so vivid that looking at open air was like looking at the night sky, and looking at a person was like looking at the sun.

But that arm was a complete absence of all of that. He saw the arm as an absence of stars and strings. Everything it touched died. The Force died where the Void existed.

Force was energy, was the universe… so whatever this thing was, it was something so alien it went beyond the Force, beyond the perception of time, beyond life and matter and existence.

Nine minutes… or almost.

Falon collapsed. He could no longer predict the Prior's movements and transitioning his sights through space and time back and forth like that… he had gone from having a mild headache, to a full migraine, to have an ear-splitting pain that shot down his body and made him feel like his body was on fire while doused in ice.

He couldn't draw on the Force anymore without feeling like he was going to snap like a twig.

Just as he stopped, he heard footsteps just in front of him, and then a burning in his throat. Falon tried to scream, but he couldn't. He felt the burning grab him like fingers, and then he lifted off the ground. Falon struggled. He kicked. He grabbed the Void arm, but it only burned his fingers as well.

He was tossed aside. Falon vaguely comprehended landing on grass, rolling for a distance, and finally coming to a stop with his face in the dirt. It didn't matter. All he felt was the cold/hot touch of Nihilus around his throat. It was weaker, so much weaker than Nihilus. The Prior wasn't nearly as powerful as the Voidcraft himself, but it was still so similar that it shook the teenager. It was the same touch that took his eyes, that haunted his nightmares, that took flesh and bone and time.

Falon tried to scream, but all that came out was silence.

He was blind, he was mute. Somewhere in his cynical mind he couldn't help but think 'Well, this is just great. Another condition to the list.'

The Prior pushed the other man aside and left him. The Prior stood on the edge of the lake and gazed in. He could sense them… the seeds of evil.

'Destroy the seeds before they fester.' The staff said.

"And in the final days… the darkness shall be blotted out that the coming of the eternal may show all the way to unity." The Prior murmured. He aimed his staff at the lake.

He felt the hand of his master extend to him and assist him. Even all the way here… the reach of his master was far and wide, and the power… well. Even the slightest hint of it was enough…

To blow the entire lake away.

The shockwave hit the part of the lake where the Prior stood, and pushed the water away until there was none left. The water flew up as a pillar… and came back down into a flood. The flood swept past the Prior and in the distance. Some of the water returned to the lake, but not much. The Prior dropped down into what remained of the lake. The water was only ankle deep and the area where the Prior had aimed was little more than a giant crater within the lake.

The Prior turned his eyes up and of all things… he saw a child in his way. A young blond with blue eyes. As he watched, the boy's eyes changed to green, to brown, to silver… The boy watched him intently.

"Step aside." The Prior said.

"Is your hate your own or was it given to you?" The child asked, instead. "Do you even realize you are little more than an empty shadow? That you are little more than an extension of the one true one I can call my enemy? Or do you realize who is really in there? Do you know his name?"

The Prior had enough and pushed the child away, but the child only disappeared into thin air.

The Prior walked across the bottom of the lake. All across the bottom were trenches and small caves. He knew where his prey was. His prey was resilient. The seeds were not dead, yet.

He dropped down into a trench and followed them. There, at the end, huddled against the wall, was a pair of children. As the Prior walked up to them, the young man stood up and tried to bar his way.

It was cute.

To the boy's credit, he gazed right back without backing down. The boy wasn't stupid. He had to have felt, physically, what it was like to have a huge blast take out the entire contents of the lake. The boy was bruised and bleeding from the head.

The Prior aimed his staff at the boy. Then to his surprise, his Void hand reached forward slowly.

Was the master wanting to reach out and touch them? The Prior wondered curiously. He could control the arm, but the master also was with him and perhaps-

The void arm grabbed his other arm by the elbow, burned him, and forced his staff to aim into the sky. The Prior hissed in pain. He felt his flesh burn and disappear with the Void's touch. It burned past the skin and into his inner flesh. He opened his mouth to scream, but something dark grabbed his throat and covered his mouth.

Out of the shadows walked a blind woman. One of her arms hung looselessly and bleeding, but the other hand was extended to him. "You're not the only one who can control the Void and shadow."

The Prior resisted, he struggled to retake control of his void arm, to keep her from using his own shadow from choking him, but her control was superb. She was far stronger than she looked. Her power was good, not so good that he couldn't overpower her, but her control was incredible. He couldn't get into a position to use his power on her. He was pinned. His staff was kept locked skyward, his Void arm tightly held his other, and his own shadow had risen up and grabbed his throat and mouth, and squeezed.

She was good. She was powerful. The Prior felt the world slowly grow dim from pain and lack of oxygen. Too bad he was better.

He made the void arm disappear completely. With one arm gone, outside of her control, and his other one freed, he aimed his staff at her and sent a quick blast her way. He might also have been angry and desperate. She flew across the lake bottom and hit her head against a rock along the way before skidding to a stop in the mud in a pile of limbs. She wouldn't be getting up from that anytime soon.

The Prior looked to the children. "Now, where were we?"

* * *

Ten minutes.

That was how long Falon had asked him to take. Anakin did his best, but Starkiller was too strong. Starkiller had always been strong, but the one advantage Anakin had over him was strength and power. Starkiller was lethal and fast. Starkiller was a teenager back then. Now Starkiller is older, stronger, more powerful, just as lethal, and only with a marginal drop in speed and dexterity. Compared to him Anakin was really starting to feel his age.

He couldn't give Falon what he needed. Anakin counted down the seconds in the back of his mind and while he didn't know it to the exact count, it was past six hundred by now.

'Sorry Falon…' He thought. 'And what's that sound?'

He struggled and threw as much power at Starkiller as he could. But that was also the problem. Starkiller was powerful and was best against opponents who fought him on the same terms. Starkiller was not so good at opponents that used adapting, unusual strategies, and forced him outside of his comfort zone. If only he could find a way to force Starkiller out of his comfort zone…

Whatever that sound was, it was getting closer. It was really loud and-

"What the-" Starkiller yelled. Anakin could only stare wide-eyed as a flash flood came on them. He pierced into the sudden flood with the Force and effectively created a fork around him as the water flowed past. Starkiller was taken initially. He collided with Anakin and the two were taken by the water.

Anakin went from the top to the bottom and back up a few times as he was pushed along. He got a glimpse of cliffs in the distance and heard a waterfall. Moments later the water stopped flowing sideways and going down. The flood had reached a cliff.

Anakin fell and reached out. His hand found rocks and he held on for life. He coughed and breathed. "Of all the sudden crap it has to be a flash flood and waterfall…"

The rock face was slippery. Above him, Anakin saw Starkiller holding on to the edge. He was slipping. Starkiller lost his grip and in falling down, collided with Anakin again. (Knowing him, it could have been an accident or on purpose.)

Starkiller wrestled with him in the air as the drop was a far way down. Beneath them was a large river. They twisted and turned. Anakin didn't know what the young man had in mind, but suddenly Starkiller put his feet to his chest, and kicked off Anakin went flying a bit down faster than before, and Starkiller gained a tiny bit of altitude. Starkiller generated power in his hands, and Anakin, realizing what he was intending to do, shielded himself as best as he could and covered his face.

Starkiller used a powerful Force Push on him, and Anakin went flying down into the water. Hitting water, even water that is rippling, from a high altitude and speed is comparible to hitting concrete. It knocked the wind out of Anakin and he felt like something had cracked all across his body. For all he knew his spine might have snapped.

Starkiller did not relent and landed his feet squarely on Anakin's stomach. Anakin was pushed down into the water from the impact and blacked out for entirely too long. Anakin came back to finding his lungs full of water, at the bottom of the river, and panicking. He used a Jedi technique Kit Fisto taught him to create air around his head and at the bottom of the water, stooped over and threw up water on his hands and knees.

He had only learned this technique because one of the most important battles early on in the Clone Wars had occurred under water. Right now, he was ever thankful for the fellow Master. No one else would have bothered wanting him to learn something like this. Anakin wasn't a fish or knew how long he could maintain it, but he wasn't dead.

Anakin stood clumsily to his feet at the bottom of the river and looked up. Dimly he could make out Starkillers shadow standing on the top of the water. 'I've got to know how he does that.' He thought admirably.

He felt like his ribs were shattered in multiple places, and odds are his liver was bruised… or his stomach. Or a kidney. Possibly a good portion of his organs were bruised or hurting. The fighting was intense and Starkiller wasn't pulling any punches.

Starkiller started to pace in a circle around him. Why? Why didn't he just… come… down.

Starkiller cannot swim. He never has! Varus couldn't swim!

He couldn't overpower Starkiller, but he had a major utility that Starkiller could not compete with. He had proverbial lungs!

'Varus, sorry, but I have to do this.' He apologized inside. Varus might feel a little offended that Anakin was going to take advantage of such a weakness, but Anakin was not going to play around with his children's lives on the line.

Starkiller was stupid enough to stand there waiting for him as though Anakin was going to return to duking it out. Starkiller watched the water patiently, waiting, only Anakin rose up, grabbed his ankles, and tugged him down.

Starkiller immediately fought him tooth and nail. His movements were slowed and his attacks lessened. The Force waves coming off of him were powerful and speraddic. The man was panicking. Anakin struggled with him and let their natural bodyweight drag them down. Starkiller pushed him off and started to swim back up.

'Seems he learned to swim at least that much.' Anakin realized. He grabbed Starkillers ankle and the young man fought him. Anakin pulled him down with him to the bottom. Starkiller's movements became increasingly desperate with each second.

Starkiller bent over and started hitting Anakin with everything he had. He wasn't just throwing Force attacks at him, he was physically punching him! Anakin struggled just to hold on. Forget maintaining his own air, he could do that later. He ignored the pain, he ignored the damage being done to him. He focused on one thing and one thing only. Holding on.

Starkillers attacks went wide and slowly… stopped.

Anakin watched him closely. Blood rose from him from where Starkiller had cut him with a nail here and there in his desperation. Starkiller dangled from his iron grip like a balloon.

Anakin hated the sight. He hated seeing Varus' face on a man he was holding in the dark abyss under water, and in what was possibly one of Varus' greatest fears. (Somewhere around #20 most likely. Nihilus would make the first ten by himself, followed by danger to his loved ones.) Anakin felt he was drowning Varus and it pained him.

How would he look at Varus and not see this?

Anakin swam to the surface and took Starkiller with him. He took Starkiller to the edge and checked him. Starkiller wasn't breathing. Driven either by compassion, mercy, guilt, or a combination thereof, Anakin tried pumping his heart. He allowed himself a minute to do that, for Varus' sake. He saw too much of Varus in the young man he just killed to not try without hating himself afterwards.

Water flowed out of Starkiller's mouth, but he otherwise made no movements.

Starkiller was dead.

Anakin came to the conclusion and felt something break in him. It was what he had been trying to do. He didn't fight Starkiller planning to just give him a slap on the wrist. These men were murderers who chose to be what they are. Varus chose to change after knowing he had that choice… these clones hadn't. This was a battle to the death.

He had fought with clones as long as anyone. He had laughed with clones, fought alongside clones, and had to turn around and arrest ones that turned traitor, and convince himself afterwords that that one rare clone was not the same as all the others, or that they weren't like him. Anakin hated it. He hated how a face of a good man was shared with the face of a bad one.

Twins were one thing. This was something else entirely.

It was almost criminal… Cloning.

Anakin could never hate clones for being clones. They didn't have a choice. But his disgust for the people who pulled out their wallets and tossed money to get a slave army made for them to bleed for them, die for them, been thrown away while they sit in pretty palaces and mused on the meaning of life…. His disgust went up another notch.

For the Jedi Order.

For whoever it was making these Starkillers.

"I'm sorry…" Anakin said to Starkiller. "I'm sorry you were born. No one should be born just to be a tool or weapon. No one should be a slave bred from a tube. No one should be born a slave to begin with…"

Anakin rose and looked up the cliff to where he had been before. He didn't know how long he had been gone now, but he was out of time. He used a series of Force jumps to reach the top within seconds and ran as fast as he could. He reached the lake in the distance and stopped at what he saw.

Visas was laying in an ugly position of limbs like she had been tossed aside like a ragdoll and she was bleeding out of the head. Typho was unconcious leaning against a tree that had miraciously kept him in place while the flash flood swept past. And Falon was missing…

The Prior was at the bottom of the lake and just in front of him Anakin could see two children.

He instantly memorized every detail about them and jumped in. "LEAVE THEM ALONE!"

The Prior turned to notice him and… smiled? Why would he be smiling?

With his back turned, the girl -Anakin didn't know his daughters name!- rushed and tackled him. The Prior took a step back from the impact, but only seemed to find amusement in it. The girl yelled for the boy -Luke?- to run. Luke hesitated, but at her continued instance, did as he was told and ran. He grabbed her by the collar of her clothes with a black hand and held her up. The girl squirmed and tried hitting him, but his black hand kept her out of reach. She grabbed onto the hand and screamed bloody murder.

Luke ran to Anakin and Anakin, as much as he wanted this to be a nice father-son moment, could only order him to grab Visas and run. Without another word Anakin ran at the Prior and generated the largest attack he would make in a moments notice. The Prior lifted his staff and blocked it easily enough. Anakin ran at him, fury and anger fueling him, and resolve to protect his family steeling him to do what was necessary even if it meant dying.

With each step, the Prior grinned wider. When Anakin was within a few feet of him, the Prior slammed down his staff, and everything disappeared. Anakin saw only darkness.

* * *

Nihilus was disappointed.

He had hoped. He had wanted them to manage, but in the end, they didn't. He sighed from within his confines. Nihilus drifted around as an afterthought, while his attention was on the planet. He didn't want to believe he saw what he did, but he couldn't deny it. He hated being right. He had hoped that the Jedi would exceed his expectations… but he didn't. The Jedi didn't understand, they didn't know. They failed to see just what their actions had created so long ago, and now they would suffer for it.

This was the first real blow directly made against them. Before, the 'man' had always acted through agents and manipulation. Now he had acted directly and already the one hope they had was gone. In the first blow.

It was quite disappointing really. It was like seeing a boxer get knocked out in one blow to the jaw right at the start. It just left you feeling like you've wasted your money.

"And we lose. There is no escape for any of us." He murmured.


	54. Ep12 - Victory has its Cost Part 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, so no sue!**

* * *

**Episode 12 - Victory at a Cost Part 3**

* * *

The skies darkened and a gust of wind blew so hard that Slavian and Aramas nearly fell on their face.

Starkiller stopped fighting them and smiled. "Looks like we win."

Slavian fell to his knees in exhaustion, and Aramas glared at Starkiller in thought.

Clearly the Sith knew what was happening. Why the sky had gone dark and the winds was blowing and only continuing to pick up speed. The only times Aramas had ever felt wind this fast was with tornados.

And wasn't his objective the Skywalker family? What had changed?

The dark sky and winds were soon accompanied by a presence that scared Aramas. He had… felt it once before. The feeling of all joy, life, energy, and light being sucked away by a great mouth. It was something he had felt on Coruscant years ago.

The fight between all of them had moved further and further away from Padme, as Aramas wanted. Hopefully Obi-Wan had recovered enough to take Padme out of there. None of them stood a chance against Starkiller.

To be fair, neither were they. Slavian had evaded death by a hair multiple times. He could no longer stand and looked like he was going to pass out from exhaustion any second.

Cupcake was covered in cuts and burns all over. He didn't look tired at all, but there was a faint quivering of his body that told Aramas that he was in a lot of pain.

'It must be physically straining to be in his giant form.' Aramas figured. Cupcake was taking more damage from himself than he was from Starkiller.

Aramas was exhausted and he was finding it harder and harder to concentrate, but his role was the least physical in nature. He would be fine, but this fight was relying on him the most. He needed to manipulate it in a way that they could defeat Starkiller.

He had originally hoped to wait for Skywalker, but that was no longer an option. If they didn't end this soon, they would be dead.

Starkiller was the one to take the brunt of the fighting. Exhausted, panting, blood pouring from his head and chest, multiple broken bones and ribs, it was a wonder the man was still standing. Even scarier was how the man wasn't just standing, he was smiling as though he was having fun.

Starkiller was taking them more seriously than before. If Aramas hadn't pulled Slavian away with the Force, his best friend would have lost his head twice now. Cupcake could barely keep up with the Sith.

Aramas hated having to bide his time, but he had a plan. It only required two things: Starkiller mentally and physically exhausted and himself able to finish it.

Aramas used sign language to talk to Slavian, and Slavian nodded grimly in understanding. Slavian yelled, grabbed his sword, and pressed Starkiller again. Cupcake followed in and made sure that Starkiller couldn't sit still long enough to kill him.

Aramas formed his balls into rods and used them to also keep Starkiller busy.

Slavian fell a third time and cupcake physically threw him aside before Starkiller could take advantage to kill the boy. Aramas positioned himself next to his friend to watch over him.

"Ready?" Slavian gasped.

Aramas surveyed Starkiller again. Starkiller was getting exhausted… but was it enough?

Aramas signed with his hands, "I only have one shot at this. I do not want to waste it."

Cupcake pressed, but couldn't go on any longer. The physical pain he endured caused him to collapse to his hands and knees.

And the evil presence in the air only grew stronger with each passing moment. The winds continued to pick up and the clouds were flying by as though being sucked away by a great wind.

"We can't wait any longer!" Slavian stressed.

Aramas closed his eyes. He hated this. He hated having to gamble. "Go." He signed.

One last time, Slavian picked up the sword, leaned on it as he rose to shaky legs, and then ran into the fray. He yelled for Cupcake to not let up, not yet. And the giant lizard smirked painfully, not about to be outdone by a child.

One last time they pressed Starkiller. Starkiller should have had an easy time between the three of them, but he was exhausted and barely standing himself.

Finally, Cupcake forced Starkiller into a wall. Aramas sent a rod flying at him. Starkiller created a small barrier around his hand, and grabbed the rod just before it hit him.

"How many times are you going to use the same trick kid? These plasma sticks do nothing." Starkiller mocked.

Aramas merely smirked, a gesture he had picked up from Varus. Starkiller looked at him curiously just before Aramas made a simple gesture, and the rod expanded across his upper shoulder and throat.

His head didn't roll at first. First, nothing happened. Everyone was stunned into silence. Then blood poured across the surface of the plasma field and the body fell to the ground while the head gaped down. Aramas released the field and Starkiller's head fell.

A line had been cut through the wall.

Because unbeknownst to Starkiller, another two orbs had been on the opposite side of the wall to create the two-dimensional square. Aramas had been careful to keep it unseen while he was distracted, but Starkiller had proven to have powerful instincts in the first attempt to behead him. Aramas needed him so exhausted he wouldn't notice his instincts, or at least too tired to do anything about it if he did.

And that trick would have only worked once.

Slavian dropped the sword and fell flat on his back, not caring about the stones and pebbles. Cupcake slowly shrunk in size. He sat down on the ground and breathed so heavily Aramas thought he was going to hyperventilate. Aramas himself leaned back against the wooden wall behind him and slid down its surface to the ground.

Starkiller was dead.

They had won. The sounds of battle and clashing of swords and firing of guns had gone down. The fires were being tended to and from what could be seen, the wall was being retaken and the invaders fled back across the hills.

"So…" Slavian spoke up from the ground, "Who's going to go tell them it's safe?"

"I vote on you." Cupcake muttered.

"Pass."

Aramas rolled his eyes. He called his Firefly orbs to himself, stuck them in his jacket, and walked off.

"Aren't you bothered by the fact that the mute is going to speak for us?" Cupcake asked.

"Not as much as you are, apparently." The kid responded.

Cupcake chuckled, "Cheeky brat."

* * *

'Stupid flash flood... stupid cliff... Stupid river...' Falon pouted.

Falon Grey pulled himself back off the cliff. He had been unconscious, and suddenly woke up to being surrounded in freezing water, being swept down a waterfall, and dumped into a river. It was a very interesting wake up call to say the least. He then had to climb up the side of the wet cliff in order to get back to everyone.

His throat still burned. He had trouble breathing and couldn't talk. All that escaped his lips was a harsh cough.

The wind had picked up violently and a dark presence in the air gave chills down his spine. It was a feeling he knew well. It was a vacuum, it was a void.

Nihilus.

Falon tried to yell, "Guys! We have to run!" But he only got so far as one word before his throat convulsed.

Falon ran toward the lake. Adrenaline fed his body and he opened himself to the Force. He saw around him as a Miraluka, and oddly enough, it didn't hurt. Before, it had hurt to see this way, but now the pain was gone.

That was one thing working for them at least.

Falon ran to Skywalker's friend and found him pinned against a tree. Falon checked him over. The man was okay. The man stirred at Falon's touch.

"Kid?" The man asked. He blinked slowly and looked around. "Where are we?"

Falon frowned. He couldn't talk right now. He gestured to his throat.

The man's eyes widened comically at the sight. "Who burned a hand-print into your throat?!"

Really? Did he have to ask? It was a squirrel. Falon ate all her nuts and she was mad. It was the Prior! Idiot.

Falon branched out with his senses and found a body -Visas- lieing in the mud on the bottom of the lake.

Was she drowned?

Falon ran to the edge of the lake and fretted a moment. He wasn't that good of a swimmer, but he couldn't just leave her there either. She was still breathing. He could slightly see the rise and fall of her chest and-

Wait, she was breathing in a lake?

Falon extended a foot, lower, lower, then fell in.

The lake was gone! 'Idiot!' Falon chastised himself. He pulled himself out of the mud and ran to her. Her limbs were laying around her in unnatural positions. She didn't have any cuts on her. Blood poured down her face far more freely than what was healthy. Falon followed the trail with his fingers and found a nasty gash in the middle of her hair.

Dangit! Falon couldn't check her eyes, but judging from the sharp rocks all around him and her position and wound, she most likely had a nasty concussion. She needed medical care immediately. But first she needed to be awake.

Falon poked her, smacked her gently, and finally stabbed a finger straight into the wound on her head to wake her up. The pain shot her blind eyes open. "Falon?"

'Thank the Force... Don't fall asleep now.' Falon thought.

A sudden yell made Falon jump. A moment later Skywalker's eye-patch friend jumped down and was running across the lake. At the same time, Visas struggled to sit up. "Falon! The children! They are... oh no..." Visas's blind eyes widened in horror.

'What?' Falon reached out with his senses in the direction the eye-patch man had run, and he saw it.

He felt like he was doused in cold water.

There was a hole in the Force. A giant hole in existence where he saw nothing. All life, all matter, all energy to touch the hole disintegrated on impact and disappeared into nothing. It was something he had seen many times as what people called 'Void' powers. It was Nihilus's existence, the finger that cut across his eyes, and the arm the Prior had used to burn his throat.

There was a ball of Void in the middle of the lake.

Visas struggled to get up from where she sat, but the slightest weight on her arms made her suddenly scream. With Falon's nerves already razor tight, he jumped at the sound. Visas grabbed her left arm tenderly with her right.

"Damnit!" Visas cursed. "My left arm is out of its socket. Falon, do you know how to snap it back in?"

Falon nodded. Unfortunately, it was something he had experience in. Comes from having a master like Kota with a training regimen like... what Kota enforced. Falon grabbed her left arm and helped her up. Visas leaned forward into a rock while Falon spun the arm around in a position where he would push forward.

"Okay, say when." Visas breathed in and-

Falon snapped it back in. It snapped back in with a violent pop that shook her to her toes. She screamed in pain a moment, before it all turned to anger and she hit him in the side of the head. "JACKASS! I said to say 'when'!"

'I can't!' Falon protested mentally. He rubbed his cheek and glared at her.

"Pft... come on!" She ran by him with clear anger. Falon rolled his eyes and followed. She stumbled and if it wasn't for Falon, she would have fallen flat on her face. "Whoo... I'm dizzy. Wha' happen'd?" She slurred.

Great, now she was slurring.

Falon gestured to her head and pointed for her to stay. "I'm not a dooog." She protested. She swayed a bit. "Oh dear, it's a concussion isn't it?"

'Yes! Finally she figures it out. Stay!' Falon thought. He ran toward the bubble and left her behind for the moment.

Around the Void bubble He found a young boy crying and screaming a girl's name, most likely his sisters, and the eye-patch man shoved his spear into the bubble. It pierced the bubble, and as he retracted it, he found the spear had disintegrated with the touch of the Void. He looked to the young boy with panic, since the boy was inches away from the bubble, and about to reach out to touch it. He picked up the boy and ran away a bit, just in time.

The bubble expanded suddenly and grew outward by a whole foot. If the boy had still been standing there, he would have been swallowed up as well.

The wind picked up and Falon observed it. All of the turbulent winds was heading for the bubble as though the bubble was sucking it up, yet it wasn't sucking the ground up.

'The air is being destroyed on touch, and more air is rushing in to fill in the gap. Nature detests a vacuum.' Falon realized. Then he paled in horror. 'If the bubble continues to expand and increase in surface area, it will destroy the air at a high enough rate to overcome the air produced by trees. The wind will become strong enough to uproot buildings!'

They needed to run!

'But to where?!' Falon argued with himself. There was nowhere safe on the planet if all of its oxygen was sucked away. The only escape was underwater, which was suicide once the turbulent wind pulled the water up with it. There was only one escape. Ravager.

Without ceremony, unable to properly explain, Falon took the boy from eye-patch-man's arms and ran. He ran to Visas, and pulled her up onto her own feet. He couldn't carry them all. Thankfully, eye-patch-man was coming to the same conclusion, pulled her up onto his shoulders, and they ran. The boy screamed and cried and fought and protested against Falon, but Falon was not about to let him go.

"Where is the girl? Where is Skywalker?" Visas asked from the man's shoulder.

The man frowned, unsure himself. But the boy only cried harder.

Falon had an idea where the two were, and he hated it. He wished he was wrong.

Behind them, the bubble's next expansion covered fifteen feet all at once.

* * *

I stand on the Ravager's bridge looking down on the planet beneath us.

The enemy ships had fled minutes ago, and around the same time I feel a presence appear on the planet. Ahsoka feels it too and looks down with furrowed brows.

"What is that?" She wonders.

We can't actually see it, but it doesn't keep us from trying.

"Nihilus. Or something similar in nature." I answer.

"Wha- but! Nihilus is gone! Skywalker placed his mask in Mandalore security facility!"

Except Nihilus is hiding on the Ravager as well. I can't really do anything about that except provide empty threats. Also I remember the fight Kota and I had with Starkiller on Dantooine. There was also the time I used the void years ago when my true powers reawakened and I realized my Sith nature. "Yes, but Starkiller and I are the former apprentice to Lord of Hunger himself. Starkiller can use the Void to a degree just as well as I can... if not more so. It wouldn't be hard to imagine Starkiller learning arts of the Void more since his creation."

Ahsoka looks at me worriedly. She never likes it when I bring up my Sith nature. I smile reassuringly, "Ahsoka, its fine. You know I don't deny who I am."

"So long as that's all you're doing. You have nothing to feel guilty about, you turned your back on Starkiller."

Hmmm. I get a funny feeling in my gut at those words, something about Starkiller, but I banish the feeling away. Now isn't the time.

"The Void just grew larger." Ahsoka observes worriedly.

"It has many times already." I correct her.

She huffs. "Show off. All the same, you should get back with Onasi and the Mandalorian fleet, and coordinate a response with them."

I don't want to talk to Onasi! "Do I have to?" I whine. "Onasi's a giant stick-in-the-mud! I don't want to talk to him!"

"Varus... Don't act like childish."

"But I thought you liked me acting like a child."

She blushes madly and I smirk. She is so easy to get a rise out of since Mandalore. Might be related to being more open to her, or being more united with Revan's memories (he was a gigantic flirt), which is worrying in its own right. Yet, I don't feel like I am losing myself to Revan's memories. I've had them so long, it's more like I am assimilating his experience. I'm more comfortable with things I've never experienced before as though I have.

Unfortunately it also comes with experience of talking with Onasi... Revan liked and respected the man, but I think he's just a giant stick-in-the-mud.

"I-it's not like that." Ahsoka stutters, then straightens herself. "There is a difference between being child-like, with its cute innocence, and childish, where you pout and complain like a brat."

"So I'm cute?" I choose to ignore the rest.

"Call them!"

"Okay! Okay!" I curl away from her swatting me. "I'll call! I'll call! Stop it! Ravager, get our allies on the line!"

I rub my arm and glare the grinning, annoying, little gnat of a woman. A holoprojection of Onasi and the Mandalorian captain appear before us.

"I presume you have a good reason for calling us?" Onasi says, with a little less bite than before.

"Yes. I don't know if your scanners can see it, but there is a black orb on the surface of the planet." I answer.

"We have a visual, but our scanners cannot get a good reading. A hurricane is brewing rapidly and the readings around the hurricane is more chaotic than usual."

"Aren't the scans already chaotic?" The Mandalorian asks.

"Yes, but not this much. The amount of interference is growing stronger around the orb, and from what see can ascertain, the orb is growing at a steady rate. My guess is, the enemy figured out a way to use power despite the planet's energy field, and have created a shield."

"And what would be the nature of this shield?"

"Solar powered. It's sucking all light into it."

"That doesn't explain the freak storm brewing."

"Doesn't it?"

The Mandalorian stared at them for a moment in thought. "Suggestions?"

"I don't know." I answer. "I can sense the Void down there from the orb, but I have never seen the Void used like an orb."

"The void, as in Nihilus' nature?"

"Yes."

"We blast it." Onasi said.

"We can't do that!" Ahsoka says from behind me. "There are villages nearby and a capital city fifteen miles away from it. If we start bombarding it from orbit, there is no telling what would happen!"

"I'm not suggesting we nuke it. We use precision and aim for a single point in this energy shield. If we hit a single point, between all of us, we should easily overpower it and destroy this… 'Void' Sith inside. If we use these guns (3-d models appeared on the screen next to him.) then the blast wave will only encompass a thousand feet at most."

Something about this whole plan worries me. I looked away from the projection to look down at the planet. Our orbit has traveled around the planet enough that I can see the orb with my eyes, and it is visibly growing. It's like a pulsing wart on the planet. Even as I watch it, it violently expands by what appears to be a hair, but is most likely a hundred feet outward.

I hear the Mandalorian fleet captain and Onasi come to an agreement, and while Ahsoka has no real say, her concern is noted and they adjust the plan to have minimal shockwave and residual damage. The plan is to penetrate the shield and hit whatever is inside.

Ahsoka returns to my side and looks down with me. Red flags continue to shoot off in the back of my head, and my worry grows as I watch lasers start pouring down from the fleet. All of the guns hit the same point at the top of the shield.

"We should be able to penetrate the shield easily enough," Ahsoka says. "Onasi knows his stuff. The top point of the shield is the weakest point since…" Blah blah blah, physics, laws of nature, combat experience. Stuff I don't understand, but I get the basics of it. They want to hit the weakest part of the enemy's armor. "They are convinced it's an enemy beachhead. It's almost large enough to contain an army. Even if we don't penetrate the shield, it should slow down its growth or halt it. At the rate of its expansion it would overtake the surrounding cities very quickly."

"It doesn't make sense." I argue. "The nature of the Void is not to protect anything inside unless you use it as a shell. Nature abhors a vacuum and always tries to fill gaps. The Void's very nature is in conflict with its environment and absorbs everything it touches. That's not the kind of thing you can hide an army inside of."

"What do you think?"

"I really hope I'm wrong…"

"Varus?" She asks worriedly.

"Let's just hope they can get through the shield and kill whatever is inside, or we are in a lot of trouble."

And it will destroy everything…

I can't let that happen. "Ravager, head down to the surface. Land us just outside the capital."

"But master… the planet hurts." The Ravager cries.

"You'll be fine. Go." I turn away from the windows and sit down on the throne in thought.

Void… a shield… that right there doesn't make sense. The void would absorb the shield and suck it away. It would also kill whatever is inside of it, probably Starkiller, by now without enough compensation to take the place of the 'sacrifice' to be absorbed.

Something is very wrong here. The plan is to destroy the planet. That much I can figure out. The Void is more akin to a kind of black-hole-nuke than a protective shell.

"Varus, what are we doing?" Ahsoka asks.

The Ravager turns to the planet and enters the atmosphere. Moments later the lights turn off as the Ravager's electric power is dissipated and the Ravager has to go on the Force alone.

The electricity in me ruptures and my body aches suddenly. It's like I've been beaten and bruised. This planet hurts.

"We're going down." I answer easily.

"Yes, but why? Talk to me. What's going through your mind?"

"There are a lot of people down here. The Ravager doesn't have guns to help hit the shield with, and the enemy fleet left the system half an hour ago. The best thing I can do now is evacuate who I can."

She nods. "Sounds good. We can relocate them to an allied province on the planet and-"

"No. We need to get them off the planet." I correct her. "The Void will not stop. Not until this whole planet is destroyed or the Void's core is destroyed. If the fleet cannot get through the shield, then this whole planet is doomed."

Ahsoka's eyes widen in full impact of what I am saying. "The whol- there are millions here! They may not be technological in any form, but that doesn't make them any less a people in this galaxy!"

"And you think the Void will care?" I ask her. She stops and looks away. She grits her teeth and clenches her hands. Self-loathing? Feeling useless? Funny, I can read her well. "Ahsoka, the Void cannot tell the difference between one people and another, young and old, even living and dead. The only thing the Void recognizes is existence against nothingness."

"What can we do? Is there nothing that can be done against it?" Her worry intensifies. Knowing her, she is considering the lives at stake.

"That's the story of my life right there." I chuckle darkly. "I've been fighting Nihilus my whole life, and if was something that can be done, I've already done it. Why do you think I became as desperate as to become a Sith? The Void absorbs everything, even our attempts to stop it and desperation and makes use only realize how fragile and useless we are against something that exists outside of nature. The void is the opposite of nature, so how can we fight it when our weapons are designed around nature? I don't know."

"We will find a way." Ahsoka returns confidently.

"How can you know that?"

"Because… we will." She says simply.

The Ravager tilts to the side, and artificial gravity disappears. Ahsoka flies to the side, but manages to land on her feet on the wall. "Careful! We're nearly down." I yell.

Through the Ravager's window I can see the black shield in the distance with the Void inside. The bombardment isn't doing much and proves to be ineffective at slowing it down, because the bubble continues to expand at a steady rate.

Forget destroying the villages in a day, we barely have hours!

The capital comes into sight and I direct the Ravager to land.

* * *

Anakin may have tripped one too many traps.

He didn't know where he was. He saw. He heard nothing. He felt nothing. He sensed nothing. All he knew was his drifting thoughts.

Was he dead?

Was this the Force?

All of this lasted for a moment, then the next moment he was overwhelmed with everything. He screamed in pain as something penetrated him to his core like a twisted dagger. He saw brilliant light all around him, and because of the light, he could see the Prior standing in front of him holding his little girl back. She was terrified with unshed tears and bruised, and the sight of her in this state awoke something in him, something Anakin had not felt in years.

The Beast within was not happy. One of its young had been touched by something in its territory.

Rage and anger filled his veins. At the same time, the light all around them changed from shades of white, blue, and green, to red and brown. Another wave of pain hit him and shook him. Anakin slowly, painfully, took a step forwards, then another, followed by another. Every step was a lesson in pain. He felt as though he had no energy in his body at all, like something was sucking it out through a straw, and yet, even though he felt he had no energy left, it only continued to suck on him and he forced himself to not fall unconscious through willpower alone.

And when had he stopped walking? The pain and exhaustion was so intense he had trouble focusing. All he saw was the girl, his girl, and the Prior.

The Prior looked at him in amazement, then understanding. "It would appear that the seeds have blossomed into a great evil." The man said.

"Enough!" Anakin barked. The effort of yelling was too much and he fell to his knees. The pain continued to twist and turn. He felt like he had a giant drill going in his back. "Enough. You're preaching has no… meaning. Speak plainly. Stop hiding… behind words. There is… no one here… to buy… your bullshit!" Anakin fell to his hands and knees. Sweat poured down his face. Just saying that much was enough to make him feel as though he had run a triathlon.

"Daddy!"

The Prior watched the Jedi crumble in pain and the girl struggle against him. He closed his eyes and sighed. "Very well."

He released the girl. Leia looked up at him curiously, not expecting it. Then she slowly took a step forward, testing the waters to see how he would react. The Prior ignored her, and she ran to Anakin. "DADDDY!" She flung her arms around him and cried into his shoulder. Anakin tried to have the energy to at least hug her back, but he couldn't. He was struggling just to not fall flat on his face in the dirt.

"I'M SWY DADDY! I tried to fight him and defend Luke and be bwave and stwong and-!"

"You did well…" He whispered. "You did… exactly… like my… girl would. I'm proud." He managed to smile weakly. Anakin's chest swelled with pride. For her to protect her brother and fight back against the Prior despite overwhelming odds, well, the resemblance was obvious. She had his stubborn fire.

Leia cried into his shoulder and his eyes turned to the Prior.

The Prior's Void arm disappeared and he sat on the ground in front of them. He leaned his staff against his arm and inspected himself. His right shoulder was gone along with his right arm, and his left elbow was exposed to bone. He couldn't move it anymore. The tendons had been burned.

"Why let her go?"

The Prior looked to him and the girl. "Her last moments should be with you. Even evil can be allowed some mercy."

"Mercy…" Anakin grit his teeth angrily. "How is holding her here mercy!" He gasped for breathe. "How is… she… evil?"

"Because she is of you. You are the greater evil."

"Explain to me… how I am… Is it because I am Jedi? Have I wronged you… at some point? Is this… payback? These 'Harbingers'… of my sin. On what authority do they act? On what sin… do they repay? How is it right… to have no… proper claim… to your justice!"

The Prior leaned forward and said, "The Master has no desire for me to answer that. You have been told many times over the years to look back, and you have not. Do not blame us for your ignorance. However, I will answer some of it. You are not evil for being Jedi. In truth, we didn't know for a fact if you were the great evil. You were merely a rumor… until now. This…" The Prior motioned around them. Anakin looked around and his eyes widened in amazement.

They were inside a giant black bubble that was slowly expanding. Wavy lines of light ran to the bubble from Anakin and were absorbed.

The bubble was feeding off him?!

"This was your test." The Prior explained. "Your test of whether or not you are truly this 'Chosen One'. If you were not the 'Chosen One', then you would have died instantly, and the girl and I would have died with you."

"Guess… I showed you…" Anakin smirked.

The Prior merely blinked lazily. "No. In fact, this is our victory. The fact that you are alive even within the Void with us is testament to you being the 'Chosen One'."

"And how is that… your victory?"

"You are the living embodiment of the Force. You cannot die to the Void, since your energy is directly attuned to the living universe… it won't be you dying. It will be the Force that dies. Then… when the Master is granted victory… then you will die. Along with your friends and family. Nothing will escape this… and all because you ARE the 'Chosen One'. If you were not, then this would have been too costly a victory. Yet, you are, so this will be not only the day we have victory… but the day we win everything."

"You…" Anakin couldn't find a word to describe the incredible ridiculousness of his madness. He had seen insanity in Nihilus. Now this? Destroying the Force?

Anakin had expected religious doctrine and a kind of holy war being declared, but this was above and beyond anything he could have imagined. Their religious leader was aiming to destroy another religion's deity!

"You… You are beyond anything! You dare call me evil! Killing the Force will wipe out…" Anakin gasped.

Destroying the Force would kill everyone touched by it. Common people with very few mediclorians would survive, but that accounted for less than half of the galactic population. The other half had enough mediclorians that they were dependant on it slightly, while the Jedi… the Sith… the Eternal Hand. All of them were born with the Force being almost a separate organ. If that organ was to suddenly die… then they wouldn't be able to survive with it.

The Eternal Hand have the power to grant other people the Force through means that feels artificial to Anakin, yet even then, their own Priors were dependent on the Force just as much as the Jedi were!

Its mass suicide. Its mass genocide. "You're a psychopath." Anakin whispered.

"No. I am a shadow. I mean nothing, but my existence makes my master's light all the brighter in comparison."

Anakin yelled, grit his teeth, and struggled to his feet. He could never have imagined this. The fact that he was called the 'chosen one' had always been a beacon he had given hope to people because of. He may not know his destiny or how or why he is the 'Chosen One' specifically, but he was a hope that the Jedi held on to, and Anakin had always been proud of it deep down. It may have isolated him and aggravated him to no end to have such an incredibly destiny being placed on his shoulders, but it was supposed to be about hope and victory.

Instead, it appeared that his very existence as the Force's champion was the key to its very downfall.

Anakin found himself wishing he had never been born. He had never had this destiny. That would have made life so much simpler. He would have been a simple slave. He would have been miserable, most likely given to another slave in a kind of arranged marriage, and expected to have his children placed in slavery as well. He would have become an angry man with no reason to exist and no angel in his life, nor twins to act as little angels. Naked butts, heart-arrows and a bow, and wings, and all like little cupids.

But then his existence wouldn't have destroyed the galaxy.

"I will… stop you."

"Kill me if you want. I no longer matter. It will not stop what has been set in motion. It is no longer within my control. Only your death can stop it; but I would not suggest killing yourself, because if you are no longer feeding the Void who do you think will?" His eyes turned to Leia, and Anakin paled in horror. Leia was here not only to draw him into the trap, but to act as a hostage even now. "In fact, if I were you, I would focus on staying awake and actively complacent. If you start resisting, then the Void may decide to take a bite out of her instead."


	55. Ep12 - Victory has its Cost Part 4

**Note: Whew… busy life is busy! Anyway, here is another chapter. We are still in the process of turning the tide of this war against the Eternal Hand, but it is one step closer. Pretty soon we should be able to get some large pieces of the puzzle. Not the whole puzzle mind you, but enough to get a better idea of who is leading the whole show.**

**This chapter is mostly character progress, but I feel is a long time coming. The next chapter will push the main story along to its rapidly coming conclusion of the episode.**

**I might even make six parts… with the 6****th**** part being really short, just for the sake of a certain thing with Mandalore. *wink wink* *hint* *obvious wink is obvious* Oh stop looking at me like that!**

**Anyway, I'm sorry this has taken so long for me to work on. Some friends from college in my programming class are coming together with me and we are trying to start a small business. It's all very exciting and takes a lot of work and leaves me exhausted and hardly able to put two braincells together afterwords. My brain can only go so far before completely collapsing and refusing to move for the day.**

**I have also been getting so many ideas for stories!**

**1) A retelling of the manga 'Kingdom' from the perspective of Sai.**

**2) A cross fic of Zelda/Merlin.**

**3) A prequel to the cross fic.**

**4) A story of (my version's) Nihilus' life in the Jedi Temple with the other Sith Triad before they went off to war as the Revanchist.**

**I have also been writing multiple chapters and sections for future episodes of 'In the path of the Ravager' including *DUN DUN DUN!* the final battle between Starkiller and Varus. (Please, that's not a spoiler. That's as expected as link/Ganandorf final battle.)**

**It had me crying my eyes out. Q.Q**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, so no sue!**

* * *

**Episode 12 - Victory at a Cost Part 4**

* * *

"I SURRENDER!"

When I had landed the Ravager outside the city walls and ran to the palace, and jumped from rooftop to rooftop a few times to make a shortcut, I had not expected a king with his face to the stone bowing before me suddenly screaming the surrender of... uh... I don't know actually.

"What?" I ask.

Ahsoka slows to a halt and stops next to me to catch her breathe.

"I surrender, just please spare us! If it is gold you seek, I have more than enough. If you must have a prize, I have many daughters and sons you may find-"

"Did I miss something?" I ask Ahsoka. She looks as perplexed as I am.

There is a number of other people already present. I recognize one guy with a squirrely mustache as... an old friend of Tree-Huggers. There's a woman next to him who is looking at me worriedly. Around them are a bunch of Jedi. Behind the king are another two Jedi, but they dress in red and their Force signature feels a bit different the typical Jedi.

"Master 'Soka!" Slavian yells and comes running to us. Ahsoka pats his head warmly and Aramas walks over as well. I don't see the others anywhere.

And the king is still groveling.

I stare at him. Am I truly this bad at first impressions?! "Okay... I'm going to need you to get everyone on the Ravager. That's my ship I parked outside the city walls."

The king's eyes widen fearfully. "You are taking my people hostage?"

He is making this too easy! "Yes."

Ahsoka gapes at me, and everyone else is stunned. The king guy isn't moving.

"Don't make me mind-control you!" I glare at him. "So get moving."

"Anything but that! Alright! We'll do it!"

Ahsoka smacks me in the back of the head. "My liege, he cannot mind control you, and we are NOT taking you and your court hostage..." She says while looking at me pointedly.

"You're just jealous you didn't think of it first." I mutter.

"I wouldn't have thought of it at ALL!" She hisses back. I roll my eyes. "My liege, we are here to help, not to be your enemy."

"But-" He turns his eyes to me fearfully.

I'm getting tired of this. I pinch my nose and sigh deeply. "Let me guess. You've seen me before."

"There was another Starkiller that attacked the city." Slavian explains.

"Of course there was... Mr. King guy-"

"It's 'my liege'." Ahsoka corrects.

"Whatever. The man who attacked and wreaked havoc is... an evil twin." Curly French mustache and evil laugh and everything. "Not to be associated with me."

The king stares at me for a long moment. His eyes glance to others around me as he tries to take in the situation. Then he reddens in anger and humiliation. "Then what do you want?! Leave us!" He barks, turns his back, and walks away.

I step forward to argue but Ahsoka puts a hand on my chest, pauses, and says, "Let me take care of it. You taking advantage of his confusion hasn't helped."

"Alright, alright."

I see Skywalker's friend and the woman with him step forward as well to discuss what Ahsoka will bring up.

We don't have much time, she needs to get everyone on the ship.

I look down at Slavian. "What do you guy's mean Starkiller 'was' here. Where did he go?"

"Dead."

"Wha? How did he? He died? You killed him?!" I look between them. No way had Starkiller died. That doesn't happen.

Aramas starts making hand gestures and I don't understand sign language. I look to Slavian.

"He says: Starkiller had no lightsaber, and no lightning. We used everything you taught us, our experience in fighting you, teamwork in backing each other up and keeping him busy until I -Aramas- caught him off guard with a move that I -Aramas- designed to be fatal. He -Starkiller- was also much weaker than you and even then it was a close fight. If my -Aramas- technique had not worked, odds are we would have lost."

Starkiller is dead.

Starkiller is dead.

Well, one of them anyway. But still, Starkiller is dead.

"I..." Why does it bother me so much? They had it coming. They have my memories and decided to turn their backs on everything I had learned and decided when I decided to drift away from being Starkiller and a true-red Sith. Now I'm somewhere between a Miraluka, Jedi, and Sith and they are one-hundred percent Sith. They ticked off the galaxy and have killed who-knows-how-many in a galactic game of lets-see-how-much-we-can-screw-around-with. And they are after Tree-Hugger.

The one thing I can agree on is their aim for Nihilus. But that doesn't mean I won't stay my hand if I see one.

"You guys did well." I tell them, despite how much the news bothers me. "Go tell Ahsoka when she is free. I'm sure she will proud of you."

* * *

"From the leaked information 'generously' provided to the galaxy from Starkiller, and our comparison, I do believe it is accurate." Boba reported.

Mandalore sat with a heavy weight on his shoulders.

He had figured the Starkillers would cause chaos and anarchy with the information they were dumping on the holonet on a daily basis, but he had thought it would be local in some way to small systems. No... This information would shake the galaxy.

After all these years they knew where the Cartel Warp Gate was located. Mandalore cursed the Revanchist for holding on to this information so long, but also could predict Bastilla's reason for silence. The location was so deep in Cartel territory that responding to the information would only tip their hand, and any massive strike designed to penetrate that deeply would expose the entire Clan to being overrun.

All the same it pissed him off knowing she knew. It was yet another way she was one-upping him.

"What are we going to do about it?" Rex asked earnestly.

He sighed. He hated this, and could only respect the heavy position Bastilla must have been in. "At this moment, nothing." Mandalore answered.

"Mandalore!" Boba and Rex both said at once.

Rex continued, "Sir, If I may, this is the key to the war!"

"At what cost!" Mandalore barked. "Our predecessors were willing to throw everything away for hard-to-reach victories, and while it worked in the beginning, once we were against a general like Revan, it blew up in our face! We not only lost the war, we lost our identity, our culture, and if it wasn't for Revan's mercy after the Triad war we would still be lost! You two may look like grown men, but remember you are accelerated! You are children in my sight! I have seen more war than the two of you combined! I have seen what it can gain, and what it can lose us!"

"We do not dispute that, Mandalore." Boba said patiently. "But I doubt we will ever get an opportunity like this again! Haven't you read the reports on the Cartel and Dominion activity?"

"No. As you can tell, I have had my ears full of other information. What is going on with them and why am I the last to know?"

Mandalore had barely had three hours of rest in the last week from the sheer amount of information being thrown at him to deal with ever since Starkiller started this leaking-fest!

Boba gulped and glanced to Rex, who also looked like he was swallowing something big. "The Eternal Hand is growing... The Dominion and Cartel have pulled back all of their forces because of sparking rebellion inspired by the Priors... and... Count Dooku... is dead."

Mandalore stared at him a long moment. "When did all of this happen?"

"Hours ago. I thought you knew, I apologize. I had the report sent to your estate."

"No, I feel I haven't left this throne in days."

"That might be why..." Rex murmured.

Mandalore weighed the information in his mind.

The Cartel was pulling back because of rebellion... it must be a lot of rebellion. He could see why. The Cartel was a pit just waiting for rebellion to overthrow the Hutts, but the Dominion? The Dominion was largely robotic. For them to pull back forces, either a major faction within the Dominion was going against them, or possibly a robotic rebellion? He would have to look into the details.

But they were right. This was the chance they were looking for.

"Go." Mandalore said. "Retrieve from the base information on where the other end is located. If there is no civilian presence on either end, then shove a nuke through it to the other side and bombard the first side from orbit. I want nothing left of it!"

"It shall be done!" Boba saluted and the two Voda's left.

Mandalore looked up to the waning sun and decided he needed to try and get some sleep. It had been days. It would be a while before the Voda could assemble a fleet and head for the gate-world, and as much as Mandalore felt the need to stand at attention every moment, he also was a veteran. Sleep deprivation was risky at this time.

"I'm returning home." He announced. He stood and left. His personal guard followed and a messenger ran off to tell his temporary regent to fill in for the night.

Mandalore made the journey home almost robotically. He couldn't remember much of it and must have dozed off at some point because he was being shaken by one of his guard. "We have arrived, Mandalore."

Mandalore nodded and left the cab. His estate was in a private area all his own for security. His personal guard lived in the barracks just under the house along with the estate security. All of it was now run by Izthark. The man had been humiliated slightly by the events of the Ravager some time ago in being forced to go with what appeared to be a terrorist threat at the time, and Satine took it upon herself to have him granted an honorable position here.

He was less than happy to find out the Ravager-Varus was, in fact, NOT a terrorists like the rest and had been officially sanctioned as a kind of mercenary for a time, but he took his humiliation with grace and did well in ensuring Mandalore and his wife was well taken care of. As well as the kids.

In fact the man was almost fanatical about it. Mandalore chuckled to himself.

His guards rotated as he walked and before long he stood on his front steps. A butler was ready at the door, having been informed in advanced Mandalore was returning home. "Mandalore. There is mail for you in your room, Lady Satine is at a social event speaking, and the children are visiting William." William was a friend of theirs. "Sir Izthark is discretely watching them."

"Was he ordered to?"

"No."

Mandalore chuckled again. The man was definitely pushing it. The kids would grow to hate him if he kept at it. Oh well, he would learn the hard way that children are not like soldiers. That was one of the many lessons Satine was always reminding him of...

"Thank you. I am retiring for the night. Please bring me something to help me sleep. Its secret, but events in the next few days will decide the war. Have anything important passed to my regent."

"Understood."

Mandalore left for a private area of the estate and shut the door. Now in the privacy of the master bedroom, he removed the helmet. His face had become pale from lack of sun and he had to shave his head to keep from being miserable. As the butler said there was a pile of letters on his in-table. They must have arrived after Satine had left because they were unopened. Satine would have opened them and informed him personally of anything noteworthy.

Mandalore sat in a chair and ran through them. Most of it was stuff he already knew or didn't matter immediately. Bills, tax laws needing to be updated, the latest gossip on him and Satine (this part always made him laugh. If only life as a leader and husband was as exciting as they made it out to be on a daily basis) and a letter... from one Shan.

Mandalore paused on it, and opened it, dreading its contents.

It would appear Bastilla's daughter was stepping up to fill her mother's shoes.

Mandalore looked over the document, recognizing the Revanchist wording they were so fond of. The Revanchist were analyzing the Priors and finding matches to who they were before becoming Priors. Most of them were nonconsequential, but there was also a possible link provided. Priors were created by other Priors, and the Revanchist were trying to piece together the original Priors all the way back to their leader, or as close as they could get because of the chain of Priors.

At the very far back of the time-line of theorized Priors was a man that made Mandalore shudder. The man in and of itself was not important, but rather where he had come from. More and more Priors were shown with their previous identity and faces, and with each one his dread grew. Pieces fell in his mind and with a startling moment of realization the document slipped through his numb fingers.

If his thought was right, then he knew where the Eternal Hand originated...

"By the Maker..." Mandalore whispered.

If his thought was right then this was far worse than he thought. Much much worse. He couldn't have imagined it being any worse if he tried.

Minutes later a maid walked in and left a drink and pill on his table. She departed without Mandalore ever noticing.

After he finally forced himself to focus and drink, he laid down. He was running on fumes and could barely put two thoughts together anymore. Even the Maker needed rest at least once. Hopefully the latest realization wouldn't follow him into nightmares.

...

It most likely would.

* * *

Obi-Wan was confused.

First he hears Varus is a Sith named Starkiller, then he gets brainwashed and is an ally. Then his mental barriers collapse, reawakening the Starkiller within, and he's an enemy. Then he surrenders to justice and is imprisoned, making him neutral. Then he appears all over the galaxy causing trouble for Jedi, making him an enemy. Only, it turns out, it wasn't the original, so the original is an ally and the clones are enemies even though they all look the same. Then he counters the Ravager, being piloted by an ally Starkiller, then fights Starkiller today, obviously an enemy, then meets another, only, this new one is an ally that makes kings surrender to him to get what he wants... So he's... an enemy.

And Ahsoka is trying to explain he isn't the bad guy and is actually trying to help them.

Is he an ally or an enemy! Every time Obi-Wan hears the name Starkiller or Varus, he keeps being told differently!

"Okay... wait. For clarity sake, is this Varus an ally or enemy?"

"Ally." "Enemy." Ahsoka and the Revanchist Jedi both say at once.

And that doesn't make it any easier.

Obi-Wan sighed. "Considering the treatment you have given your charge and my history with her." He faced the Revanchist Jedi. "I am inclined to believe her."

The Revanchist Jedi frowned. "Surely you cannot be serious. She is a Padawan."

"I'm a knight in all but title." She argued heatedly.

"I am serious." Obi-Wan returned. "I'd trust her over you every day, every time, at the drop of a hat."

The king looked between them cautiously. He had become sullen and silent since they moved away from Varus, but he still watched him from a distance warily. "I cannot go with this."

The plan was to evacuate the entire city and load them on the Ravager for evacuation.

The king continued, "Not only is the prospect of evacuating the entire capital preposterous, but he is... what did you call him? Sid? Sif?"

"Sith?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Yes, that."

"He is a Sith, my liege, but he is here to help." Ahsoka argued.

"Correct me if I am wrong, but aren't Sith the bad guys?"

"Wise words, your majesty." The Revanchist sucked up. Ahsoka glared at him. Obi-Wan felt uncomfortable with the whole thing. It had felt gratifying to knock one Revanchist to the ground earlier, but they still had the king's ear. The Revanchist had strong relations with the planet.

"That may be so, but-" Ahsoka tried.

The Revanchist stepped forward, "Enough, child. Have you not been listening?"

Obi wanted to slap the man, but observed as Ahsoka did nothing but twitch. So he took it as a sign not to respond either. This was not the time to respond to insult.

"The fact is this." The Revanchist continued, "This is a Sith, bearing the same face as one who has attacked this grand city. What is to say his intentions are not so similar? You?"

"I stand behind him."

"So a child stands behind a mass murderer. Gratifying as that is, let's consider his intentions are indeed different. Does that still not mean he hasn't murdered millions? Led country and city to ruin?" Ahsoka's face grew a shade of red.

"He was sent to prison for it." Obi-Wan argued.

"Prison for one year. He changed leafs conveniently fast." Again, Ahsoka grew red as the man spoke. "And why would you speak in his defense? Are you not Jedi, Master Kenobi? Is he not Sith? How many Sith have you killed?"

"Many."

"And how many have ever shown to have any intentions even bordering on positive?"

"I..." Obi-Wan didn't know what to say. He had met none.

"Not many, I am sure. I've killed my fair share. But for this child to stand behind him? Sounds like Stockholm Syndrome to me."

"Stockholm?" The king asked.

"Apologies, my liege. It is an outsider term used to describe a situation where you grow to sympathize with your kidnapper."

"Ah."

"Stockholm Syndrome? Surely you jest." Obi-Wan argued. However, his voice felt weak because... a part of him couldn't deny it. From what he heard, Ahsoka had been kidnapped by the Ravager yet Anakin thought it was okay. As though he knew something Obi-Wan didn't.

"Yes, wasn't she kidnapped by the Ravager on its appearance in Dantooine? Does she not have history with the kidnapper? Tell me, child. Did he tell you a sob story that painted him as an individual that was broken and just needed some love to make him all better?" Ahsoka twitched and gritted her sharp teeth angrily. "And despite not seeing him for years while he was imprisoned or enslaved or whatever his saving grace may be, in a matter of days you think he is worthy of standing before a king and telling him to drop everything... To drop an entire country, for everyone in the city to leave their welfare and belongings and lives behind, to get on a haunted ship conveniently controlled by him and him alone."

Obi-Wan felt more and more the prospect was messed up and could be a trap. Perhaps Varus was using Ahsoka. He knew he could trust Anakin like family, and Ahsoka like a daughter... but it sounded like this 'daughter' was with a tattooed bike gang member that was trying to tell you it was okay to get in the back seat.

"Perhaps..." Obi-Wan said slowly. "We need more information. The situation might not be as bad as he claims."

The Revanchist smiled, "Exactly. We have the Force with us. We will face this and win. It is the will of the-"

"I AM ASHAMED!"

The yell echoed through the whole room and stunned everyone. The Revanchist shut his mouth, Obi-Wan felt like he was slapped in the face, Varus, all the way on the other side of the room, was staring, the two young Padawans gaped, and Padme looked amused.

Obi-Wan turned to see a livid Ahsoka. She was so angry she was panting in it. He could almost see steam coming out of her mouth as she glared at them.

She continues, "No one. AND I MEAN NOT A DAMN ONE OF YOU knows the Void like he does! He says the Void will consume EVERYTHING and he believes it so much that he risked crashing into the planet to come down here and get a handful of people out, and all you can do is debate ethics and his authenticity as a former Sith! You want authenticity! Here it is: HE'S MAKING A F****** EFFORT WHILE YOU STAND HERE TWIDDLING YOUR THUMBS!" She paused to catch her breath and let that sink in. Obi-Wan couldn't look at her, he suddenly felt old, weak, and rotten. She smiles almost mockingly, "Sad isn't it? A Sith tries to help and the Jedi call 'evil!'... A SITH is the one trying to help!.. You know... in the last few years. Something I've come to learn is that you don't have to be 'Jedi' or follow a specific code to do things that are good. You just have to do it. And you know what else?"

She waved around. The shaking ground grew powerful enough to be noticeable. "If all this, if sacrificing a few to save your own hide, and if hiding behind empty tradition and dead wisdom is your 'will of the Force', then I am ashamed to be called 'Jedi'."

_I am ashamed to be called Jedi._

There were a number of times Obi-Wan felt really low. This now qualified as one of the lowest. She was right. Varus was a Sith, or former Sith, and despite the first impression that fact alone may give, he was here for a reason that outshined anything anyone else was doing at the moment.

Varus and Ahsoka's two Padawans were gaping at her, Padme was surprised by smiled lightly, the Revanchist looked gob-smacked, and Obi-Wan felt like dirt. Every other Jedi in the room that had followed Obi-Wan from Naboo was gaping as well. They had known her for years.

Ahsoka turned around and walked away. She passed by her students who, after looking at each other in surprise, followed, and she walked past Varus. "I take it we are leaving?" Varus asked her.

"If they want to come they can. We're wasting our time talking." She snapped, then remembered herself. "If um-you still want them to come. It's your ship."

"Yeah, I don't see why not." Varus walked by her side out.

The four of them left the palace and headed back toward the Ravager. "I can't believe you said that!" Varus chuckled.

"I don't regret it." She said quickly. "I meant every word."

"I'm not doubting it. But did you see the look at squirrel-lips face? Priceless."

"Squirrel-lips?" She asked in amusement.

"Yeah, the guy who taught Tree-Hugger. Whatever his name is."

Ahsoka turned to look at her students and noted their fright. More so for Slavian. He was scared of something and looked close to tears. "What's wrong, Slavian?"

"Do you really not regret saying you are ashamed to be a Jedi?" He asked meekly. He looked like a child being punished.

"Oh dear..." Varus commented. He glanced to her.

Ahsoka closed her eyes. "I... I did not take into account you all being there to hear it, but it doesn't change how I feel. It's been something growing in me for a long time. It started when I was accused of something I didn't do, and the Jedi neither trusted in me in the slightest nor reflected on themselves when they were proven wrong. They made a slave army of clones, only for those clones to be denied their own rights as common citizens. They raped Varus' mind, which is... hypocritical and wrong in so many ways. They got involved in politics too deeply to consider the slightest possibility of Palpatine being the Sith Lord."

"That one is understandable actually. The Sith Lord was skilled at the whole political-stealth-and-dagger stuff." Varus commented.

Ahsoka considered it a moment. "Alright, I'll let that one go, and despite public belief, the battle of Coruscant was more to buy time for younglings to escape than anything else."

"Maybe. We were late for the party. We had no way of telling their reasoning."

Ahsoka glanced up at him with a brief glare and Varus put his hands up in surrender. Ahsoka continued, "Now the Jedi, Revanchist Jedi though it may be, willing threw aside two children for slowing them down, and refuse to help in evacuating and saving lives all because Varus is labeled as a Sith."

Slavian murmured with his head down. "But... he is."

"Yes, he is." Ahsoka acknowledged. "Now, has Varus harmed any of us? ("No.") Has he tried to twist us to some evil path and -Varus I know your smiling evilly back there- has he not gone out of his way multiple times to help people, help us, help us know how to fight an evil power, and has come here specifically to save people?"

"He has..."

"And what does that tell you?"

Ahsoka waited a long moment while Slavian mulled the words around in his head. "I already know he's not a bad person. He's... not typical."

"What that means is that you just because you are Jedi doesn't mean you can't be a bad person, and a Sith cannot be a good person. Now, generalizations are there for a reason. I wouldn't let my guard down around other Sith, their history speaks for itself. But when you meet someone, judge them by their actions and their words. Not by a name. Don't get so caught up in small facts that you can't see the world around you. You don't have to be a Jedi to be a hero, and you don't have to be a Sith to be a villain." She patted Slavian on the head.

A long moment of silence swept over them.

"You're coming back to Naboo... right?"

Ahsoka blinked in surprise. Truth be told, the prospect of returning to Naboo and the Jedi there had been the furthest thing away from her mind.

Varus walked away for a moment, but Ahsoka's attention was on Slavian. He looked more terrified than... and lonely. The question he asked was so out of the blue… Is that what had been bothering him the last few days? Just how long had he been worried about it?

"Oh Slavian... I..." Return to Naboo. She tried to comfort him and say 'of course I would', but the words wouldn't come out.

For as long as she had been among the Jedi there, she had felt alone. The daily life was just a cycle of the same actions over and over that had long gone stale. She took pride in Anakin and loved where he was taking everything, and adored her students and loved watching them grow and took pride in being their teacher, but she was still alone. Now... she realized how lonely she truly had been. You don't always realize how much pain you were in until the pain is gone.

She wasn't lonely anymore. Well, not as much. She still dreamed of meeting her family, but that was a far lesser pain than the one she had to deal with; and Visas was borderline jealous-bitch and borderline friend. She no longer had to force herself to get up in the mornings. Now she was up as soon as her eyes were open, she felt younger, had more energy, spent her days laughing and working harder than ever and feeling like she was actually accomplishing something alongside people who were the weirdest bunch she had ever met, yet accepted her as one of them.

_Varus kissed you. You didn't know it at the time._

_The only one on this ship who doesn't seem to notice that you have his attention and boyish affection is apparently yourself. Or... you might. He has all but promised you his heart…_

"I..." Ahsoka felt tears in her eyes and wiped them away. Whether they were of happiness from realizing what she had gained on the Ravager, or of feeling Slavian's pain, she didn't know. "I don't know. I cannot promise we will return. That is, if you still want me as a teacher when this is all done."

"Of course I do!"

"And what if I don't return to Naboo? Then what? You are a Jedi. Take pride in that." Ahsoka shook him gently. "Just do not allow the thinking of the past to make you think that the Jedi way is the only way. There is more to life than all of that. I believe in Anakin. He will reform the Jedi. So no, Regardless of what I decide, when our journey is over you two need to return to Naboo." Ahsoka looked up to Aramas. Aramas was still and showed no emotion at all.

Aramas had retreated inward. That was his way of dealing with situations.

_You have been neglecting your students a lot._

"I know I haven't given you as much attention as before, but that is because I'm just dealing with a lot right now. It is in no way because of either of you." She hugged Slavian, who returned the embrace tightly like an infant afraid of losing his parent. Aramas didn't join in, but took a step closer till he stood next to them. "I'm proud of you both so much, but my journey, and yours, are different. I don't know where I may go or if I will return. One day I will know, but don't fret. Even if I do leave, or even turn my back on the Jedi as a whole, you guys, Anakin, you are all still family to me. No matter how bad things get, I'll still be in touch."

Slavian cried harder and the mute boy turned away as tears appeared in his eyes.

Even though the shaking grew worse with each minute, and all the powers of the Void was coming in on them, Ahsoka needed to spend a minute assuring her students.

Surely saving the world could wait one minute.


	56. Ep12 - Victory has its Cost Part 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, so no sue!**

* * *

**Episode 12 - Victory at a Cost Part 5**

* * *

I stand to the side and watch Ahsoka have a moment with her students.

There is pressure on everyone. Things are changing rapidly and everyone is scrambling to keep up with it. Not just the pressure from the galaxy around us shifting violently towards something we are scared to consider, but the impact it had on us. Just in the short time since Ahsoka had joined the Ravager crew and we had been to Mandalore just a few days ago I have felt like a new man, and while a part of it scares me, I also kept myself focused.

My relationship with everyone has changed so much. Koj has disappeared, my feelings for Ahsoka have both grown stronger yet easier to control, I feel there is some kind of tension between her and Visas, I haven't had the chance to be with Squirt like I used to, the Stooges have been out of my hair...

Odd of all things. Despite how I yelled at him and tried to get rid of them and how obnoxious they are, I haven't heard a peep from them since Ahsoka joined up. Do I miss it? The attention?

Regardless, a part of me wishes I had never become more aware and mature with things. I see dangers and complications I have never understood. Political shifts, the impact single individuals can have on entire planets and systems, the chaos every little thing can cause... The interpersonal relationships of people around me, such as how Ahsoka's students are terrified Ahsoka will leave the Jedi.

Leave the Jedi... I... I don't know how I feel about that. On one hand, she's a Jedi. Jedi and I do not exactly mix, and not just because I'm a Sith trying to move on. I'll move on once I purge myself of Starkiller finally. No... on the other hand, she and Tree-Hugger are the Jedi... To me, they represent what the Jedi should be. I don't know other Jedi well, so I can't say how they are. But everything good I have ever heard about Jedi is symbolized in the two of them. The strength to protect in one and the mercy to forgive in the other.

But then, what if I had never become aware of my surroundings? What if I had never been placed under Anakin and awakened to the reality that my actions affect others around me?

Starkiller.

Everything that question entails is answered in a single word, Starkiller.

Life was so much simpler before Ahsoka and Tree-Hugger. Back then I had never clear cut goals... and I allowed nothing to cloud my judgement. Now my judgement is filled with concern for people around me...

It hasn't weakened me, caring about others, but it taking away from my focus.

With these thoughts in mind, I close my eyes and meditate briefly. I analyze the situation around me briefly and decide on a single conclusion.

The king will not help us, but that doesn't mean we cannot try. The wind is picking up. Soon it will be able to lift people off the ground and take them away to the Void.

"Ravager." I say.

A Ravager droid climbs out of my jacket and looks at my weakly. They can run without electricity, but they are still weakened.

"Send all of your faeries around the city. Tell people what is happening. Ignore resistance and move on. Only focus on spreading the word. Split yourself in pieces around the capital and tell everyone they will find refuge in you." I look to Ahsoka. In the distance a group of Jedi are running down the path to us. "Save as many as we can."

"Understood, master." The droid jumps out of my jacket and flies away. Before long I see a swarm of droids fly out of the Ravager in the distance towards us and spread out over the city. Yells and panic erupt everywhere, but as the droids fly over the city, no one is harmed. People will panic. But those that listen will be saved.

I turn myself to the Jedi. Squirrel-lips is here along with... Tree-Huggers wife. I forget her name.

The world rumbles under my feet and I hear the roar of the Ravager against the wind as it splits up and flies over our heads.

"I've sent the Ravager to alert everyone and see how many will seek refuge in her." I tell Ahsoka.

"Thank you, Varus." She turns herself to the Jedi who stop before us. There is a sense of familiarty between her and all of them, yet also a line has been drawn. No one is getting closer than five feet, except for the Tree-Hugger wife that walks over and hugs Ahsoka. She whispers something in Ahsoka's ear that makes her smile.

Ahsoka hardens her eyes toward Squirrel-lips, but he simply bows his head humbly and asks, "How can we help?"

Ahsoka says nothing. She is clearly disappointed. For a moment she looks almost like a queen before her subjects.

That line shouldn't be there... She shouldn't have created a clear distinction between her thoughts and their beliefs. Not for me.

Rather than stand behind her, I walk to her side and get her attention by touching her hand. "The people are confused and surrounded by chaos and powers they do not understand. The Ravager will not be able to save many if they all fear her."

She nods. "How long until the Void becomes too great for us to be here any longer?"

"I can't say. Once people are physically being lifted off the ground, then it would be time to get out of here."

"What of my children?" Tree-Hugger's wife asks. Worry is etched all over her face and it kills me to see it on her. Last I saw her she was a font of joy, life, and light in Tree-Huggers life, now she looks like she is afraid, afraid of breaking... because that is exactly what will happen.

A stone sits in my stomach. "What about them? Were they kidnapped?"

"No, they were playing and were never found when we evacuated. I would have stayed behind but-" She chokes on her pain and Ahsoka hugs her tightly.

Lovely...

and here I was trying to stay focused on a single thing at a time. Guess I really can't help complicating things.

And where is Tree-Hugger, Visas, and Falon?

I sigh. Ahsoka soothes her, "Ani and a few of our friends should have headed toward the village. Perhaps they found something."

The woman smiles, "Probably... the connection between Ani and the kids is uncanny."

"They've never met..." I respond.

"Then explain how a set of twins watch the night sky and mark one star as 'daddy', and it moves, and has emotions?"

"Easy. They're delusional."

Ahsoka swats me on the arm. Right, shutting up. "I'm sure Ani will be able to find them. Or you never know, the twins might be the ones to do the finding!"

That seems to assure the woman, and Ahsoka looks to Obi-Wan, who hasn't moved. He still has his head bowed slightly.

"Help the Ravager. Sith and Jedi don't matter. Right now all that matters is a deadline, nothing else."

"You're right." Obi-Wan whispers. He straightens and looks to me.

There is a brief moment of disdain, but it is quickly squashed in equally brief shame and then intense focus. "How many can the ship hold, and... where on it? The last I saw, the ship was a pincushion junkyard. Not many rooms can have oxygen."

"The Ravager knows which of her rooms are safe and has life support, but she will still hold the whole city in her depths if you squeeze them. It will be a temporary measure lasting no more than a day while we take them to the nearest planet."

"You mean they cannot return?" He asks worriedly.

"I mean there will be nothing to return to." I respond grimly.

He nods, and after a brief glance to Ahsoka, who looks a lot calmer and appreciative and warm instead of keeping him out, he gives orders to the Jedi around him. "Help the Ravager. People are panicking. They need to know the Ravager is here to help." He looks to me. "They're allies."

A bird flies down from the sky across us, then suddenly halts in the wind. Then, right before our eyes, is suddenly sucked backwards into a gory display as it is forcibly sucked through a gap entirely too small.

It doesn't take anymore prompting for them to run and spread the word. The wind picks up Tree-Hugger's Wife's skirt and she pats it down. (Whew, that was close.)

"Miss um..." I look to her. Oh right, her last name is Skywalker. Duh, they're married. "Mrs. Skywalker, please head to the Ravager. You and the squirts are why we are here. I need you to be the first one onboard."

"I cannot stand by and do nothing!"

"People will be afraid." Ahsoka reminds her. "Perhaps you could help with the people that do listen and keep them calm and collected."

Mrs. Skywalker studies us. "Is the ship that horrifying inside? More so than on the outside?"

"Worse." "Ohhhh, yeah." We both say.

She nods. "Great. I'll go. Good luck." She runs toward where the nearest Ravager section is. The ship is so large that even split into five sections, one of which is still off somewhere, each piece towers over the city walls and is easily seen from any point inside the walls.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?" Ahsoka asks me curiously.

"You shouldn't have had to look at your old friend like that, not for me."

She takes my hand and squeezes it briefly. Its a comforting gesture. "Obi is like a grandfather to me. All families comes with spats, but he is still a friend. Its just... he has trouble moving on from something he has had pounded into his head his whole life, and has taught in turn. Not to mention the number of Sith he has had to contend with. Its no excuse, but doesn't mean I don't understand."

"So long as you don't come to regret it."

"I already said I don't." She smiles. "Don't make me break my word."

I laugh. "Sounds like Koj rubbed off on you a bit." Him and his obsession with promises...

"All the same..." Her face becomes serious. "You should probably return to the Ravager and hide yourself from everyone else. It will not sit well with them to find their captain bears the same face as the Sith that attacked."

"Not that many would have seen his face..."

"No, but those that did, will spread the information like fire, and then what will we have?"

Panic. Hysteria. Chaos. Death.

"Alright..." I sigh. "I'll head back. Just promise me you will stay out no longer than necessary. If the Void picks you off the streets, I won't be there to pull your ass out of the fire."

"I promise, I promise. Go."

I run off, but not before glancing back and wondering what Plo Koon would think of her now. She looks like a typical hero much like he did.

I return to the Ravager and meet up with Mrs Skywalker. Despite the Ravager's horrifying, alien appearance, a family is already here. Mrs Skywalker is working with them. I keep my face hidden, ask her how things are, and after receiving her assurances, I head up to the bridge, sit on the throne, and watch the Void grow in the distance.

Periodically I see a person, no larger than an ant, jump from a rooftop to rooftop. The bright lights of the Ravager fairy droids flow through the city, and soon a small trail of people walk through the gates toward the Ravager. They are few, far fewer than I hoped. Ten here, twenty there, two…

I know Ahsoka promised to return, but if she sees the number of people that do not listen, she will become desperate. While I have no begun to care about other people, she cares to a point that might be dangerous this time.

The wind whistles from outside the ship hull and the grasping reach of the wind claws its way into the Ravager's flesh to grab my clothes and gently tug at it. Even as I watch, the wind continues to pick up furiously until tornados appear in the distance and a great hurricane builds in the sky. An earthquake makes me stumble briefly but I resume my watchful post.

The evacuation picks up steadily as the signs worsen and I watch them closely, looking closely for a person with reddish skin and a couple of weird tentacle-spikes on the top of her head. I see Cupcake carrying a cripple and then some guards leave the king's service to flee with our refugees and help them along. Then I see Ahsoka and her students.

A tornado appears in the sky and slams down into the city. The roof of houses are torn off and the tornado fills itself with rubble, wood, and other undiscernible shapes. I feel myself dowsed with cold water and run from the throne room. "Ravager. How many do we have?"

"Our population is currently two-thousand, six hundred and thirty-seven, combined."

That's not near as many as I expected, but it will have to be enough. I run into the hanger where everyone enters and wait by the door as people enter. People run by me and huddle in the growing masses. Ahsoka students usher in other children and not far behind them is Ahsoka with person in her arms.

Ahsoka puts the person down and turns around to leave again, but I see people be lifted off the ground in the city and the roofs get torn off. A kid barely five feet away from me is lifted off the ground by a few inches, and I react. "RAVAGER SHUT EVERYTHING!"

"NOO!" Ahsoka yells.

Ahsoka runs past me, and I reach out, grab her, and hold her to myself as she screams. I keep her from running out the door. I yell, "RAVAGER, DO IT!" The Ravager slams shut its doors in the face of another group of people running up to get in.

There are desperate knocks on the door, and Ahsoka struggles against me furiously, but within seconds, the knocking stops and the only sound left is the rapidly growing wind and the despair around me.

I sigh and whisper, "Ravager, get us out of here."

"Yes, master."

Ahsoka is no longer protesting. I release her and she falls to her knees without me holding her up. An open aura of pain and despair covers her as she stares at the black, charred metal. Her voice is barely a whisper. "There… there were more. There were so many more..."

"I know."

Now, knowing Ahsoka. The only thing that can make her angry is how other people around her are treated. When she is offended, she gets quiet. When it's about other people, she reacts outwardly. So a punch should be coming in three… two…

My head snaps back and I taste blood. I find myself on the floor a moment later and I spring up before Ahsoka can get to me again.

Perhaps a second sooner than I thought. I spit blood out of my mouth and note her fury. She looks at me as though she has never seen me before. A part of me is frightened, hurt, but I close it off. Right now is not the time to feel anything. So I stand and wait to see where else she wants to take this.

She doesn't say anything. Fine. I growl, "Ravager. How many were sucked out of you by the wind?"

"While two younglings were lifted off the ground, none were pulled out. All doors had been shut in time."

"You hear that Ahsoka?" I ask. "No lives were lost."

"Only if you ignore the millions outside." She snaps.

'Ignore…' I push down a pang in my chest.

"How could you do that… there were people just outside the door!" She yells. "Men, woman, children, elders! People were starting to listen and come!"

"Yeah, people were 'starting' to listen. They should have listened to begin with."

"So you would sentence them to death for ignorance! WHO ARE YOU TO DECIDE WHO LIVES AND WHO DIES SI-!" Sith.

I stiffen and feel as though I've been slapped. Anger fills me, and I clench my fists to restrain the adrenaline and shaking. I have no doubt in my mind my eyes are flaming red. Ahsoka pales in guilt, realizing what she almost said… did say.

Not that it matters. "I'm a Sith." I clarify. I sound more calm than I really am. "I butcher, rape, and pillage. I am the monster under the bed, and I decide who lives and dies because I have the power to do so."

"Varus, I-"

I cut her off. I hear myself, and while I try to keep an even tone, my anger bites through, "And not just one person, but millions! I have the power to help, so I decided to help a thousand or so that listened. I have the power to decide NOT to help, so I closed the door on many more…" I look her in the eye. "Because I made sure a promise was kept to get out when it was too late. I came down from the throne room for the sole purpose of making sure you got here alright, and I find children were being picked off THE GROUND!" She flinches. "And you were an instant away from being outside where it WAS too late… so yes, I shut the door. I shut the whole damn Ravager tight. No one is getting out. No one is getting in. Not until we meet with the fleet."

I turn and depart. People whisper behind me, and already people are pointing at me. A few recognize my face.

As if this trip could get any more aggravating.

Jedi and their blasted ethics. I know Ahsoka didn't mean it, but it doesn't stop it from having been almost-said.

Now who's the one with discipline issues!

I return to the throne room and collapse angrily on the seat.

* * *

"Admiral!"

Onasi stared at the holoscreen as the moments played out. The dark sphere continued to grow. It was large enough already to be easily visible from space. It looked almost like a black wart.

Already the atmospheric conditions were becoming catastrophic. The capital was all but ripped out by its roots and sucked away by the winds, tornados, earthquakes and hurricanes. The Ravager entered the fleet and Onasi accepted the request to dock with him.

"Admiral!"

"What is it?" Onasi halted his train of thought to give this man the attention he apparently wanted. The man was a scientist. "I do hope this is important?"

"Yes, sir. If you will look at this!"

He handed a holopad to Onasi and Onasi glanced over the information.

At first he didn't understand, but then his eyes widened in shock as he looked closely and read the summary. "Has this been checked?"

"Five times!"

So it was accurate. Onasi yelled, "Stop firing! Every ship in the fleet, stop firing! Tell the Mandalorians!"

"Sir, what?"

"JUST DO IT!" He barked.

"Halting fire!"

The guns on the ship stopped firing, and soon the other ships in his fleet stopped as well. The Mandalorians took a bit longer, but they did as well.

"Sir, the Mandalorians want to know why we have halted the bombardment!"

Onasi looked closely to the black sphere on the planet. He looked for the slightest detail in hopes it was wrong. Then it expanded again, and he knew the information was right. "Damnit!"

"Sir?"

"Ask the Ravager if I may board." Onasi didn't like it, but he knew what he had to do.

He had to ask three times before the Ravager finally said 'yes'. The first two times was along the lines of 'kiss my ass' and 'go die in a hole'.

Onsai turned to leave. "Sir, what shall I tell the Mandalorians?"

"Tell them to meet me on the Ravager."

Onasi left and headed for the point where the Ravager and New Republic vessel met. The sight was impressive in more ways than one.

The Ravager was a space vessel that dwarfed his. If it wanted to, it could 'eat' his ship just as it had others. The sheer size and scale of the massive ship, and knowing the evil that had been contained in it, gave Onasi chills despite the number of times he had encountered it. Seeing it up close was terrifying.

The gathering around the port rooms was a combination of many spaces across the New Republic, the latest of which was the Gungan. While most species in the New Republic were used to space travel and were a common sight, the Gungans were still fairly new to it. It wasn't that they had not been exposed to it, but they had before always been content to sit under water. Now there is even talk of them having a water planet of their own, much like the Manaan. Onasi wasn't involved in the politicial details, but the rumor was the water planet was payment for the troops and weapons and technology supplied by the Gungan.

The people leaving the Ravager, on the other hand, was largely one race. The natives were scared of the variety of species around them, but one woman in particular helped keep the peace.

"Ah, Amidala." He greeted. "It has been a long time."

"Its Mrs. Skywalker, Admiral Onasi. I'm sure you have been aware I've been married." She returned neutrally.

"Ah, yes. Mrs. Skywalker. How is the move going?"

"It is going well, but your interruption is complicating things."

"uh-"

"I have work to do. As I am sure you do as well. So, if you will excuse yourself, Admiral." She turned back to her work.

He grimaced inside from her coldness. So... she knew his involvement in keeping her here. He respected her a great deal, but did as he believed was right. Odds are his career would take a heavy blow when she returns.

He wouldn't apologize for doing what he believed was right, but he could admit to being wrong about Skywalker so far.

Onasi took the hint and left her to the work. He entered the Ravager. Being inside it gave him chills, but he pressed on to where the bridge should be. Inside, he found Varus sitting on Nihilus' throne.

"What do you want, old man?"

"The situation has changed. We need your knowledge of the Void."

Before long, the Mandalorian captain and his guards entered as well.

"Here is how the situation has changed." Onasi said. He handed the document to everyone and let them go over it.

"I don't understand algebra." Varus grumbled.

"It's arithmetic..."

"I don't understand that either except adding and subtracting."

Onasi sighed. How the hell did this man get as far as he has? "To put it in simple terms, the rate of the bubble's expansion increased in direct relation to the gigawatts of power being thrown at it. It didn't slow down even with concentrated fire. It sped up."

"What?!" The Mandalorian demanded.

Onasi looked to Varus, who returned his gaze lazily. "You are the expert on Void things. How can this be?"

"My guess... is that there was no shield around the bubble to begin with. What we are looking at is a Void bubble in its most raw form."

The Mandalorian said, "No shield... then... how can we fight it?! If this is as vulnerable as it will get, and we cannot do anything to it, then how can we stop it? Even though we have stopped accelerating the process it is still going!"

"I don't know..." Varus admitted. "It shouldn't be. That's the thing. Nihilus taught me that nature abhors a vacuum, and that is the most basic principle of the Void. It consumes everything. Energy, mass... it only appears black because no light can escape it. Then without anything to feed it, it disappears."

"So you do understand science at least?" Onasi wondered.

Varus shrugged. "In areas revolving around lightning and void. Anyway, because of this principle, any Force user that tries to unleash the void has to realize that it requires sacrifice to exist. It has to be fed. You either feed it with your own life, or let it feed on something else that can compensate for its hunger. It will consume everything, including the Light and Dark Side. The big question here: Is why is the void sphere still there? And why is it still growing. It isn't hard to assume that my clone created it, but it would have immediately taken his life if he didn't use it properly. And it would have surely killed him long ago if it wasn't being continuously fed, and it most certainly wouldn't be growing. The energy of a planet and the millions of lives it sucks up is nothing more than scraps now. The amount of energy needed to keep it going every second is beyond my imagining."

Varus rose up and looked out the window. "So what is it feeding on?"

"There is volcanic energy beneath the crust. If it reaches the core, the energy there would be monumental." Onasi suggested. "If the planet explodes, the energy of the explosion would feed it enough to reach the star..."

"And if that happens?" Varus wondered.

Onaci grimaced. "Even if we entered Warp now... we would not escape the sudden expansion... we will die."

"Then we cannot allow that to happen! The Mandalorian exclaimed, "Is there a way to cut it off from the planet? Perhaps... cut a hole around it and pick the whole area up and it with it?"

"We have no way of lifting an entire country-side like that."

* * *

I let Admiral Onasi and...

Scratch that. Let's call Onasi 'cheeseburger'. I'm not in the mood to give him enough points to have a name. Not after he nearly opened fire on us and got into a pissing contest with me. Revan may have liked and respected the man, but I don't.

I let Admiral Cheeseburger and, whoever the Mandalorian is, talk and discuss and speculate how to remove it. I watch the Void sphere expand slowly and wonder.

How can it be there? What is it feeding on?

Something is not right here. Not just the obvious threat of the Void sphere... but that there is a detail missing. Something important. It tickles my brain... I know I know the solution, but it just won't come to me!

One of Onasi's soldiers comes to report that the evacuation had finished smoothly. He acknowledges it and I return to brainstorming.

The only one who knows more than me about Void is Nihilus. And I am not going to go begging to him. Not because of some mundane principle of pride I threw away long ago, but because he is too powerful and full of schemes to rely on. The one reason I still allow even a shred of Nihilus on the ship is because his OCD obsession with honesty tells me that he will not break his promise to stay hidden and tucked away in the corner. And the fact that I cannot touch him.

But even if I do go to him, I know what he will tell me. Nothing I haven't already thought of.

That this shouldn't exist.

The Void cannot exist without feeding and sacrifice.

So what is it feeding on?

Something with a second serving… no. a buffet! NO! Something… infinite.

Something infinite… something that will not relent to the void.

Something that will not die or be defeated…

Something that feeds it…

but is not…

consumed.

"Oh no." I breathe.

Tree-Hugger.

Tree-Hugger can be exposed to Nihilus for long periods of time without being affected with anything more than nightmares.

"Ravager! Is Tree-Hugger on board!"

"No."

Oh no, oh no. oh no! "Ravager, list off every member of the crew on the ship!" I run out the door, leaving behind a very confused Onasi and Mandalorian, but I don't care!

"Master Varus, Master Nihilus, Ahsoka Tano, Visas Marr, Ashley Marr…" The pieces all slide into place in my mind, and the picture being revealed to me is horrifying. I reach out with the Force and I sense each person as the Ravager lists them. "Cupcake, Slavian, Aramas, Cahjinawl, Falon Grey, HK-47…" I hear the ship tell me the Stooges are here as well, but I'm no longer listening. All I hear is that it is the end of the sentence.

"Anakin Skywalker and Koj'Ineh are not onboard." The Ravager reports.

Anakin Skywalker is not onboard.

_Ani and a few of our friends should have headed toward the village. Perhaps they found something._

_Probably... the connection between Ani and the kids is uncanny._

_They've never met..._

_Then explain how a set of twins watch the night sky and mark one star as 'daddy', and it moves, and has emotions?_

_Easy. They're delusional._

_I'm sure Ani will be able to find them. Or you never know, the twins might be the ones to do the finding!_

I run into the hanger where I sense Ahsoka is. I run up to her, and she steps away from me fearfully for a moment, and her eyes are red from crying, but right now isn't that time for any of that! "Ahsoka! Can you sense Tree-Hugger!?"

"Wha- Ani? What are you-" She looks at me like I'm going insane, or panicking, which I'm not! Who's panicking?!

"DO IT! Sense him!" Okay, so I'm panicking.

She closes her eyes a moment and looks like she is having to take effort to be calm. Her emotions are all over the place. Normally she is calm, but right now her emotions are pouring out in every direction almost as bad as Visas does.

We're fighting and me panicking is probably not helping matters while having a sudden request like this.

"I-I can't. He-"

I run off before she finishes the sentence. Now isn't the time for this. Every second counts. "Ravager, where is Falcon and Visas?"

"Currently lost."

"Of course they are… lead me to them."

Tree-Hugger had been with Falon and Visas. If he was missing, then they would know what happened.

I find them wandering around the depths of the Ravager trying to find their way out. There is a third man with them. Visas is collapsed on the third-man's back and there is blood in her hair. She isn't wearing her hoody and her hair is all over the place, almost like those cartoon characters you see that go insane.

"YOU!" "YOU!" Falon and I yell at the same time.

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!" "WHERE ARE WE?!"

"WHERE IS TREE-HUGGER!" "STOP TALKING AT THE SAME TIME AS ME!"

I put my hand over Falon's mouth. "Now is not the time for this! Where is Tree-Hugger?"

They both go deathly quiet, and Falon stops struggling. Instead, his composure becomes dark… even sad. Even the stranger looks down sadly. Faintly I hear my own heartbeat and the whimper of a kid I hadn't taken the time to notice to the side. He's a child… a brunette, and is sitting on the ground trying to cry but no longer has any tears. I don't recognize him and his clothes are… well. They look like they were made by hand rather than in a factory.

_Ani and a few of our friends should have headed toward the village. Perhaps they found something._

"Is he…?"

"His name is Luke Skywalker." The man says. His tone is crisp and sharp, like a soldier.

He is Tree-Hugger's son… but then where is Tree-Hugger? Where is the other child? Shouldn't there be two? I look between them and push away the panic trying to set itself back in. "What happened?"

Falon explains to me what he knows.

They found the twins, but a Prior and Starkiller attacked. Tree-Hugger dealt with the Starkiller, but the Prior was more difficult to restrain. Neither Falon nor Visas could stop him. Visas suffered a heavy concussion that had developed into throwing up earlier. Falon had his throat burned, but it is better now. He will need medical attention.

The Prior got to the twins, grabbed one, and activated a black technique when Anakin ran at him. The technique swallowed by Anakin and the twin and the Prior all inside.

Faintly I hear the man ask for directions out of this maze, and Falon says that someone needs medical attention… and the kid hiccups and whimpers someone's name.

All I see is Tree-Hugger being inside that bubble.

Then me standing before the door to Nihilus' lab. The door opens before me. I step in and there is the skull of my father. Nihilus's dark gaze comes out of its bony lobes.

"I need your help."

I feel Nihilus' dark gaze on me and hear the gears turning in his mind. He is always either too silent or too talkative, and right now qualifies as the first. It may now hours before he says a word, but he isn't dumb. He recognizes my urgency. He has to feel what is going on outside.

"There is one price I will accept…"

* * *

Ahsoka sits down on a crate, exhausted emotionally and physically.

She had been pushing herself above and beyond what she would expect from herself in a short time. Fueled by desperation, she had done everything in her power to save as many as she could, and admitedly, she had pushed and pushed and pushed herself until she very nearly lost her cool, then the Ravager slammed its door in her face.

She could still see the desperation in their eyes as the door shut on them.

She knew she wasn't the best Jedi ever, never was. Staying cool and collected was difficult for her. She naturally was invested in helping people, was empathetic to the slightest thing, sympathetic, and yes, even cared about everyone. She felt other's pain as her own. She couldn't distance herself if she tried.

And for Varus, of all people, to be the voice of reason and logic that existed only in cold, raw, death-laden battlefields. It was understanding born of intimate knowledge of death in its many forms.

She had… snapped.

She put her head in her hands and chastised herself for the millionth time. She wished she could take her words back, but she couldn't. She didn't even believe them. It was like they were spoken by someone else, someone who stuck to the rigid beliefs of the Jedi Order and never went into the universe to find new things or experience anything different like she had.

The Jedi within her was what had spoken in anger.

She sighed. It was almost a contradiction in and of itself, but it was there. Even as much as she admired, respected, and cared for Varus, how could she escape a voice in her head that had been pounded in for her entire life? She hated it. She hated the ignorance of such racist, generic beliefs. The inability to allow forgiveness or mercy by labeling people as something and sticking to it even if it means losing a planet based solely on principle.

She had focused herself on helping Padme getting everyone calm, organized, and being processed by the New Republic. Padme didn't know how the New Republic protocol worked, so it was touch and go at first, but it didn't take much to get the ball rolling. She was happy to see the Gungans, and the Gungans had surrounded her like she was a celebrity idol that had returned from the dead, but there was still a shadow laying over Padme.

"MOMMY!"

Ahsoka raised her head to see Padme burst out in tears and take a young boy in her arms. Ahsoka smiled and very nearly burst out in tears herself. The mission had been for Padme and her kids. They had never foreseen the fight would encompass the whole planet, but at the very least the mission itself was a success.

"Where is Leia, where is your sister?" Padme asked him.

"I'm so sorry, mommy! The bad bald man took her from me, and swallowed daddy in the black bubble!"

Ahsoka felt like a bucket of icy water was dumped on her. It chilled her to the bone.

Ani and the other twin is inside the Void bubble? Is that why Varus had suddenly freaked out and asked where he was? Did he come to a conclusion that Ani was missing?

The only one more stunned than her was Padme. She looked like something had shattered in her, but before the sadness could develop into true grief, the boy said, "But they're alive! They have to be! I can feel them!"

"I know honey. I know." Padme whispered, but Ahsoka doubted she was really listening. It sounded like a vain attempt at comforting a dillusional child.

"No! The red-eyed man said they were alive! He said he would save them before running off!"

"What red-eyed man?" Ahsoka asked, doing her best to ignore the pain in her heart. She wanted to hope, but what if Ani really was dead?

"Um. The others called him Farris."

Farris… Varus?

Varus said he would save them.

Ahsoka had a very bad feeling about this. "I need to go check on something. I'll be right back, okay?" She hugged the weeping Padme quickly before running off.

Ahsoka feared for what Varus planned to do. "Ravager, where is Varus?"

"He is currently in the observation room."

"Lead me there."

Following the Ravager's directions, she ran into a room surrounded entirely in windows. It was a lounge designed to allow ship occupants to gaze out into space and observe he beauty of the stars and other phenomena in the universe. It also provided incredible views of the planet below, and of the black orb directly before them.

And Varus stood with his back turned to the door. In his hand was a skull.

She didn't know what he was doing, but it frightened her. The aura from the skull sent chills down her spine and made her heart race in terror. His shoulders were rigid. It was like he was bracing himself for something. Ahsoka entered the room in time to see Varus run straight at the glass. "VARUS!"

He flinched, ran face first into the window, stumbled back, and collapsed onto the floor. He dropped the skull and rubbed his broken nose. "Aggh!"

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?" Ahsoka yelled. She ran to him from across the deck.

"Ahsoka!" He jumped up. "What are YOU doing here?!"

"I asked you first! What, what are you doing here? Why were you running at the glass! What is with the skull and what are you doing?!"

He didn't say anything at first, but rubbed his bloody nose. He snapped it back in place, reached over, grabbed the skull, and put it back in his lap. "I'm going after Tree-Hugger."

"How?!"

"I can get into the bubble."

"HOW?!" She continued to demand. She felt like he was going off on some wild-crazy plan without a seatbelt or any clue what he was doing, and that he knew he would die in the process and it would hurt her.

"I can, because I'm a Sith!" He snapped.

She stared at him. It hurt. It hurt hearing him admit something like that. It hurt because she felt she had put those words into his mouth. "Varus… I-" she gulped. She felt tears coming again… great. "I didn't mean it. Please, you have to know that."

"I know…" He softened. "Ahsoka… I am mad, but please… Do you really think I can stop being a Sith? Do you really think you can stop being a Jedi?"

"I want to." She heard herself say. "I want us to get away from it all and just… figure it out! I want… I… I want…" She didn't know what she wanted.

Yes, she did. She wanted him. She wanted him with her where he was safe and with her and not dead with her.

He smiled. It was obnoxious, innocent, and him. "I know. I want it too. But… right now, we need a Sith. I can do this because I'm a Sith."

"Don't. Don't say that. I'm sorry about what I said."

"Its not about that. Ahsoka, years from now, you will still be a Jedi at heart. And years from now, I will still be a Sith, a Miraluka, and a Jedi all at once. Trust me, it's a weird combination, but we cannot escape that. Perhaps it is better to not try to remove ourselves completely from what we are, but rather try to figure out what being a Sith and Jedi mean to us. Because as hard as you may try to deny it, I'm still my own special brand of Sith."

Ahsoka continued to stare at him and marveled at his words. She didn't know how to respond to it at all. She felt exhaustion come to meet her and the excitement of this day, and she just wanted the day to end. She tried to say something, but she couldn't figure out what to say. Or even know what to say.

"Listen, I'm sure we will talk later, but for now, I have a Tree-Hugger to save. So if you will excuse me." He turned back to the window.

"Be careful…" Was all she could manage to get out.

"Aren't I always?" He laughed.

Without further words he ran at the window and just before hitting it disappeared in an explosion of black mist.

* * *

Shadowstep is a technique I am not very good at.

I can do it, but the experts on it are Visas and Nihilus. I tend to lean toward lightning and things that explode. Subltely is not my thing. Considering the inside of the void sphere is hollow in theory, providing there is a place for Tree-Hugger to be in while he feeds the sphere, then there must be a place of shadow.

Holding my father's skull, I aim the technique for the void sphere and let the shadows take me.

And...

I'm not dead. That's nice to know. Now, if only I could see where I am.

Oh, that's better. There is a beam of light below me. And I'm falling. The ground beneath me looks like it is floating in nothinginess several hundred meters below. Once it looms closer, I surround myself in the Void just long enough to absorb the impact of landing. There is no explosion, no sound, and no crater from the impact as all the energy is absorbed into the Void around me.

I stand up and look around. Tree-Hugger is here... there are two others as well. Nihilus doesn't say anything, but I sense his anxiety.

I follow the beam of light and climb over rocks. The ground is damp beneath my feet and before me is a small trench. Inside are three figures. The Prior looks in bad shape, the girl, who's name I forget, is silently weeping next to Tree-Hugger, who is on the ground on all fours groaning like he has constipation of the century; and there is a beam of light shooting out of back like really colorful flame...

I couldn't make this more ridiculous to look at if I try. It's almost like he is struggling to fart a rainbow made of fire.

"Now is not the time to be amused." Nihilus says from the skull.

Right, don't laugh. Do not laugh.

I drop down from the ledge and startle all three of them. "Hello, did I miss something?"

"Varus?! How?!" Tree-Hugger whispers painfully.

"Who are you?" The Prior asks. "Are you... the original?"

"I'm Varus Wynn. Nice to meet you. Now, if you don't mind, I'm taking them along."

"I do not know how you and your evil master has come, nor how you intend to go, but I cannot allow that to happen." The Prior struggled to his feet. The guy is missing an arm and is other one dangles uselessly. How in the world is he going to stop me?

"Sorry, I'm not here to talk and play around. Someone I care about is suffering. Her strength is in her heart. She's always trying to help others. She feels compassion for everybody... so she never stops fighting. She doesn't want a single person to die in this battle."

"No death? This universe is full of peace-loving fools like her. It is easy for someone who has never lived in death or war to not know it, while those that live in poverty and war to not know peace. Don't you agree?" The man raises himself up and a shroud of darkness sprouts from his shoulder while also covering his other arm. So much of his bone and flesh is showing that its a wonder he isn't dead yet.

"That's right," I agree. "But... as long as you and the Starkillers are still around, she will kill herself trying to stop you. She is too weak to fight you, but she will anyway. So I have to finish you all myself. If you live through this, tell your master, I'm coming for him."

He chuckled, "I will be sure to pass on the message."

He aims his staff at me. I ignite lightning on my hands, but nothing happens. "Great." I hiss. I feel a huge amount of energy flowing through the staff and being shot at me, and I throw up a veil of Void. The Void absorbs the impact and I run at him. The man steps back sluggishly, continueing to attack back from range, but I defend myself by feeding his attacks to the void. He brings his black arm on me to take my head off, but I put my father's skull in his face.

For a moment it as though all time stops. He looks into the skull and terror fills him. Nihilus shoots out of its eyes into the man. The Prior screams for but a moment before aging a hundred years and falling to the ground as dust.

Nihilus returns to the skull. "I am satisfied." I can practically hear him licking his lips and nibbling the remains of the man off his fingers.

"Yeah, that's nice to know."

I go to Tree-Hugger and the girl. "You two okay?"

"Sure, fine. Never been better. You?" Tree-Hugger says.

"Meh. Bored. I say we get out of here."

"I would love to. One problem... two actually. First, I don't know how..." Tree-Hugger groaned and panted. "And... if I hold back on letting it tear at me... it will kill my daughter.. or you."

"Let me worry about that." I pat him on the shoulder. I turn to the girl and get down on her level. She looks at me with red eyes, swollen from crying. "Hey, what's your name?"

"Leia." She whispered.

"Alright. Are you a brave girl or are you like Rainbow-Unicorn-Farts back there?"

"What did you just call me?!" Anakin whispers.

Despite the situation, the girl giggles a bit. Oh the innocence of kids! "Yeah, just look at him. Bent over, farting rainbows. Well, thankfully he is opening a path for us. We are going to follow the rainbow!"

Tree-Hugger chokes on something and the girl smiles, "REally?"

"Yep."

"Varus, did you hit your head on the way in or are you REALLY this bored?"

I just ignore him and reach out the girl. "Come on. You ready to get out of here and see your mother and brother?"

"They're safe?" She asks with wild hope.

"Yep, just waiting for you to follow that rainbow bridge."

"Keep this up, Varus, and I'm going to throw up on you." Tree-Hugger snarls in pain.

To my delight, Leia takes my hand and I offer the best smile I can while impending doom and death lay all around us. I hand Tree-Hugger my father's skull. "Here, hold this."

"Wha- why? What is... IS THIS NIHILU-"

"Now is not the time for that! Leia, hold your breath and slam your eyes shut as hard as you can! We're going for a swim!"

She does, and Tree-Huggers at me in horror.

There is a rainbow shooting out of his back, he is holding my father's skull which contains a piece of Nihilus, and he is looking at me like I'm insane.

I wish I could take a picture of this.

I grab his shoulder and shadowstep out of the Void.

I expected my aim would be off, but we appear in a poof of black smoke in the middle of space next to the Ravager. Dang it, so close.

Air pressure explodes out of my eyes and I feel all my organs freak out, including my lungs. I push in on myself, and them, with the Force to keep us from exploding in the sudden drop in air pressure. I can't say how long we held our breathe or drifted in space, but metal moves around us, lights flicker onto us, and suddenly there is gravity and sound and we fall flat on our faces.

Leia goes into a full blown panic attack, Tree-Hugger gasps for breathe and crawls over to comfort her, and I just focus on breathing. We're on the Ravager. After a few moments, feeling returns to my fingers and I raise myself up to look out the nearest window. I crawl over and raise myself up to peer through.

The Void is gone. There is a massive gaping hole in the planet and it looks like the majority of the atmosphere is gone. Billions are dead, the system is a ship graveyard after the space battle, and now Tree-Hugger knows that Nihilus is inhabiting my father's skull.

We won.

It feels hollow.

* * *

**Note: Whew... I really had no idea this planet would have so many parts, but there were a lot of very specific scenes I needed to get to, and I believe in smooth story telling. I don't like taking Frodo to Mordor in chapter one or anything like that.**

**Incase anyone is wondering, Varus still mad at Ahsoka, but not being childish about it and ignoring her. **

**Just... so much has happened!**

**I think I'm going to need an episode just for the aftermath of all this... after I wrap my own head around how all the relationships has been affected, and how some people will deal with the last two episodes.**


	57. Interlude - Do a Barrel Roll

**Note: When I wrote this interlude, it was originally going to be all about Koj and catching up a bit with where his plot line is going, since it will be VERY important later. But considering how much various characters have been impacted in the last two episodes, and interludes, I decided to make it a much larger interlude that fleshes out where each and every single character stands in some capacity. This, like most other Interludes, is not about pushing the main story forward. Okay, so it does push the main story forward a tiny tiny bit, but not that much. Not enough to warrant being considered an episode. It's about character development progression, and side stories.**

**Not everyone has character progression, but many do.**

**In a sense, this is a collection of one-shots moments I have been collecting in my head. Rather than make multiple interludes, I figured I would just do them all at once with a central theme.**

**This also ended up being 3x bigger than I expected. Even AFTER I removed a scene or two!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, so no sue!**

* * *

**Interlude - Do a Barrel Roll!**

* * *

**-Ravager and Snowball-**

Following the detachment of the other ship of the neighboring fleet, master Varus asked the Ravager to return to friendly territory. The Ravager asked master Nihilus for permission, and master Nihilus replied to do as Varus wished. So she did.

Which left her with repairs to be done while she was in Warp, and time to observe the latest inhabitants.

She loved watching everything and judging from their reactions, some of them had an affectionate awe for her. The two smallest creatures had taken an instant liking to her droids, and a liking toward the third smallest creature. Or perhaps it was the other way around. The man with the robot hand had punched the snappy-dressed man in the face, and she had almost retaliated when the man with the robot hand had raised his voice with master Varus and hit him as well, but master Varus told her to not retaliate.

While a few of her droids observed, and were toyed with by, the small creatures, another droid sensed another small creature. The Ravager chose to inspect.

One of the small creature's orb creatures flew out of a crevice in fear. The Ravager droid gave chase and took hold of it to protect it from its fears, but it continued to shake and emit a chorus of lights. The small creature never liked the Ravager droid's touching its orb creatures, but the Ravager droids endeavored to protect the orb creatures... odd that it always gave chase. Perhaps it did not want to be protected?

No! That could not be so!

The Ravager droid sensed another small creature nearby, and the Ravager chose to investigate, its curiosity peaked. Unlike the ball creatures, or small humanoids, this creature's movements were more graceful, smooth, slow, precise. The Ravager caught sight of it and studied it closely.

The hair from its scalp had somehow spread across its entire body! Perhaps it was diseased? It stood on four legs, had miniscule claws, a sixth appendage out its backside, and, judging from the lack of male reproductive organs, was female. Or it had male reproductive organs tucked away inside its body. The Ravager could not tell from this angle. The creature made a high pitched sound, and raised its spine up high.

Was it stretching? The Ravager knew that humanoid creatures often stretched to work kinks out.

To its surprise, the four-legged small creature leaped and took hold of the Ravager droid with its claws. The claws scratched at its surface and its miniscule fangs bit down on its hard surface.

It was under attack! "DANGER MASTER VARUS! DANGER! EVADE! EVADE! " The droid screamed.

It flew under tables and over lamps and out the door and back in the day. The four-legged hostile small creature continued to latch on and scratch at the droids surface as it swung around. The orb creature shook more, and the Ravager feared this hostile creature was after the orb creature.

"EVADE! EVADE! IT IS MY ORB! NOT YOURS! DANGER!" The droid continued to fly around, but the creature would not be deterred! "DO A BARREL ROLL!"

**-Skywalkers and the Ghorfa-**

"Are things usually this exciting on the ship?" Padme asked.

Anakin sat down on the couch next to her and pulled her into his arms. He wanted to do more, but there were kids here, and he was too tired to do anything more than be there with his family.

His family… that would be a lot to wrap his brain around.

"Today was special, but, yeah. They're a wild bunch and Varus is a trouble magnet."

What Padme was referring to was him punching Onasi in the face, and having a spat with Varus. For the sake of security they took it in private, but everyone knew they were fighting.

Anakin couldn't accept Varus' decision to keep Nihilus on the ship. He understood how difficult it would be to remove Nihilus if Nihilus didn't want to be moved, and how he could lash out and kill everyone, but that was just it. He could lash out and kill everyone.

He didn't want his family on the same ship as that monster, nor Ahsoka.

"I'm sure him and Ahsoka will be a handful together."

"Don't I know it… Ahsoka looks for trouble to fix, and he attracts it. Thank the Force they are no longer my responsibility like they were, I wouldn't have a bit of sleep otherwise."

"Welcome to being a father." She teased.

"Yeah…" He watched the kids… his kids playing with the Ghorfa girl. From the first moment the Ghorfa girl had laid eyes on them she had demanded they be best friends against their will and nearly dragged them off on an adventure, were it not Anakin wanting to keep them from hurting themselves. They would need tetanus shots for their tetanus shots with how much rust and sharp edges this ship had.

Now he was seeing every possible danger around him and it terrified him. This room alone had twenty ways of killing them.

But back to the children, it was almost freaky how well they were together. The Ghorfa had a fire and personality that was matched by Leia wit by wit, and Luke's humble nature was dragged along for the ride. He suspected Luke would be the subject of many pranks. Already they were plotting ways to ruin someone's day. They were talking to an imaginary friend, of all things, as if there was a fourth kid there. They called him Larry… for some reason.

"Wait, what do you mean 'together'?" Anakin asked. There was something about the phrasing that set off flags in his mind.

"Love, surely you aren't so blind as to see the possibility of them being together? I've only been here a short time and even I can see sparks flying all over the place every time they enter the same room."

Anakin just stared at her on his shoulder. "Impossible, they see each other like siblings."

She scoffed. "Perhaps when they were younger being raised by an adult. But they're adults now. Ahsoka is a very beautiful and attractive young lady, and Varus. Whew. If I had met him when I was a teen…" She trailed off with a teasing smile.

Now Anakin was gaping. He felt insulted and it showed as he looked away. She laughed, "Ah, love. You know I love you. If I was going to have cheating thoughts, it would have been during all those times you were away, or during the last five years when I was being told you were the host to the destroyer of Coruscant."

"I would like to have a few choice words with these people…" He still did his best to ignore her while she kissed him, but damn it was hard.

"I'm sure you would…"

His thoughts were still on his former padawans. Now that Padme brought it up, their interaction did seem a little… intimate. During their introduction they had seemed like siblings in the end, but then being seperated for years and reunited as adults had a way of reshaping relationships from scratch. Perhaps there was something to her observation, but he had a bad feeling about it. "If there is a combination that screams problems, it's those two. They have no idea what a relationship entails, and their pasts alone will be enough to destroy it. Former Sith and Jedi don't mix well."

"Former Jedi, as I understand it."

Again, he gaped at her. "Okay, how much do you know that I don't in just one day?!"

"Ahsoka declared how ashamed she was to be called Jedi to a king's face, as well as Obi and a lot of Jedi who know her well, so far as I hear, and me. I talked with her briefly, and she isn't the least bit ashamed of it. She's standing her ground."

He sighed and pinched his nose. He felt hurt, but… a part of him wasn't shocked by that, and that is what scared him. He felt he should have seen it coming, yet he didn't know why. Was he truly so blind as to signs?

"Former Jedi with a former Sith. One seeks trouble while the other attracts it. One told her entire life to put aside attachment and personal feelings while the other is taught his feelings aren't worth a damn. I don't see it working."

"And that is why motherly instincts go with the woman. Just means we will need to guide them as best we can." She kissed his neck. "Feeling old and useless yet?"

"Well, let's analyze the situation." He lifted her onto his lap, making her giggle and the kids to have faces of disgust for a moment. "I'm sitting here with the love of my life in my arms, and I don't have the energy to make love to her to show her how much I miss and yearn for her, while watching my twins, already nearing five, playing with a child of the Ghorfa, which is as incredible a relationship as I can imagine considering my relationship with her father, while we contemplate the explosion of doom and hell you want to call a relationship between my former students that don't even know what to do with their feelings. YES, I feel old!"

"I wouldn't worry, I'm sure you will have plenty of opportunity to prove me wrong." She said suggestively.

"Much as I would love to, that Prior took a lot out of me… I can't recall a time I've ever felt this exhausted… I don't think I can… perform… for days. I just want to sleep, with my beautiful wife, and finally end the nightmare I've been in for so long."

Her teasing spark disappeared and was replaced with concern. "Ahsoka told me… its sad bad you've been drinking. Don't look at me like that! She warned me out of concern for you."

Anakin grumbled. "One glass a night to sleep…"

"Ani…"

"Okay, maybe two… at times. Maybe… three." He said sheepishly.

She was clearly upset, but suppressed it. Ani had never been the kind to drink. He hated drinking and only did the minimal amount that was polite at parties. "Was it that bad?"

"As much as I want to say that it wasn't… Nihilus was inside me. The stories about him isn't near as bad as the real thing. He has a way of eating everything he touches. Life, joy, happiness, love… He had no viable control, but could influence my senses enough to talk and be an illusion in my eyes… and influence my dreams. The only way I could get sleep was to appease him with chess to keep him from getting bored, a few philosophical discussions, doing research on his behalf, and drinking to knock myself out at night." He swallowed shamefully.

She hugged him tightly and he chastised himself for his choice in subject. She said, "I'm sorry. It's hard, but it's over. You need to remember that. You have us back, and that's all that matters."

"You're right." He contented himself to watch over the kids.

At some point it developed into his twins crawling in his lap and wanting a story. Cahjinawl sat with them. He was used to being hero worshipped, and never liked it since it was just based on rumor and gossip during the Clone Wars, but seeing it in his children eyes gave him a powerful sense of pride.

Rather than give a story, he showed off his robotic hand. He took the glove off and wiggled his fingers. "I want one!" Luke said.

"No, Luke, you're not getting a robotic hand." He said. "However, it does come with some neat gadgets when you know how to customize it." He showed off his spork and knife fingers, a drill bit, little scissors, and other things. He might as well have had a Swiss knife inside his hand. Most important he had a space in his arm for a lightsaber to be tucked away safely.

Then he started tilting backwards. Before he knew it, gravity was pulling him on the wall, and the five of them tumbled against it. He raised himself up, but the gravity continued spinning around them. The hair on the back of his neck raised itself, the Forced warned him, and he lifted everyone in the room into the air with the Force just as a vase and coffee table crashed into where they just were. He hovered them into the air as the gravity continued shifting, and he walked along with it. He walked across the roof, around the chandelier, fell against the opposite wall, gently sprinted across the window, and looked up in time to see the couch coming loose of its groundings and falling towards them. He snapped his lightsaber out and in one fluid motion cleaved it in half, with both sides falling around them. Gravity moved back to the floor.

Waiting a moment longer, nothing happened. The world seemed to settle. So he let everyone drift to the floor.

"DO THAT AGAIN! DO THAT AGAIN!" The kids screamed.

Padme blew her hair out of her face. "And is this also part of an a-typical day here?"

"Actually that was a lot more typical."

**-Visas, Ash, and Falon-**

"Say 'me'." The doctor said.

"hmmeh." Falon said.

"Hmm, not quite." Ash said.

"Say 'may'."

"hmmahy." Falon tried, but couldn't get it.

The doctor sighed and made some notes. "Alright, here is where you stand." Falon grit his teeth angrily. "Your voice box is inflamed and damaged. The damage to your throat will take time to heal. I am very happy about your chances for a full recovery, but only if you take it easy. No talking for two days, only whisper for five after that, and then be gentle with your voice until you no longer experience any pain. Drink plenty of fluids, and I'll make you a list of what your diet will entail."

"He has to go on a diet?" Ash asked.

"Yes. He will have difficulty swallowing, and trying will only make things worse."

Visas smirked and nudged Falon roughly. "Hah, you have to go on a diet!"

"As for you, Mrs. Marr, nothing extraneous for a few days. Take it easy and if you get tired, sleep."

"Yeah, yeah."

Visas had a bandage around her head. For once she was forced to not wear her usual hoody, causing her hair to be fully visible. However, there was going to be a bald-spot in her scalp from scar tissue. The doctor, provided by the Mandalorians, had to cut away part of her skull to calm the inflammation of her brain. She had suffered a major concussion. At the same time Falon was going to have a scar of a handprint on his throat to add to his collection of scars.

"If there are any more complications, please let me know." The doctor said. He stood to his feet.

"We will." Ash smiled then turned her face to the two other blind people and said darkly, "Won't we?"

Falon nodded fearfully while Visas shrugged. Ashley walked the surgeon out to provide arrangements during his temporary stay. Once the Ravager returned to Mandalorian territory, he would receive transport off.

Visas said, "I trust my… words… and actions… were not too embaracing."

"When, just now?" Falon asked. He touched his throat and grimaced. The scar would be bad. It still felt fresh.

"No. On the planet."

Falon turned to her and listened. She sounded slightly hesitant and shy about asking it, like she would rather avoid the subject. He had not been around long, but Visas was a person that was easy to figure out if you thought about it. For someone who shows nothing to show very slight emotion, even hesitation, it spoke volumes. "I've seen stoned drunks hold it together better than that." He said bluntly.

She dropped her head.

"I won't say a word about it."

"Thank you." She didn't sound relieved, but the emotion was gone again.

They fell into silence. Falon brooded while Visas read. At some point she said, "You did well. You endured the pain that blinded us, used your time-seer technique without shattering your connection to the Force, and held the enemy off for a time. You are a good student."

"Thank you." Falon leaned back and rested. The rhythmic beeping of the medical devices around them nearly lulled him to sleep, as well as the occasional flipping of pages and the sound of Visas sipping her drink.

Next moment he was face down on the floor and things were tumbling around him. Gravity shifted all over. He got tangled in cords and under the bed that rolled onto him. It only seemed to go on forever before it finally stopped.

Visas had picked up her glass and book, walked across the wall, ceiling, opposite wall, perched herself back down on a chair in the midst of the clutter, put her drink down, and flipped another page without breaking stride.

**-Visas and the Skywalkers-**

At a later time that night, Visas was allowed to go for a walk. She could not sleep in her own room, rather staying under the doctor's watch during his stay.

It was during her walk that she came across the Skywalkers. The apprehension was immediate. The last Visas had seen Padme was in the Revanchist's custody during her servitude. Visas had been the one who kidnap her, and bring her to the Revanchist. Visas stood by her actions and choices but understandably there would be some… distaste for her.

"Mrs. Skywalker. It is good to see you well. How are the children?"

"Happy and as care free as children will ever be. Delighted to be with their father and are making new friends already. As for us, my dear husband is giving me a small tour of the bridge section of the Ravager." Padme smiled. The smile was tight and hid a deeper emotion, but Visas sensed there wasn't ill will towards herself. Perhaps dislike, but nothing as extreme as outright hatred, aggression, or desire for payback.

"It is good. I wish I had been there earlier to help. I am not pleased with how you were treated in the end. Some of us could be rather… extreme in our methods."

"Perish the thought. I know things have started off on the wrong foot, but I am not so contempt as to not understand your initial purpose. I would be dead were it not for you, you took good care of us early on, and from what the kids have told me, you did everything in your power to protect them, and you had been the one to find them. Your injury there is proof enough. No, I am in your debt."

Anakin looked between them, totally lost. Visas felt a burden lift. She was not afraid of being hated. She didn't care if she was or not. But it was… uplifting to know she wasn't.

"Pardon me, but being a Miraluka I can sense a great deal of emotion to you without trying, so while your words are comforting, what I sense is less so. There is a great deal of distaste."

Padme's smile dropped slightly. "Surely you can see how I might dislike who you once represented under the circumstances? I find it difficult to detach you from the Revanchist you once were."

"Understandably."

"You are among the few Revanchist I would have the pleasure of knowing. That is all. Bastilla's methods, I cannot agree with, but her heart was in the right place. As was yours, and your actions have earned my appreciation."

Visas nodded. She felt nothing else needed to be said. Padme seemed to have let her feelings off her chest and was visibly more relaxed now.

Anakin was confused as could be. "I take it you two know each other?"

Visas would have bluntly, as usual, stated the simple fact that she had kidnapped Padme from Coruscant in its final day. In fact, it was right on the tip of her tongue, when Padme spoke up quickly, "Oh, we go way back. Our meeting was at the end of a barrel… at a nice little dinner!"

'Yeah, the barrel of a gun pointed over her coffee table to my lightsaber.' Visas thought.

Anakin looked at his wife funny. "A barrel. Of what?"

"Uh." Padme didn't have an answer yet.

"Should I just tell him?" Visas asked.

"No. He is rather volatile right now. Already punched General Onasi and Varus in the face today."

So he would only end up trying to punch Visas as well. Not that it wasn't due.

Anakin slowly was coming to his own conclusion. Seeing as his wife was apphensive and secretive about this particular subject, it involved a barrel (which usually was filled with something), and the dinners that a Senator once was engaged in usually qualified as outlandish ritzy parties with dancing and music… it was understandable his conclusion. "Angel, Love, what was in the barrel? What are you not telling me?"

"I'll tell you later when we are in private." She said sweetly with a wave towards Visas as she took Anakin by the arm and lead him away. Anakin eyed her.

"And you're telling me I have a drinking problem? I don't drink barrels…"

"Oh, it wasn't liquor."

Visas chuckled as they walked away. She would have to keep a distance from him for a while, but it was good to know she had one less enemy. She continued her walk a short while longer with a lighter step and noted the four children in the Skywalker cabin huddled together.

Now that everything was peaceful again, she took closer note of the children. Cahjinawl seemed happy. There was pain in her, loneliness, feelings of neglect and wondering if it was because of her that Koj had gone on his journey, but it was forgotten for the time by the appearance of peers that accepted her despite her alien appearance.

The two children of Skywalker's were in a sense unusual and yet ordinary. For a Miraluka, seeing a force sensetive was a combination of energy veins where the Force flowed. The Jedi were trained to maximize this flow, while the Sith trained themselves to strengthen these veins to be as strong as steel with great capacity. To look at the children, Visas saw there was no great capacity, nor did the veins appear all that strong. But the flow was so great that she wondered if there was any resistance at all. Normally there was something blocking the flow of energy from the Force, hence why it was necessary to train and maximize it. For the children of Skywalker to have no resistance at all was extraordinary, even though they appeared too weak and normal to be trained.

The fourth child, though, gained Visas's greatest attention. The child glowed. There was no other way to put it. Visas didn't know who the child was, but he, or she (Visas couldn't tell gender) was like looking into the sun.

The fourth child looked up straight into Visas's eyes through the wall for a moment, and smiled.

Visas turned away and returned to the hospital room wondering if she had hit her head a bit harder than anticipated.

**-HK and the Stooges-**

HK couldn't feel more useless if it tried.

HK had survived 1337 dangers that rated as a five or higher, just over 9000 dangers that did not, and patched itself with each encounter. It had survived, and assimilated, a number of forms and bodies over its programming lifecycle. Its latest body, a PROXY droid, had many features HK could bring out the potential of, but HK still was limited by the one thing that it could not bring a solution to: A need for power. A need for electricity or a power source of some kind.

So being on a planet that destroyed the regular frequency of electricity had hindered HK's ability to function. It had taken all of HK's tricks not to lose circuit boards, let alone communicate with its system drivers.

As if that could be any worse, the planet was facing annialation! The solar system was in danger of being ripped apart by an unstoppable force of energy that consumed all things it touches!

It would have been glorious!

HK would have been able to witness mass slaughter and genocide in a whole new fashion it had never seen! It would have been able to stand by the master, be commanded to face a foe truly worth testing every line of its code against, and face odds amounting to less than 3720 to 1!

And... it was... a useless pile of scrap on the floor.

It was useless, and couldn't participate in the whole-sale slaughter!

It failed in its mission to provide active protection to the VIP! It couldn't even accomplish the mission specifically provided by the master!

No danger presented itself to the VIP, but still! HK's programming dictates that an active defense is vigilante and prepared! HK was neither vigilante nor prepared! Therefore it did not provide active defense! Therefore it failed in its mission!

Even the Ravager, with all the personality and programming intelligence of a puppy, provided more active offense and defense than the personal assassination droid to one of history's most powerful Sith Lords!

HK would have recorded, analyzed, and archived every solitary moment of tearing the dreadnaught ships apart if it had been in the Ravager's place.

Instead it could only sit inside an empty husk of metal and struggle to regulate its own bus. (Note: 'bus' is the technical term for the minute pathways in a circuit board that sends signals and electricity.)

HK was useless.

It's programming regulated how much power went to limbs based on need. Considering how useless HK was, its programming decreased the power output until it could no longer hold its mass up.

"I'm tellin' you, it's not 'oin' to work!"

"It will! We had a look at the heart, you can do this!"

Ah, the Three Stooges. HK said, "Uninterested threat: Take the easy route and cease talking or I will be forced to take a more difficult approach in raising myself up from the floor and removing your voice box from... the tube you raise your grey matter up with." HK couldn't even come up with an imaginative threat stating a combination of obvious fact, mocking, and sarcasm.

The usual pattern of threats with HK was the statement, the effect, and the result. The statement fell flat, so logic dictated that the effect fell flat as well, and the result did not match the desired output.

Usually it was a threat, followed by the effect of them wetting themselves in a combination of terror and disgust at the level of detail HK used in its descriptions of death and torture, followed by the effect of them fleeing or following through in HK's obvious manipulation.

Instead they looked at it like it was an object to be confused about and then pitied.

"Why do you look so down, HK? You're on the floor n' everything."

"Denial: I am not down! I am on the floor, which is at the exact same elevation as the floor you stand on. Down implies I am beneath our elevation."

"It was a manner of speech."

"Oh." HK should have caught that. But no, it didn't have the ram speed to analyze its libraries that deeply right now. Its programming was analyzing for useless bulk based on HK's track record and preparing to compensate. "Then what does 'down' mean in the urban, cool, hip, definition subscribed to by cunning, cultures organics?"

"Oh..." They said lamely. "Well... just. you know!"

"Scanning. So it means: To be in 'the know how', knowledgeable about something?"

"No..."

"Scanning. So it refers to 'Getting down' meaning to engage in sexual acts? No... that cannot be. 'Down pat' or perfected? No... To be in agreeance? No. to be 'with it', I don't even know what 'it' is, but I must have 'it' if I am look like 'it'. No... ' with it' implies a state of possession rather than appearance."

"HK..."

HK continued on, "Is it the opposite of up? But that implies direction and elevation, and we have already concluded we are of equal elevation... unless you refer to elevation of our sensory devices." HK raised itself up to its full height.

"No... you're still down."

"Inquiry: Then does 'down' mean: keen, wanting to do something. There is much I desire I do. This definition can be what you refer to."

"Perhaps... but-"

"I sense from your hesitation it is not what you refer to. Perhaps you refer to a metal band from New Orleans in some place called.. Louis-e-ahna. No? Perhaps you refer to a the state of being locked up and incarcerated, as a place called Philly calls it."

"I've never heard of it."

"Then by process of elimination you refer to a day when you are sick, and its grey and raining outsides, there is no one to talk to, everyone is busy until later, and so all you can do is think about all the negative and lay in bed."

They stared at it. HK said, "That was quite a definition to be found in my library. That cannot be it, as I am not sick, it is not raining outside in space, I am talking to you, no one is busy, and I have no bed."

"But... all you can think about is the negatives."

"Rebuttal of obvious: All that exists is negative! The universe had a maximum state of energy in its creation, and this state of energy is slowly dropping over the course of its existence until one day all energy ceases to move and the universe dies and all that is left is for the Maker to wipe it clean. All life will cease to exist, everything will die in fire and ice... and... AND I WON'T BE THERE TO SEE IT!"

HK made pathetic whimpering sounds, and one of the Stooges said, "Ohhh, don't be like that! I'm sure you will live to see... lots of people die. Oh! I know! You can be there when I die!"

"Pass. Your deaths will be most likely painless, peaceful, and unforeseen..." HK sounded more sad.

They stared at it. How is anyone supposed to respond to that?

Was that even a compliment or an insult?

"Well, what got you thinking so negatively?"

HK explained its computing process in reverse order up to this point to the beginning of its day. However, they stopped it when it was spouting useless information for an hour.

"So... you couldn't do anything because your power source was screwed around with?"

"That is correct."

"Then why don't you see why the Ravager was okay? The Ravager was able to travel around the planet."

"I know why. The Ravager relies on an ulterior power source than I do. It is a power source I cannot integrate myself with without the power of a powerful Sith Lord, knowledgeable in Holocrons, to regulate the swap of energy types. And we are, unfortunately, lacking in powerful Sith Lords!"

"Yes, but wouldn't the Ravager know how to regulate it? It creates the little flying droids, yes?"

HK raised its head and stared at them. Its eyes flickered on and off rapidly for a moment. "Yes."

"And the flying droids functioned on the planet."

"Yes."

"And... uh..."

"Yes? Yes?"

"I would think if you can... understand... them... then you can modify yourself-"

"-to be able to run on this power source!" HK finished. "You three are a special kind of stupid!"

"What?"

"Your level of intelligence exists on a different tier from anyone elses! We cannot think as you do, so simply and naive!"

Now they were finally insulted. They opened their mouths to respond, but HK continued, "It's perfect!"

"Well if you don't want our... wait, what?"

"Except, the Ravager installs the power source in the same way as an organic womb: Directly and flowing from before the machine is ever turned on and has a power source of its own. A clash of alternate power sources within my circuits would, potentially, result in catastrophic damage..." HK sighed, "Perhaps your special kind of stupid really is just that: stupid."

"Well... um... I'm sure we can help?"

"How can you help?"

"Well..." He said hesitantly. "We are making strides towards understanding the Ravager's programming."

HK turned its head to the side in a gesture of curiosity. "Explain."

"Well, Varus had told us that we were alternative pilots to the Ravager, incase the Ravager is asleep or something, and we have been searching for an actual terminal since. Well, we managed to find one recently, in the heart of the ship, and from it we were able to see the source of the Ravager's programming. It is massive and dynamic, but we think that we can take control. It is something we are working on."

HK questioned them, "Would it please the master for you to take control of a ship he considers on the level of an organic pet?"

"Most likely not, but there have been a number of cases already where the Ravager went out of control and endangered everyone. So being able to have a 'leash', and hold it back in emergencies, would be important. Varus would be more upset if the Ravager accidentally gets his family killed than if the Ravager has a leash on it wouldn't he?"

HK considered it. While the master has shown concern for HK and the Ravager, his level of concern has always been higher for his organic family. It would only be natural for HK and the Ravager to be expendable if there was a choice between the existence of the organic and the metallic.

Coincidentally, that was the moment that the ship decided to go out of control and start spinning. HK kept up with the situation as it transpired, understood the events, and adapted. Its counterparts failed in every regard and were left at the whims of fate. The three organics fell through a door into the cafeteria room and clung to anything they could reach that was bolted down. However, loose appliances flew towards them.

HK took the opportunity from beginning to end as a challenge. It rolled with the gravity, placed its feet on moving objects, and leaped from one to another. With the projectiles heading towards them, it lightly kicked the falling table it stood on, rotated the table, leaped off in a calculated combination of ever-shifting gravity and propulsion of multiple sources, knocked the projectiles away, landed on another falling obstacle, and continued its acrobatic exercise around the room.

Everything collapsed back on the floor where it belonged once the Ravager had righted itself, and the three organics were under a pile of it groaning painfully.

HK felt refreshed after the exercise. It checked its programming and found that the live test just now had been thorough. It's useless functions were much lesser in number than it had thought.

HK pulled the furniture off of them. "Perhaps your level of intelligence requires further analysis. Explain though: How does your plan to create a program or device capable of leashing the Ravager in extreme situations help me? In addition, this event only proves your 'leash' may have a need after all.

"What?" They said in dazed confusion.

"Perhaps your level of intelligence requires further analysis. Explain though: How does your plan to create a program or device capable of leashing the Ravager in extreme situations help me? In addition, this event only proves your 'leash' may have a need after all."

"uh..."

"Please do not ask me to repeat myself a third time."

"Well, if we can get deep enough into the Ravager's mind, we might be able to have the Ravager... um. Give birth to you?"

HK computed that hypothesis for a solid minute before it could respond. "Interesting concept. I would like it to be looked into."

**-Cupcake and the Padawans-**

George, or Cupcake, or Subject 082, depending on who referred to him, dropped the weights and sat down to cool off.

The fight with Starkiller had been a moment of great pride for him. He managed to help defeat an equal to Varus, a man he was driven to overcome. Varus was the only one to defeat him so easily and so many times.

In the room were the alien girl's two students. They were respectable youths, full of vigor, strength, and drive. The bald one esspecially. The recent fight had invigorated the youth.

During all of the previous training sessions, the youth had used a wooden staff, but now he was using a vibroblade. Slavian may not know why he moved to the more dangerous weapon so readily, but George understood it.

It was confidence. The youth had lacked it and having been in a true life and death battle had given him what he needed to realize what was necessary in a fight. Yes, a sword was more dangerous and could lose you a finger; but it was better to lose the finger than lose your head, as he would have if he continued using the broken staff. The staff had broken so easily too, it was a pity.

The other youth had grown greatly as well. He had always protected himself with shields and his flying balls, but now wielded a vibrostaff. George didn't know what the stance was, but Aramas wielded it in a defensive manner to protect himself while continueing to use his primary tools.

They were both laughibly poor. Ahsoka had worked with them for several hours and helped them figure out what they wanted from their evolved styles, and how to train in it.

Evolved styles... yes. George knew what evolution was like on a very personal level. He was proud of them, and knew what he needed to do to evolve himself. He needed to be faster... not stronger. He could crush Varus between his fingers if he wanted, but he couldn't keep up with the maggot at all, much less his pet droid.

George looked down at his hand and flexed. The numbers '082A-C' burned into his palm.

**-Varus and Ahsoka-**

Ahsoka was more nervous than she could ever recall being.

Visas words had not stopped ringing through her mind. There had been a period where she found solace from her torment in focusing on far more important matters, but now that the dust was settling, her thoughts returned to their confused state.

She looked down at her hand and flexed it. She had started holding his hand when she was next to him and it... didn't feel alien. Being around Varus had come to feel so natural for her she didn't notice anything. Nor did she think of him as a former Sith in any capacity until something happened to violently remind her of his past. He was just... Varus.

Varus was a loudmouth with boredom issues, extreme guilt, and zero social skills. He was calmest in chaos, half-believed he didn't deserve to live, had the worst first impressions possible, and couldn't look at girls without getting nervous. It had taken an effort just to get him to look at her casually now that they had grown and were looking more masculine and feminine. Most of that hadn't changed, but... ever since he had opened up with Revan more he was more... confident.

It worried her that he was melding more and more with Revan's memories, but she didn't feel that he was losing himself to them. He wasn't going on a heroic trip to create an army and fight for the Republic. He was just more confident and open. His smiles and teasing was mischievous, as always, but had also developed something more serious in the undertones.

It was appealing to see him be that way, but also frightened her. She didn't know why he was that way at first. She was just happy to see him so well, and had to admit he was a very attractive man. But now she had to come to terms with a realization that his affections were, perhaps, not so innocent anymore.

Ahsoka was open to physical signs of affection, from children, or as a joyous greeting in many cultures. She had met ones where kissing was just a way of saying hello. But for Varus to have done it, while she was asleep of all times.

It was a big deal. It was a sign. He had not asked for a response of any kind, and that was probably the one saving grace in this whole situation that kept her from freaking out; but it was still a sign.

Not to mention the Starkiller clone had stolen it from her... At first it seemed simple, innocent, mischievous, prankful... but was it? She had to face the reality that Varus saw her as possibly more than a friend now.

The only saving grace to this whole crazy situation was that he had not pushed or asked for anything from her a single time. It could, in fact, be construed as her pushing him: a fact that Visas had enlightened to her.

She needed to stop this before it goes somewhere they would both regret.

"Ravager, please tell Varus I would like to talk with him." She said to the ship. Ahsoka left her shower and dressed herself in some night clothes.

"Master Varus is already nearing your location."

Ahsoka sighed, "Of course, it is nearly time for our talks... Thank you." She left her bed room, entered the little kitchen area to the side of the living room, and fixed herself some tea. She felt she would need some to calm her nerves.

She nearly jumped out of her skin when Varus turned the knob, found it to be locked, hesitated, then knocked. She unlocked the door and he entered in with a huff.

"You realize your door was locked?"

She rolled her eyes and responded sarcastically, "Yes, it helps keep the evil people out. I'm sure you might have heard of them."

"You think evil cares about a lock?"

"No, but it does dissuade the ones looking for an easy catch."

He raised an eyebrow, apprised her, and snorted. "You're hardly an easy catch."

Knowing him, he didn't mean it in the 'your too ugly to be a catch' sense, but in the context of the conversation. Which was meant to be reassuring in a nice way that failed.

She flinched inside. It bothered her how casually, and easily, he could make remarks like that which can be construed so easily, and how used to it she had become in a short time. It only worked to assure her that she needed to stop all of this.

She looked at him questioningly. He returned the look. "What? You're too tough for the casual idiot. You don't believe me?"

"That depends on the kind of 'catch' you mean." She continued to make small talk while he sat down on her couch and she sipped her tea. She had also bought some tea that he liked... a small box of it was next to hers. She knocked it over the edge into the trash when he wasn't looking.

"Uh..." Varus paused. "You can probably kick their ass? What else can it mean?"

"It can also assinuate that I am difficult to be date-worthy from being too much of a hard case or difficult or ugly."

His eyebrows shot up and he put his hands up defenisvely. "No! No! No! That's not what I meant!"

"I know, don't worry. But what you said can be considered either a tease, a compliment, or an insult, depending on who you are talking to."

"Uh... first two?" He smirked.

"And on that note is why I specifically asked for you to come." She set her tea down on the coffee table and sat down opposite of him. This was an unusual placement in and of itself, since the pattern they had unconsciously developed was him sitting on the right side of the couch he currently sat on, where he was now, and for her to either be on the left side, or on the middle where they were closer at times.

Varus may not have said something, but from the tone of her voice and the sudden change in her seating position, he grew tense and she could practically see a portion of his defenses go up. "Is this about our argument earlier? I realize you were desperate and do not think of me as a bad person, so it's okay. I'm over it. I called you a Jedi a few times before in an aggressive manner myself. I know you're status as Jedi is questionable right now, but-"

"It's not that." Ahsoka assured him. "I am sorry for my words... I have no right to say you are Sith or not. In some ways we are alike in that. Neither of us really know where we stand in regards to our Force sects... and that only makes things more complicated. It does make this... situation... worse; but it's not that."

"Then what is it? Did I do something?" He asked. "Did something happen?"

"Yes, you..." She hesitated and felt as though time was slowing down. "Is it true you kissed me?"

And time halted.

Varus stared at her in stunned silence. Ahsoka felt her skin grow clammy and her heart was trying violently to jump out of her chest. All she heard was her heartbeat and the faint squeaking of the ship as it flew through space.

After a solid minute she let out a breathe that she didn't realize she had been holding, and that broke the spell. Time resumed and she faintly realized she was sweating and hot to the point of getting dizzy. Varus closed his eyes. "You were awake?"

He didn't deny it.

"No."

"Then how would you know?"

"I don't think that is important." Ahsoka wasn't on best terms with Visas, but wasn't going to rat her out over something that belonged with her and Varus.

He nodded. "What would you like to me to say? That I didn't do it? That I did? That it meant nothing to me? That it meant everything? That I didn't understand what it can mean? That I did?"

"The truth."

"..."

"Thats all, Varus. Just the truth. Whether it is true, and then perhaps your thoughts behind it."

"How can my thoughts matter?" His defensive walls grew higher.

"Because that is the difference between it being a 'hello', 'get well soon', 'I love you', and other meanings; and with you, I cannot know which it might be."

But from how tense it had made him, it must have meant something.

Varus turned away, and Ahsoka didn't press. She was having a hard enough time staying rooted down and pretending to be calm herself. She was on the verge of a panic attack.

"At the time, you were hurt greatly, and I did it in the 'get well soon' way."

Ahsoka let out a slow breathe. It was good to hear, but also a part of her was let down... was she expecting something else?

"But, then that changed." Varus gazed at her. "Bastilla died. It hit me hard. I felt pain unlike anything I have ever known, more guilt, and more alone. My... memories... and Revan's have become one so seamlessly over the years that I felt it all as though I was him."

He looked down at his lap and fisted his hands together. "Am I Galen Marek? Starkiller? Revan? Varus Wynn? Jedi? Sith? Revanchist? Miraluka? Am I all of these? I no longer know, but the shock of her death made me realize a lot of things. I realized that even while my life is in chaos, and I have the most complicated identity crisis this side of Coruscant," He chuckled. "That there are things... people... feelings... that I am grounded in. Hatred... love... and fear..."

"So it changed." He continued. "If I were to look back at it now... I was told you could feel it to a small degree, and that it would assure you... and I didn't want you to be alone. I wanted you to feel... that I was there. That... I cared."

Ahsoka stared at him. So many feelings went through her she felt lost in them. Some rose from her toes to her head, and some fell from her head to her toes. Her heart couldn't decide whether to stop or leap for joy or scream in horror or just give up and die. She didn't know whether to look at him or his lips or at her tea or the wall or where her hands were supposed to be.

What she was experiencing horrified her in its intensity. She had to forcibly close herself off from it all in order to remind herself to breathe properly.

Varus, for his part, merely sat there and watched her fluctuating emotions and expressions. He had to have felt her spiraling feelings through the Force.

"And the teasing..." She said.

"Comes naturally to me." He smirked despite how tense he was or how close he seemed to be from running. "That part comes from Revan actually. He was a huge tease to Bastilla from the day they met, and it's a trait that is similar to how I am already."

"I figured that was the case..." Ahsoka lowered her head and rested it in her hands. "I'm sorry... I just... I need a moment."

"..."

"Do you know what it is... what it can mean... to other people... when you do that? And admit to having... feelings."

"Yes. I do. I have held myself back purposefully to keep from making you think I wanted anything back." He looked like he was grappling with something, grit his teeth, and whispered, "I will ask nothing of you. I will stop."

No... She was supposed to be the level headed one. She was the supposed to be asking him to stop to prevent them from going too far! He wasn't supposed to be the one doing it!

For some reason, that only angered her. She stood up and snapped, "So you're just content to be alone with some kind of one-sided affection and torture yourself?!"

"Yes."

"WHY!" She yelled. "Why do you always do that!? Why are you so quick to hurting yourself?!"

"Because it is all I have ever known!" He yelled back. "Loneliness is a cancer! You think you know it? Trust me, you will not know it until you feel it infest every cell in your body, smother you, drown you, and pull you under into a place where you suddenly find yourself content in an empty embrace you don't know how to escape from!"

"Do not put it on me!"

"I am not putting anything on you!"

"Yes, you are!" She cried. Tears fell and she couldn't stop it anymore. "You have me out to be the key to your happiness or something and if you don't get me, you will be lonely!"

"OF COURSE, I WILL BE!" He exclaimed. "Wouldn't you?! And don't confuse yourself. You aren't THE key to my happiness, 'soka! You are A key! In time I may move on! All I know is that right now, I want you here with me!"

"You should not..." Ahsoka coughed and wiped her tears. Her heart was in turmoil and a part of her just wanted to curl up and cry like a baby. "We should not allow ourselves to feel that way to begin with."

"It is too late to tell me I shouldn't feel anything!"

"And what about me?!" She demanded. "I asked you here because you fit so naturally into my life that I don't can't cut you out without hurting!"

"You..." He stopped, closed his eyes, and pinched his nose for a moment. "This is all about cutting me out? I suggest it and you argue with me! Then I argue against it and you act like it's the thing to do while at the same time saying it's the worst!"

"Look at us, Varus! I'm a Jedi-slash- former-Jedi and you're a Sith-slash-former-Sith! I've been taught my whole life that love is evil, and you have probably been taught it's stupid. Even if we ignore the possibility of feelings being wrong or stupid... If we allow ourselves to feel... we will regret it. It will destroy us."

"Is that you talking or the Jedi?"

Ahsoka had an urge to slap him, but stopped herself. She was not a violent, physical-natured person in an argument and wasn't going to start now. She was a little more violent with Varus, but being smacked in the shoulder or upside the back of the head was in his language, and was different from a slap to the face.

She looked away. "Right now, it's both."

He growled. "I don't accept that. You can't look away from me, hide yourself behind old teachings that you, just today, said you were ashamed of and no longer feel a part of, and tell me that!"

"Then what do you want?!"

"I want you to tell me what YOU want!"

"I don't know what I want!"

"And that's why I didn't push! That's why I didn't ask or want anything from you! Because I don't want you hurt or feeling obligated or feeling lonely because of it!"

Ahsoka rubbed her temples. She felt like they were going in circles. She was growing tired of fighting and felt like something was on the verge of snapping, she just didn't know what. The world felt like it was spinning around her and tilting.

Varus tackled her and they fell back on the couch in a tanglement of limbs. "Oof! Varus! Aagh!" The world only continued to spin and the couch slid backwards onto the wall. "What the-"

"What is going on!" Varus barked. The coffee table hit the wall above his head and the glass surface cracked. The other couch hit the wall somewhere above them. Pottery shattered.

Unfortunately, the world only continued to spin at a fast rate. They continued to slide across the wall, or roll, until they reached the ceiling. Varus wrapped himself around Ahsoka as the weight of one of the couches weighed down on them. "The ship is spinning! Hang on!"

They rolled across the ceiling. Hot water from the kitchen landed near them, they got covered in tea and dirt from the plants, the cupboards opened and knives slid out onto the ceiling elsewhere. They rolled to the other wall and collided with a painting that only swung up and smacked them. Everything jiggled and shook and rolled with them in a kind of spinning landslide.

Until they fell onto the floor by the wall. Varus wrapped himself around her so tightly it was nearly suffocating as furniture fell to the floor, the coffee table shattered into a million pieces of glass next to them, the knives and utensils impaled themselves around their heads, and they waited for the world to calm itself.

"What... the hell... was that?" Varus whispered. After a dazed moment he realized Ahsoka was in his arms. She wasn't moving. "Ahsoka?.. Ahsoka are you okay? Are you hurt?" He glanced at her best as he could from his perspective, but saw nothing. He couldn't get a good look anyway with her tucked in his chest and gripping his shirt like that.

As for her, she couldn't let go. So many things were spinning in her head that she just couldn't move, couldn't breathe, until... she felt his hold on her. His warmth, his strength, his protection, and if we were to be honest with ourselves here, his scent.

Then all of the tension she felt all this time, all the confusion? It snapped. The tension was gone and for a single moment there was clarity.

She looked up at his concerned expression. "What I want..." She whispered to herself.

"Huh?" He asked, but was stopped from further questioning the odd statement as his brain ceased to process. She kissed him.

**-Koj-**

Koj'Ineh's quest lead him far and wide across the galaxy.

Space travel was cheap and fast. However the war made things difficult. He could not cross into 'enemy' territory without smuggling himself across borders. Especially as he started from Mandalore and immediately headed for Tatooine in the Hutt Cartel. Most of the border was a warzone with a thin neutral zone between them.

Koj pushed all thought of the Ravager, of Varus, of Cahj out of his mind. He couldn't think about them without faltering and wanting to turn back, but nor could he keep himself from pressing forward. He was driven.

Years of built up frustration had finally released into a single objective. He had nothing to sell, and so stole. He fasted. He fought low lifes. He beat people up and had he developed a short temper? Just maybe. He felt hot. His blood boiled in his veins. He hated how it felt and so sought release in the one way he knew how. He moved ever forward day and night. Gone was his concern for other cultures and respecting their ways. He wanted to reach Tatooine, and he was going to arrive no matter how many insults and bruises he left behind.

It took a long time, but he made it. He arrived on Tatooine space station and looked out over his home world.

The Cartel had a massive mining operation across a majority of the planet. The space station had advertisements declaring future plans for expansion to the point of it circling the desert world since it would be turned into a factory and mining world. Oil deposits were estimated to be massive. Alien technology and artifacts were said to have arisen as they dug.

Koj clenched his fists and resisted the urge to tear apart the pamphlets with his bare hands. Oil was a fossil fuel created by decomposed organic beings. That was something he had learned once while a 'terrorist' of the desert. He learned it and taught his village to respect the oil just as much as the meat from their bantha given up for them, in a sense. But this… there was no respect.

That oil they were digging up was the decomposed flesh of his dead ancestors!

That alien technology and artifacts were his ancient culture!

That mining and those minerals were his people's birthright!

Cahjinawl should have been born into a home with history. Even if the history she would learn was one of struggle and pain, it was still a history Koj was proud of. The Ghorfa had never given up. The Ghorfa had never given in. they had fought the world, invaders, themselves, and had survived.

Had… survived.

Now Cahjinawl had no history to learn. No identity to be given. She was just… a girl lost amidst the infinite stars. Koj did not want that for her. Or did he not want it for himself? Was he afraid of losing himself to the millions of cultures out there?

Koj pushed aside his thoughts though he screamed inside. It hurt too much to think. Like the desert, Koj knew how to bury his pain. He let it sink into the sand, so he did not show his real thoughts or emotions as he beat a high level clerk senseless and broke into her computer. Blood splattered his fists and face. It felt sticky and hot. In the back of his mind he knew he was leaving behind an utterly stupid amount of evidence, but he found he could not care. He felt… nothing. It simply didn't matter.

Koj pulled up information, everything he could find, relating to his people. There was a lot more information readily available to the public than he anticipated. Koj pulled up broadcasts and news logs. The Hutts had made themselves out to be victims of predjudice. They wanted to colonize Tatooine and have friendly relations to the locals, but the locals resorted to terrorism and murdering innocent people to rid their planet of the Hutts in some kind of 'holy war'.

It was the most disgusting article Koj had ever read. He had imagined a lot of bad things, but he felt nauseus reading it.

"The many always suffer for the actions of the few." A child said beside him.

Koj noted the child, but ignored him. He was a young blond, perhaps ten, with blue eyes. He wore a simple t-shirt with some kind of galactic super-hero logo and shorts covered in starships. The child was intently watching Koj.

"Leave." Koj growled. He found a list of the factions involved in the genocide. All of them were associated with the Cartel. He burned their names into his eyes.

"What are you going to do with that?" The child asked.

There was something about his tone that unnerved Koj. It wasn't the innocent 'hey, look, that thing is shiny and awesome! Can I touch it?'. Rather, his tone was filled with understanding of what it was Koj was looking at. No child should have such a tone.

"What I do with this is my decision. If you haven't noticed, I left the rechehp-re-receptioh… I left the lady back there bleeding. Get out of here before I lose my temper, again."

As he watched, the child looked to the woman, walked to her, stooped down, and put his hand on her head. After a brief moment he returned. "She will be fine. What I'm worried about is you."

Did he just heal her? "Jedi." Koj hissed, but turned away from him. He was too young to be… involved in his people's pain. He didn't like how he felt around Jedi children. Koj was scared, not of the Jedi, but of himself right then. He walked away.

Koj pulled the information out for him to go through as he walked, but the child tagged along. "Don't you have somewhere to be? A Master to follow?"

"I have a master, but I am left to my own devices."

"Then perhaps I am not being clear enough. Do not follow me. Do not partake in my company. I am not someone you want to know."

"But I do know you."

Koj found himself chuckling despite it all. The sheer ludicrously! The kid did not know when to quit! On one hand, he found him adorable, on the other, he despised him. "You do not know me, child."

"You are Koj'Ineh of the Ineh tribe of the Ghorfa people. Your first Bantha was named Hiro'Ineh and you were bonded, or in normal terms 'married', to Rel'Ineh. Your daughter died in your people's slaughter and you took on Cahjinawl'Ineh as your own as you fled, for she was handed to you, and watched her family die. You were captured, tortured, and sold separately. You consider yourself blessed to have been reunited with the girl you call daughter, and declared Varus Wynn, a fallen Miraluka prince, as your blood brother. You find Ashley Marr, and her attention, adorable, which really just makes you seem like a very old man if you think about it, and was considering having her be an adoptive mother to Cawhjinawl, without being married to you. You spent your youth stargazing in curiosity for what was out there, you found me when you were lost in the desert, and now have spent your more recent adult life trying to look back at your home from those very stars."

Koj gaped.

"Did I miss anything?" The child prompted with his hands tucked behind his back. "Or shall I continue?"

"Ju-just who are you?"

"You called out to me from the desert sands, and I answered. You swore yourself to me, and I accepted. You gave yourself to me, and I call you friend and servant. You asked me what my will was, and I guided you." The child said.

As if Koj could not be more amazed, he realized with dawning clarity who this child was. "Spirit."

"Your heart screamed, and I am here. Though you may feel abandoned, my servant, no one is ever abandoned."

Koj looked around, suddenly fearful that anyone might notice him and the Spirit. Amazingly, no one took notice of him or the child. He saw the blood on his hands and shamefully realized what he had become. And how he had acted…

"Come, Koj. Let's get you cleaned up." The Spirit gently took him by the hand and lead him away. Koj followed like an obedient child being walked away by the parent. Ironic that he looked old enough to be the child's father.

The spirit lead Koj to a room. It was a room Koj had rented and had left locked. He had placed traps with guns and explosives at the door. The Spirit opened the door and the traps never went off. The traps were still set to go off, but they didn't when they entered. The Spirit took Koj to the bathroom. "Sit."

The Spirit took a washcloth and started washing Koj's hands. Koj protested, "Good Spirit, you should not…"

"Be quiet." The Spirit ignored him and continued washing his hands.

Koj looked away in shame. "I have acted dishonorably."

"Yes, you have. Now why is that?"

"…"

"I know what is in your heart, Koj. You were more open to me before, and now you have closed yourself off in shame. You are filled with pain, anger, and hatred. You bear the weight of your ancestor's pain. You blame the Jedi for everything."

"I hate them…" Koj relented. "I… I tried. I love my family, my brother, my daughter, but every time I see a lightsaber I see my people at the end of it. I know brother Varus is attracted to a Jedi, but I can no longer stomach them. I left because… I'm afraid. I was afraid I would wake up and kill the Jedi friends of Varus. I was afraid of myself! This hatred fills my veins and boils my blood! I hate them! I hate how they think they have the right to twist the galaxy by their design, I hate how self-righteous they are, and I hate, I hate, I HATE the phrase 'it is the will of the Force'!"

The Spirit listened and Koj said, "I… know, I-"

The Spirit said, "That is the one phrase I dislike most."

"You?" Koj asked.

"You think I am unable to feel anger, love, pride, or mercy? You think I cannot be ashamed of my children? I am. All of my children think they know my will and act as they desire without ever truly listening to me. I have told them my will, and they reject it."

"What is your will?"

"I never wanted the Jedi to reject joy and compassion, and I never wanted the Sith to reject love and mercy. I have told them my will is for them to seek balance, and they take it as the most extreme form of imbalance possible as justification to dive further into their diverging paths." The Spirit rinsed the red cloth. Koj no longer had blood on his hands. He couldn't even see the stain of blood. "Nor have I wanted the Miraluka to reject their neighbors and love only themselves. Now, since everyone refuses to listen, it will take extreme measures to remind them of their origins and bring everything back into balance."

"Extreme measures?"

"Yes. An abomination has been born of imbalance between them all, and it will destroy everything if they do not learn. The abomination is not of my creation, but is a bastard child of me. In turn, the child hates me just as much as I hate it."

"Then why not remove the abomination? Unless… the abomination is your will?"

The Spirit narrowed his eyes angrily. "I do not understand!" Koj exclaimed.

"Listen, Koj'Ineh! I am the Force. I am the universe. I am the combined consciousness of all that have come before. So what does that make me?"

Koj racked his brain, but could barely understand. He was not a man of science. He could barely grasp the concept of a universe to begin with. "You are… the Good Spirit."

"Good Spirit…" The Spirit chuckled. "I have gone by many names, Koj. Good Spirit. Universe. Force. Life. Death. Hades. Energy field. But at the end of it all, I am little more than the created, not the Creator. I am the made, not the Maker. The Jedi, Sith, Miraluka, all know how to use me and work alongside me, but there is very little that is my will. I have a master as well, Koj. Remember this. One day I will die."

"You cannot!"

"I am the universe!" The Spirit exclaimed and Koj backed away fearfully. "Energy does not die when it moves, but it transforms. It slows down. One day the universe will cease. It may be a trillion years, it may be a million. I don't know when I will die myself, only the Maker knows. You treat me like I am your master, and that is your wish, but even I have a master! The abomination is not my will, the Jedi, Sith, and Miraluka is not my will! I have given hints, pointers, but I do not speak for myself or act of my own accord in such a way! I am just as alive and capable of emotions as the rest of you, and so I can also act in self-defense. That is why I have come, and why I intend to insure this ends before it is too late... And this is why I have selected you, Koj."

Koj was silent. It was a lot to take in. He was proud that his god considered him worthy to be talked to directly, and even selected for something… but it was also shattering to hear that his god was not what he thought he was. That the Spirit had a master himself…

Koj had never felt so adrift before, but he also knew that the Spirit was respecting his wish of servitude. Perhaps one day, Koj would look more into the Maker… but for now, he had a debt to repay. "What is thy will, my master?"

"You hate and your hatred is great. Much as I am displeased with you for it, I have a plan for you. So I will grant your heart's desire. I will grant you your hatred. I will take you down into the dark depths of it and in this way you will come to see just what the Jedi and Sith have created. You will see the abomination for what it is."

Koj despaired. He was afraid, because he knew his hatred to be great for the Jedi. Yet, a part of him was also pleased. And it was this part that fueled him. "When shall we start?"


	58. Ep13 - Star Forge Part 1

**Note: Arrrgh… I am sorry this is late. I have had a lot of things happening.**

**Sent in my application for graduation for my associate in sciences of Computer Programming**

**Looking for a job (still in progress)**

**Leading an online community of people, and namely admins, who, coincidentally, all have to go on vacation or have family issues at the SAME TIME!**

**Applying for the next semester, which is full of buggy software telling me I haven't taken half the classes I know I have. (I know because I got a transcript from the same database telling me I have an A in them…)**

**Finishing and presenting a sermon of my own creation that I have been working on for a year.**

**And on. And on. And oooooooooooonnnnnnnnnn… and on again.**

**And somewhere along the lines I need to remember to write and process my thoughts. Writing calms me down and eases my tension. Also been playing Smite lately, and hero of the storm. They are nice alternatives to League of Legends.**

**Regardless, I am paying attention. I get emails on a regular basis from readers telling me they want to know what happens to Varus next.**

**Wait… I can actually say I have readers that bug me… **

**I honestly never thought I would get those when I started. Amazing what happens.**

**Anyway. My eyes about bugged out of my skull when I saw I had gotten about 50-60 reviews in one day. Turns out it is from the same guy. I appreciate the love dude, but if all you have to say is "wow" in every single chapter, then just hold on to your thoughts until the end, and then tell me all at once what you think. :P I prefer quality over quantity anyway in life.**

**Also I was really surprised by one review I actually had today: "I shudder to think what trainwreck your fic is gonna be later"**

**I… uh… Not sure how to take that really. I find it an interesting, and possibly humorous choice of words… and… fair enough? If you don't like it, don't read it. I doubt I will be hearing from him again anyway, considering that was on chapter 2 of book 1. The only thing I actually dislike, truly, about the review was the lack of constructiveness. It was just one giant "DO NOT WANT! # !%! #! O.O" which just leaves me thinking "OKAY! Then don't! haha" I did say it would be extremely OC to begin with. Guess he didn't get the memo.**

**Anyway, I have been keeping myself to writing, even if I haven't been posting. I am sitting on currently 18,000 words in this episode, and it's only just started. (Don't worry. You will only endure 5500 of it today.) I think I might have added too many plot points to it… But it is the conclusion of a major plot-line that is worth delving deeply into, as well as the beginning of other side ones.**

**You will understand in the title alone.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, so no sue!**

* * *

**Chapter 13 - Star Forge Part 1**

* * *

Visas knocked on Varus's door.

Nothing.

Well, that was normal. He was a heavy sleeper when the nightmares left him. She knocked again.

Nothing.

"Breakfast, Varus." Visas announced.

Nothing.

"Tsk… don't tell me he got stuck in the shower curtain, again." Visas grumbled. She focused her senses. It tingled a bit to be using her power since her concussion, but she was nearing full recovery. It wouldn't hurt.

Varus wasn't in his room. His bed wasn't even touched.

"What? Where is- Ravager, is Varus already up and around? He's not usually an early riser."

"Master Varus is not."

"Then where the hell is he?"

"Master Varus is in Ahsoka Tano's chambers."

A brief shock went through her spine. It was approximately six in the morning. The implications were there. Rather than be hurt or humiliated or feeling self-pity or whatever else she would have expected to feel, she was annoyed. Here she was trying to wake him, and to report to him an update, and he doesn't even have the balls to be there when she comes to give it!

She hunted down Ahsoka's cabin and penetrated the walls with her sight. To say the place was a wreck did not do it justice. Ahsoka had an abnormal number of knick-knacks and they all went flying when the ship had decided to freak out and spin. In the corner of the room, on what used to be a couch, were two figures laying down and wrapped up in a blanket. The larger figure was obvious enough to be Varus.

Visas looked closer to be sure they were clothed, found they were, and knocked.

Nothing.

Visas growled. How hard did these people sleep? The possibility of those two having 'worn themselves out' did not go by unnoticed, and now it was time Visas felt humiliated. She felt jealous. Her birthright was being tampered with. Her very existence!

Well, she did tell Ahsoka to go ahead if she could manage to be the person that Varus needed, and if she could get the Miraluka to be fine with her. Visas had no quarrel with that. Didn't mean she had to be happy about it.

And if Varus dishonored the woman, or himself, by engaging in such acts before being married, the council would have a field day!

Visas entered in and marched straight up to the two. The closer vantage point let her senses pick out more detail. They were in night clothes. Varus had his arms around her, and from their mutual size it looked comfortable. Varus wasn't snoring like a buffoon, for once. Visas wondered whether or not to inspect Ahsoka's uterus with her sight, to be sure, but decided against it. From the girl's warrior-like occupation, she probably tore her hymen years ago. Visas would have to trust that her master was an honorable gentlemen.

If he wasn't, she would be the first one in line to torch him. Visas was going to kill him.

Visas didn't know how long she stood there with her arms looped around each other looking pissed off. She was too busy thinking how wrong this picture looked. To her amusement, Ahsoka was the first to wake. She squeaked in surprise and reflexively tried to push away from the angry woman, only to find a proverbial brick wall was leaning against her back. "Visas?!"

"Yep."

"Wh-what are you doing here!?"

"Looking for my Keeper. You wouldn't happen to know where he is, would you?"

"Uh… uhhuh." Ahsoka chuckled guiltily.

Visas made the same sound mockingly. "Oh, look, there he is." She reached over and poked him in the face.

Varus mumbled incoherently and swatted her hand away before turning over. Without the arm to restrain her, Ahsoka shot up and unwrinkled herself. "I… uh… I can-"

"Don't bother explaining. I'm not your mother or your judge. So long as you remember what I said, and you don't dishonor each other, I have nothing more to say on the subject. Who my Keeper prefers for a companion is his choice."

"Uh… okay." Ahsoka rubbed her hands nervously and tried to move on to something to occupy her thoughts. The place was filthy and needed attending to, but Visas standing there presented an obstacle.

Visas' attention was on Varus though. She no longer paid any mind to Ahsoka. Varus was the center of her annoyance, and she wanted to pay him back in her own little way. An idea popped in her mind and she smirked. It was an idea born of a time long ago… a bit nostalgic really.

Ahsoka turned around to find Visas laying down next to Varus. "Hey! What are you-?"

"Sssh." Visas whispered. She started poking Varus in the back of the head.

Varus stirred, mumbled something about Ahsoka, and turned back around. His face came dangerously close to hers, but she didn't so much as twitch. Instead, she said icily, "If you kiss me, I promise, I WILL kill you."

Varus's eyes shot open, realized the person next to him was not who he thought it was, and he fell back off the other side of the flat couch screaming in surprise, and fell to the floor. "Agh! Who the!" He looked up. "Visas! What are you doing here?!"

"Tormenting you."

"Can't you do that when I am not asleep?"

"It's the one time you are this vulnerable, and the occasion was not one I could ignore. It's not every day I find you in bed with a woman older than nine."

"Hey! I do not think of my niece in any way beyond being a guardian, and all Ahsoka and I didn't do nothing!" Varus barked. Ahsoka lit up like a red light.

"So you did do something?"

"No! Yes! Y- No! Wait… what?"

"'Didn't do nothing' is a double negative."

"I don't even know what that means!"

"Never mind. So long as that is all you two do, you will find no quarrel with me." Visas rose. "Just be aware of your position. Oh, also. Breakfast is cold by now, and Falon received some news from Mandalore. Whatever it is, it was urgent enough for him to have the ship jump to maximum Warp. Jedi Master Anakin Skywalker wishes to speak with you as soon as you are…" Visas turned slightly to face a very embarrassed Ahsoka briefly, before returning to Varus. "Composed."

"Tell him I'll be out in a minute."

Visas nodded and walked out.

* * *

I sigh to myself. Visas's little intrusion had upset Ahsoka.

Ahsoka was volatile. We had kissed off and on all night, talked, and generally done something she called 'cuddling'. It was nice. Not sure what to make of it, but she liked it. However, it was still new for us and now Ahsoka is ashamed of herself because apparently it's a big deal or something.

"You better have a reason for this, Falcon." I say as I enter the throne room. "I'm laid back enough to not care about mutiny. You want to take us to Mandalore, fine. Someone wants to stop by a beach planet for some sun, fine." I sit down on my throne. "But I expect you to have a reason."

Tree-Hugger was there with Falcon. "His name is Falon." Tree-Hugger reminds me.

"Don't bother..." Falcon whispers.

"Guys? Reason?" I say. "We just finished a battle against the Eternal Hand. We should be able to rest for a while before moving on to the next crisis. Now I hear we are increasing our speed into Mandalore?"

Falcon said, "Varus, I wish we could rest, and I'm sure we will soon. We've gone from one battle to another. You and I have been in and out of hospitals and doctor rooms many times since your return from slavery. The only rest we have allowed ourselves are the days between one thing and another."

"And you being in my prison." I smirk.

"What?" Tree-Hugger asks. "Did I miss something?"

"Oh yeah, Falcon had a bit of an arrogant streak going on! You should have seen it!"

"My point is..." Falcon interrupts patiently. "That a crisis has gone on regardless of what we want. It is beyond our control right now."

"And that is?"

"Mandalore has been poisoned. He's in a coma."

"Mandalore?!" I stammer. "As in... Mandalore?"

"Yes."

"The guy with more testosterone in his pinky than this entire ship: Mandalore?"

Tree-Hugger snorts in amusement. Falcon says, "Yes..."

"As in... the big guy in gold and red armor... ten feet tall. Has a robotic arm that is part Swiss-knife, part cannon? With armor thicker than my skull?"

"Yes..." Falcon says in growing impatience.

"I would say your skull is about as thick." Tree-Hugger comments.

"Wow..." I lean onto my hands. This is big. Mandalore is in a coma. He's a vegetable. "So we're going back to laugh at him?"

"We're going back to reach safety you dunce!" Falcon exclaims.

"I hardly see how it's safe in Mandalore right now!" I yell back. "Think about it, the big cheese dude is in a coma! I'm sure they have someone set up to take up his office until things are better, but Mandalore's existence is what binds the clans together! We are looking at potentially Civil War between the clans! Explain to me how returning to Mandalore is safe right now?!"

Falcon and Tree-Hugger both gape at me. I mutter. "Yes, I can understand the implications of some events... I just never cared before. Think about it. I used to be a Sith assassin specifically to cause shit." I was taught of the effect assassination would have. I am perfectly aware of what Mandalore's death or near-death can cause.

I stand up and walk to Falcon. "If I am reading this right, your desire is to return to the home that welcomed you. That's fine. If you want, we'll drop you off on the border. But I will not take this ship into a potential war zone."

"So you're just going to abandon them? Abandon the Mandalorians?"

"What loyalty am I supposed to have, Falon!" I dare him with his actual name. "Tell me! I'm a Miraluka! I am a mercenary to the Mandalorians! My loyalty is to my family, my ship, and my people, in that order. Your loyalty is to yours. If Mandalore hires me for a job, I might consider it in the capacity of a merc, but wait... HE'S UNCONCIOUS! Who is to say that the person standing in for him won't shoot me on sight? I do have Starkiller's face."

Falcon turns away with a 'tsk', but I see how hurt he is. Well too bad. Reality sucks. Get used to it.

"It isn't just Mandalore." Tree-Hugger inserts himself. "An alliance of rebels has arisen against the Hutt Cartel, led by the Eternal Hand, and is holding Jabba at ransom. Count Dooku is dead. The Old Republic Senate was bombed. Boba managed to destroy the Cartel warp gate that was supplying their allies, so the Dominion and Old Republic have lost their major supply line. Attempts were also made on the USA and NR leaders, but it was stopped by some hero who remained anonymous."

"Tha... that's all the leaders. All six superpowers."

"Yes, it is. It was all timed to be done on the same day. Some of them were Starkillers, others were Eternal Hand."

I feel weak. I return to my throne and sit down. My legs feel like jelly and won't stop shaking.

Shit...

Shit!

Shit! Shit! Shit!

"I know how..." I say. "The Starkiller's took control of the Revanchist database. I should have seen this coming... they were just throwing out random crap on a daily basis to be annoying, and putting up your family's information as a giant distraction. Padme is on the shit-list or best-friend-forever-list of every single leader there is, so of course she is huge. But the information inside the Revanchist... It isn't just plans... It is backup plans for worst-case-scenario. Revan was brilliant and fanatical about being prepared for every eventuality, including the betrayal of his allies. The Revanchist must have carried it on... They knew how to kill their allies and destroy their enemies... the only thing holding them back was morals and not wanting to bring the galaxy into anarchy. And my clones have no such morals... With that kind of information... They did exactly that."

The room falls into silence.

I hate this.

I hate myself. I hate Starkiller. I hate ever giving birth to that monster. At this point it was better that I had died with my people to Nihilus.

"Damnit..." I whisper.

I need to get my people to safety. The galaxy is burning. I can't save the galaxy... But my people I can save.

"Tree-Hugger..."

"Yeah?"

"What do you plan to do? Are you going to return to... wherever you live... with your family?"

"I don't know yet, it's only been a little while since we left the planet. We're still catching up. We will be for a while."

"I need you to ask her a question then, because here is my request." Tree-Hugger looks at me curiously. "I am going to take my people away. Somewhere hidden. Somewhere safe. Somewhere where my people can find a home and start to rebuild. If you want, you are free to come. It won't be forever, but we will be hidden and that is the most important part."

"She may want to stay and help."

"And that is fine. It's a request. Goes for you too Falcon." I nod towards the teen. "Goes for everyone on this ship. We will stop by Mandalorian territory to drop off the good old doctor off, and then I'm heading to the neutral zone for my people and immediately disappearing into the shadows. If anyone wants to get off, it will have to be when we reach the Mandalorians."

"I think... I would like to get off." Falon says hesitantly. "I need to help. I can't just stay here and hide."

I nod. "Thank you for your help, Falcon. It really has been nice having you here."

"Heh... don't think that just because I'm heading off that you're getting rid of me that easily. If you ever need an ally, you got it."

"I appreciate that."

Falon Grey leaves the throne room. At the rate we are going it will not be long before we reach the Mandalorian territories. He will need to get ready to depart.

Ahsoka...

"Something on your mind, Varus?" Tree-Hugger inquires.

"Yeah. Knowing Ahsoka, she won't want to stay and hide either. She is trying to follow in the footsteps of Plo Koon. Being a hero, saving people. Doing it because she feels it is a responsibility she has because she has the power to do it. Because she wants to help people and solve problems and jump into fires and shit. She's going to get herself killed needlessly and won't want to go with me and my people to where we're going..."

"I think you're assuming a lot."

"Can't help it. She's wanting to follow a path that I killed with my own hands. And she's Ahsoka."

"Being 'Ahsoka' doesn't mean she's dumb. She won't jump into things she knows she can't handle. Well... at least not anymore." He smirks. "She may have been just as crazy as you at first, but she did grow up. Besides, it sounds like you are being selfish and don't want her to leave."

"I don't. Is that wrong?"

"Not really. Padme never wanted me to leave home for war. I never wanted to go. But we were not content staying at home playing husband and wife while things burned that we could help. Now... that is exactly what we might do. I feel older... and I need to focus on my marriage now. As does she, she's retired from politics."

"That hardly helps me. Ahsoka and I aren't married... or in a relationship. "Yet, with how things are going. And despite your selfish desires, you still left and she still let you."

"Oh, we fought about it, and our marriage was stressed many times from the distance, long silence, and occasional attempts from men to court her. I was a very jealous little husband, especially since we couldn't make it formal enough for me to say 'hey, I'm the husband. Lay off.' But the important thing is to make the desire, wishes, feelings, and reality clear. She may not leave, she might leave. You may leave your people in this 'mysterious place' of yours to join her in her little crusade or you may focus on your people. Regardless, talk to her and decide what you two will be doing. I'll grab Padme and we will get back to you."

"Thank you." I hear Tree-Hugger leave and the door shut behind him. I am left alone in the darkness of my throne room.

Eventually I start to hear voices. It's subtle at first but grows into whispers. I recognize it. I hear the voice of the Ravager but also the voice of Nihilus. Nihilus' Holocron is inside the throne after all. I can't make out what is said, but the tone of it encourages me to think and focus. Plan things out. Do not act rashly. Think logically.

I can't say how long time passes as I sit in darkness before anything changes. The Ravager tells me we have reached our destination, I acknowledge, we come out of warp, and in the distance is a space station. We left Warp on the far side of the system so it will be a while before we arrive at this much slower speed. The Ravager isn't much the type of ship to come out of warp inches away from things, like Tree-Hugger has a knack for.

The door opens and I sense hesitation in the person to my left. The steps are quick and light. I don't have to look at her or feel her in the Force to know its Ahsoka. That's just odd... who knows someone just by the sound of their steps and pace?

"Falon told me what is going on." She says. "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine. Just thinking."

"About?"

"I should have known the Starkillers would pull stuff like this. They had made their intentions clear enough as it was and they had perched themselves on one of the biggest information caches there is, for a reason."

"Do you blame yourself?" She walks to my side and puts her hand on mine. I reach over and pat her hand.

"Believe it or not, not this time. I blame myself for Starkiller as a whole, but there is too many things now for me to blame myself for each small thing."

"Okay. So... what do you think will happen next? What will the Starkillers do next?"

I sigh, lean back, close my eyes and think. "The Starkillers objective is Nihilus. That is their ultimate goal. The Eternal Hand's objective is general chaos and Tree-Hugger. The Starkiller's believe Tree-Hugger contains Nihilus and are causing as much chaos as they can to draw him out. I have the beginning of an idea, but I'm not sure yet... and you won't like it."

"What is it?"

"To hide."

I sense her apprehension as vividly as the physical feeling of her retracting her hand. "Hide? You want to hide?"

"Until the right moment, yes."

"Varus, we... I can't just let worlds burn while we hide!"

"Hear me out first. I know you wanna stay on the front lines, but the Starkillers are using the chaos they cause as a means to an end, not as an objective. It is being used specifically so we can be pulled out into the open at their whim and eventually killed. They want Tree-Hugger. They believe Tree-Hugger possesses Nihilus. They want Nihilus. It all leads to Nihilus."

"And how does hiding change this?"

"Because I am not a patient person. Neither are they. They already lost patience with one scheme and upped the ante and it's been what? A week? Two weeks, maybe? The Starkillers will lose patience with this scheme just as much and move on."

"And?"

"And the point is, that we don't show up. We don't get drawn out. Ahsoka, ever since they showed up, the galaxy has been trying to keep up with a game designed to keep us spinning in circles. The only way to win is to not play the game. I think... the only way to win is to hide. This will force the Starkillers to eventually become desperate. That is when we come out ourselves and have them come to us on our terms."

Ahsoka looks down in thought. She is upset by the idea. "Varus... that's too risky. How many will die before you decide it is time to return? And where will you hide? Will there even be a galaxy left when you decide its time?"

"I don't know, but it's the best shot I think we have." Ahsoka grits her teeth. "Ahsoka, please. We're two people. We're one ship. There is a galaxy full of politicians and soldiers and ships out there. We can't do everything. But we can do one thing, and that is to bring a solution."

"It's not much of a solution though."

I sigh. "No... It's not. I just came up with it."

"But you wouldn't bring it up if you weren't already thinking of going somewhere. Is this what Falon wanted me to talk to you about?" There is a hint of controlled emotion in her as she looks at me. I don't know if she is aggravated or slightly angry.

"Yes... Ahsoka. My objective ever since I was freed has been to find my people a safe haven they can call home. A place where they can hide. And I know a place. At last, I can give my people a home."

"Your people have lived without you for over ten years!"

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

"That means you shouldn't have to bear the weight of all of them on your own shoulders!"

"And you shouldn't think you have the galaxy on yours!"

Ahsoka goes silent and we stare at each other. We both realize we were raising our voice and we let it sit a moment.

"Sorry... I'm upset." She says.

"It's fine... I'm a Miraluka prince. It feels odd to acknowledge but I do have a responsibility to my people, and I do have a solution to their problem. I can't save the galaxy by playing Starkiller's game, and neither can you. What I can do is give my people a hope, a home. As well as offer the Skywalker's a place that is safe until the kids are not being targeted anymore."

"They're going with you?"

"I believe they will... I hope you will too." I whisper.

She looks down and starts her nervous habit of fiddling with her hands. I sigh, again, stand up, and hold her. "Ahsoka, I'm sorry the timing royally sucks."

She laughs. "Yeah, it does. We only just acknowledged... that..."

That we have feelings for each other.

"I know."

"And already we have to face the possibility of going down separate paths... you with your people. And me... somewhere else."

"Not like we ever agreed you would stay here permanently. You agreed to join the crew to fight the Starkillers."

"I know... but it's only been one night. No one should realize they have feelings to begin with and then forced to choose in the span of one day. It's too much pressure."

I roll my eyes. "Okay now you're just being dramatic."

"I-I am not!" She pouts. "It is a reasonable request to get used to having feelings before... making choices."

I snort. "It is!" She pushes. "I can't think clearly around you! Or about this! It's too soon! Feelings is just all..."

"Ahsoka, Ahsoka, Ahsoka." I chide. "You have to learn to live dangerously. Live life by the edge of your seat and just let it go!"

She glares at me. I wiggle my eyebrows. "Okay, now you're screwing with me."

"Yep."

She sighs and pinches her nose. She looks like she is developing a special class of headache that I shall dub 'Varus-ache'. Patent pending.

"I don't know what I want."

I snort again. "Yes, you do. Don't try that again."

"Okay, I want you..." I gasp in fake surprise. She smacks me in the shoulder. "In my life! Don't look at me like that! Pervert! I don't know what I want as a resolution to this situation."

I sober up. "Then how about this..."

"I'm listening."

"Come with me. I want you here, on the ship, with me where we are going. When we arrive, if, at any time, you truly decide to return, then I will have the Miraluka give you a ship that can get you back. But, if you stay long enough for my people to get settled, and for my participation to no longer be necessary, then I will return at your whim."

"What about your idea to make the Starkiller's impatient and come to you?"

"I would prefer that, but it's a shoddy plan at best. They want Tree-Hugger. So I intend for Starkiller to stay hidden regardless. If you can't wait that long and need to go pull some kittens out of trees, then I'll return earlier."

"Tsk... I do more than that."

"You can always pull me out a tree." I say suggestively.

She glares at me. "That doesn't even count as a tease..."

"Yeah, that was pretty bad." I agree, but I'm still smiling. I catch her off-guard by kissing her and leave her staring. "You know your cute when you blu-"

"Master Varus. We are being hailed." The Ravager says.

I groan loudly. "Tell them to stuff it! I'm being cheesy! It takes skill and dedication to be cheesy!"

"They insist." She reminds us.

Ahsoka chuckles. "I think they have priority."

"I don't wanna!" I whine.

"Do it."

"Yes, mother..."

She winces for some reason but gives me a kiss and walks off. "We need to work on that..." I hear her say.

Work on what? Kissing? Sounds good to me.

"Master, shall we pick up the hailing frequency or would you prefer exchanging spit?" The Ravager asks.

"I would much rather exchange spit, thank you, but if we must. Go ahead and answer the call. Stupid droids... you picked that up from HK didn't you!"

"Do try not to be yourself!" Ahsoka yells down the hall.

"Shaddup!" I yell back. I turn back to find the Mandalorian is already on the screen and he's already looking at me oddly. I would like to thank the galaxy for my karma of first impressions!

Let's hope I can go through the rest of this without messing up.

* * *

Admiral Rebhorn knocked lightly on the door, and waited a moment. Before long, a maid opened it and allowed him entry. He nodded to her and entered. On the other side of the room lay Victoria. She lay in her hospital bed, as always, accompanied by the gentle beeping of the life-support devices. She smiled gently toward him on his entry.

"In... what... capacit-... -y... are... you here?" She asked.

Admiral Rebhorn bowed gracefully, "I am here as an Admiral, My lady."

"Ah... pity..."

He raised himself up and smiled apologetically, "I am sorry, work has kept me. I know I miss many dinners with you, but lately it has been worse."

Some found it odd for him to be all but courting the very woman that was considered his rival, but he didn't see it that way. They had never courted, came close, sure, but never overstepped themselves. She was meant for the Keeper from birth. It would be improper and they did not see each other that way. What was wrong with meals with a friend? Gossip was more amusing to them than anything serious.

The Admiral pulled up a chair by her bed and sat down. "I have not said anything because I do not want to stress you, but I know you will be hurt more by not hearing something so important."

Victoria turned in her bed to face him. Moving her scarred body hurt her, but the Admiral neither offered to help nor did she ask. It would have insulted her, as long as she has had it.

With her rapt attention, the Admiral explained everything he knew about Starkiller's most recent enterprise. It saddened her greatly, and tears filled her eyes.

"It grows worse..." He muttered.

"Worse?"

He nodded. "Today, I have heard the news that Mandalore was poisoned and in a coma. There was a bombing at the Old Republic Senate building. Count Dooku was assassinated by no less than two Starkillers and a Wookie Sith associated with them. And Jabba the Hutt was taken hostage by a rebellion within the Cartel that has risen overnight. There were attempts on the lives of the New Republic Chancellor and U.S.A's Senate, but the attempts were diverted."

Victoria stared at him.

Rebhorn nodded heavily. "In the span of one day, the Eternal Hand, and the Starkillers, both struck a blow to the leadership of the entire galaxy. I also hear that Varus, and the Ravager, appeared in a nearby system to help the Mandalorians in a conflict that nearly engulfed the planet. I have received word he will be returning to Mandalore space before coming back here." Rebhorn grumbled, "Brat actually thinks I'm not ticked off by him leaving without orders..."

"He... does... what he... wants." She smiled. Even though knowing him for only a short time, and meeting him face to face a select few times for dinner as a family, she seemed to understand him well.

"Much like a certain woman I know." He returned. She giggled weakly. "No, but truly. That brat of yours told me he has a surprise for me like his aim is to impress me... what am I his father? Stupid brat..."

"Ah... you like... him." She teased him.

"I'd rather chew on a porcupine. It's about as annoying. You're brat has no sense of order or respect for law."

* * *

"I hear the missions were a success." Leland said. "You have no idea how pleased I am!"

He sat back in his room with a glass of wine in his hand. The room was dark, but in the corner could be seen a bulge of something that bled on the floor. In his other hand was a knife with blood dripping off its edges.

"Not entirely." The voice said from the other end. "Galen thwarted us."

"Tsk." Leland scoffed. He sipped his wine. A hint of blood was on the glass, but it only made the taste more interesting. "Annoying."

"The Harbinger says he has the support of the Revanchist."

Leland could believe it. "That would certainly explain a few things. But no matter. The Eternal Hand is doing its job for the most part. Galen can slow us only so much. What of dear Varus?"

"The Ravager destroyed much, but more importantly, Skywalker's little test was a partial success. It proved him to be the Chosen One, but failed to kill him."

Leland stopped stirring his glass around and glared at the comm. He hissed, "I don't understand... his existence as the Chosen One should have ensured the test's success to begin with."

"Varus interfered with help from Nihilus."

Leland stared at the comm. "Nihilus... You mean to tell me Nihilus is there? He is on the Ravager?"

"All I know is that the Harbinger confirms Nihilus killing the Prior just after the Prior encountered Varus Wynn. Varus and Nihilus are in proximity of each other."

"Which means he knows where Nihilus is... and the sneaky bastard has been hiding on that ship the whole time!" Leland tightened his grip on the knife. "Damn! My mission was to find the Revanchist and observe! You're putting me dangerously close to doing actual work!"

"Talk to the Harbinger, Leland." The voice said neutrally.

"Yeah, yeah..." Leland hated this, but a part of him was thrilled. Nihilus was much closer than he had expected. So much closer. "What is the Harbinger's will? What do the Ancestors want from me? Surely they have new orders for me?"

"They do. The target is no longer Skywalker. The energy pulled from him contained a small amount of Nihilus's energy, so he has freed himself of the Sith Lord. The target is the Ravager. We need an opportunity."

"That will be difficult. Brother or not, even as gullible as Varus is, he is still wary of me. He recognizes my nature instinctively. He has listened to my advice when it suits him, but he has a limit... I will need time."

"The Harbinger is patient."


	59. Ep13 - Star Forge Part 2

**Note: I realize this is seeming like an unnatural amount of fluff and crap mixed in with the actual story lately... Well... because to an extent it is. ITS NOT MY IDEA! MY CHARACTERS ARE MAKING ME DO THIS!**

**Ahsoka and Varus only just realized they have feelings for each other, openly. There is going to be a lot of fluff and puppy-love and disgusting filth mixed in with the actual story until they get their hormones settled down. Which, considering they are releasing emotions they haven't been allowed to feel their entire lives, means they will calm down sometime between now and um... never?**

**Why do I have the feeling I have two rabbits on my hands... I need to get someone in here to get these two thinking clearly. I'm not even joking here. In my mind I have put Varus and Ahsoka in the same room to see what happens, and they're in bed in minutes, with no regards for consequences and how its too fast. That, or the other half of the time they are moving at a snails pace, unsure what to do. Both are two sides of the extreme based solely on the idea what they have no idea what they are doing.**

**They need some help...**

**Screw it. I NEED SOME HELP! I'm the one who sticks characters in my head as a simulation to see what happens as a basis for 90% of my story!**

**I HOPE YOU LIKE THE STORY! It is only costing me my sanity!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, so no sue!**

* * *

**Chapter 13 - Star Forge Part 2**

* * *

It didn't take long to receive permission to dock, then my participation was practically over. The Ravager docked and alerted the doctor, and Falon to our landing. I head to the docking bay to watch them leave, and Falon waves to me and Visas. We wave back and before long the door closes.

"Shall we depart?" Visas asks.

"Not yet, I want to give Ahsoka and Anakin's family time to decide. Let's give them an hour." Visas nods. "By the way, why the new look?"

Visas turns her head to the side curiously.

I explain, "You know, you're not wearing your hoody. You're letting your face be shown for once."

"I suffered a major concussion. I have a scar on my scalp and a bandage on my head. I had surgery. I had part of my skull removed." She says patiently.

"Yes, but I would think you would wear your head covering anyway. Instead of letting your hair be all over the place." Her hair is long and over her shoulders now. I can see her forehead down to her eyes now. She isn't wearing eye coverings either right now. She looks actually quite beautiful, outside of the bandage, now that she is allowing herself to be seen. "If you looked like this more I'm sure you wouldn't have a problem finding a suitor. You look nice."

Her eyebrows shoot up in surprise. "I... uh... thank you?"

"You're welcome. Also, I need you to do something."

"Yes, Keeper?"

"The Star Forge coordinate piece you got on Mandalore. You still have it?"

"Yes."

"Good, go retrieve it. We have all the pieces now."

"We needed one more piece. When we did get the final piece?" She asks.

I smirk. "We've always had it. It's on the ship."

Again, her eyebrows shoot up in surprise. "You... you..." She smirks. "You ass. You been holding back on us."

"Damn, right. Go on. I'll retrieve the last piece and meet you back at the throne room."

"Bridge. I refuse to call it that." She says offhandedly as she walks away.

Pft... I like calling it throne room. It has a throne! You have to call it that!

I turn down the hall towards the Heart, but stop. I had promised Ahsoka I would show her the Heart a while back. We've been so busy fighting and training that its slipped my mind... Oh, well. Now's a good time.

"Ravager, ask Ahsoka to come here."

"She says she is on her way."

Before long she turns around the corner to where I'm waiting. "Here to beg me to stay?" She asks jokingly.

"Nah. I can if you want, but that's not why I called you. We leave in about an hour, so you still have time to decide, but for the moment I am making an errand to the Heart and wanted to know if you were interested in seeing it."

Her eyes light up like a kid in a candy store. "Really?"

Okay... that's just freaky. "Yeah... just don't freak out too much when you get there. You might freak everyone out."

"Who else would possibly be there?"

"You'll see." I say cryptically. It's a surprise after all.

I lead the way to the Heart. From where we were near the hanger, to where the heart is inside the deepest part of the ship, it's a little bit of a walk. As we near the room in question, the air shimmers more and more. Lines of pulsing light appear on the wall like veins.

As a Miraluka, I see it already, but Ahsoka stops to gaze at the lines imbedded in the walls. We reach the door and you can practically feel the energy pulsing out of it like a warm battery. Ahsoka looks hesitant. "Is it dangerous?"

"Not at all... if anything... you could say it's cute."

"What?" She looks at me curiously, and I just shrug.

"You'll understand."

I open the door and step in. It's not a place I'm not already accustomed to. I'm not surprised at all by what's inside. Ahsoka though, she stands in the doorway completely dumbfounded and I have to grab her hand and pull her in before she will actually enter. The door closes behind her.

The room is full of bright light and streams of gentle plasma energy flow around like ribbons of water. Every inch of the floor, ceiling, and walls are covered in bright lines that steadily shine. One of the ribbons of light flows into Ahsoka's chest and evaporates like water. At first she was freaked out, thinking it would hurt, but couldn't believe it when it did not. "What is this place?" She asks in awe.

Her eyes land on a small figure, or rather a pair of figures, in the room. The two figures appear as pure energy but take the form of a small puppy and a young boy. I doubt Ahsoka's eyes could get any wider. The puppy notices us and comes bounding over and the boy hangs back shyly.

"You are looking at the inside of a Holocron. More or less." I answer. I wave the puppy on and watch as Ahsoka doesn't know what to do with it all. She has no understanding of what she sees. She isn't frightened, but she is afraid to touch it. Like she might hurt it or something.

I don't know how to explain properly. I don't know the science behind it. "It is hard to explain, but Nihilus was obsessed with Holocrons. He made a Holocron of himself from a real one, but he wanted to make one of his own. A Holocron requires a consciousness to act as its form of intelligence, so he used it on a young puppy and made this room. This room is the Ravager. Everything else, the whole ship, is just a shell to protect this room, and to protect the heart."

The Ravager flops over on its belly, wanting to be rubbed. I don't do it, so it sniffs at me and tries with Ahsoka. She can't help herself.

"So this is the heart..."

"Yeah. When I had been recruited by Nihilus, the heart was leaking energy, depressed, and lonely. So he though to try to fix his little Holocron by adding a second consciousness." I point over to the shy boy.

Let's see... how long will it take before she notices?

3...

2...

"That... that boy looks like you! Only as a kid!" She observes.

"Yeah."

"Did he... make a replica of you or something?"

I shake my head and her eyes slowly widen, again, in sheer awe. She looks to the boy and... actually I can't place that expression. I answer, "The heart of the Ravager is my Holocron as well. That's what I looked like when Nihilus took me."

"So that's... you." She looks to the kid and slowly smiles. "You were cute as a kid."

Uh... okay. Not sure how to take that.

My Holocron image steps back as Ahsoka takes a step forward, so he stops. The boy watches us warily and I know what he is thinking. He disappears.

"Wha? Where did your image go?"

"The time when Nihilus mapped my mind to it, I was at my most damaged. If you don't count the years I turned my pain to blind hatred. I was at the age you see it as."

"But... he recognizes me. I can tell." She sounds confused.

I rub my head nervously. "Yeah... about that. Despite Nihilus' obsession and work, every Holocron he has made himself is flawed. They all leak energy and need to be fed. Most died when he gave up, but the Ravager was stubborn. He deemed it a failure like the rest, but I kept it fed with my own energy. I suspect he might have known, but he also didn't care. He never saw the Ravager in the same way I did. The process also updates my Holocron-side here. So... the mini-me has all my memories."

"So..." Ahsoka rubbed her eyes in thought. "Let me get this straight. The Ravager, as a full leviathan-size, scary-as-hell dreadnaught starship is just a shell... to a room that is a large-scale replica of a Holocron, that contains a spirit-energy consciousness of a living puppy... and you when you were six."

"Yeah."

"So you're the ravager as well?"

"No. uh... No, no, no. I'm just a side-mind in here. Nihilus only added me to try to patch it up. If anything, the heart contains my part even deeper. Trust me... it's complicated, and that's just the small part I know because it was explained to me. Nihilus could tell you the technical crap if you ask him."

"Yeaah... think I'll pass on asking him. I don't plan on traveling light-years to Mandalore."

Or just a hundred feet to his room...

Ahsoka watches the lights and the Ravager begs for more attention. Her attention goes completely towards the amazement of the room, and as much as I like seeing her having fun and seeing the core of the Ravager in all its beauty, I am here for a reason. There's one thing I neglected to tell Ahsoka. Not that its important really. This is what is important and what I wanted her to see.

Squirt absolutely loves the heart too. She plays with the flying energy ribbons, the ravager in its most base form, and my young image. I think she likes to play hide and seek with mini-me? I don't remember what they do. The heart's room is a series of small rooms interconnected to one large one.

I leave her to petting the energy-dog while I enter a side room. In one of the side rooms sits a pedestal and the amount of light and energy flowing in and out of the pedestal is almost blinding.

Nihilus didn't make the Ravager by his own hands from scratch. It's a Holocron based around, and feeding off of, another Holocron deeper inside. Nihilus studied the pedestal for its technological marvel and what it could teach him about Holocrons. I need it for a very different reason.

The pedestal lights up at my touch and an ancient citizen of the Infinite Empire appears on top of it.

* * *

Ahsoka couldn't believe it.

Since the day Ahsoka met Varus, her life was in a never ending state of chaos, insanity, and wonder. It was much the same as when she met Sky-Boy, but Varus's life, and delving into it… the only way you could begin to comprehend it was to accept the madness.

Such as being on a living ship that was actually the shell to a large-scale replica of a Holocron… that you could stand inside of and converse with like you were talking to a real person... or a real puppy.

This ship was the same one she had a vision of on Dantooine from the Infinite Temple, of that she had no doubt; but if she were to go back into the past and tell herself that the haunted ship, so alien and haunted at the time, could be the same as this jubilant puppy, with three legs, that was the most attention-seeking and loving thing she could imagine… she would have laughed in her own face. The vision had proved wrong, of course. Ani and Varus had never fought and Varus had not returned to the dark side… or rather the personality of the dark side. So with the events wrong, what was to say the rest of the vision was wrong?

She had lived on the ship for a while now encased in the fear brought on by a first impression that the ship was haunted, a creature of the Void, hateful, and hungry.

"Oh! You can't be so hateful! Of, course you can't be!" She petted the puppy while blabbering like the casual idiot, but her hand went through it. Well, that was disappointing.

Despite being unable to physically make contact, the puppy loved it anyway.

"Well… must be the thought that counts." Ahsoka figured.

"You're just doing it wrong."

Ahsoka turned to the sound of a shy boy, but found no one. Instead, the young one had appeared sitting by the puppy and petted it. He was able to make contact and interact with the puppy even if Ahsoka couldn't. Not that Ahsoka argued with him. It was impossible for her to touch them after all. Even though Ahsoka wanted to hug the haunted look out of his eyes. His eyes spoke of such pain, loneliness, and haunt. He looked trapped in a living nightmare and was terrified, but was also brave enough to show himself.

She didn't make a sound. All Ahsoka did was watch him. If she approached him, she feared he would disappear like before. He looked ready to flee already just being close to her and under her scrutiny.

"Her name's Ravager." He said.

"That's a nice name." She tried.

"Not really. Nihilus named her. Because he uses her to stand in orbit while he 'ravages' planets."

"Oh." She deflated.

"At least that is what he said. I personally think he still likes to do or name things in epic fashion despite his claim to being emotionless."

"Sounds like a complicated man."

"You don't know the half of it. He will stare, unmoving, for hours until my butt falls asleep, give no response to questions or fe-f-feedback to training, then talk your ear off all night. I walked off before in the middle of one of his rants and returned to find him still going at it, talking to himself and pacing in his own little world. He had no idea I ever left." He laughed openly and for a moment all of the horror in him was gone and was replaced by a child just finding something funny. It didn't last. He mellowed out and the terror returned to his eyes.

"Good thing he never found out, then. He might have been mad."

The boy continued on, no longer looking at her, but through her in memory. "He would drag me to his room… with his collection of books and dead things… to talk… or feed him. Only a nibble he said… But it always left me feeling ice cold and empty after…"

Ahsoka didn't know what to say. He wasn't talking to her. What name would she use to refer to the boy? Varus? Starkiller? Galen? Galen was his birth name. The boy appeared young, but if what Varus said was true, then the boy had the memories of an adult. "Varus?"

"He kept a skull on his desk in plain sight… His prize skull… father's skull… I have to look at it every time… the reminder of all those he took from me… who I lead him to."

"Starkiller?"

"I hate that room…"

Ahsoka gulped and blinked away unshed tears for his pain. The only thing that kept her from holding him was the knowledge that it would most likely terrify him and she couldn't touch him anyway. "Galen."

The memory's attention returned to her, and he was ashamed. The Ravager whined. "I-I'm s-sorry. I shouldn't dwell on evil things."

"You have nothing to apologize for, sometimes it is good to recognize sadness… But it is a good policy. You had a good teacher at one point, it seems."

"I learned that from you." He said meaningfully, and Ahsoka's breathe caught in her throat. She coughed.

"I really should thank you." The boy said. "All of you, but it's not easy. I don't feel in the same way others do. I don't express myself in the same way. It takes everything I am to understand other people at all. People call me crazy, but to me, they are the ones that are crazy."

"It's okay." Ahsoka smiled. "It's okay."

"I have learned so much. Many of the Jedi I have slain have said words that have made me question my future. Tree-Hugger has taught me to think of consequences, and of others." Ahsoka laughed. To think even the memory would reference Ani as 'Tree-Hugger'! "Koj has taught me to consider culture and insult in my actions and to be more careful in my words. Visas, to consider people's freedom of choice and ability to resist the fate handed to them. Cawhj, to be afraid and worry on another's behalf, that freedom is sometimes worth losing. Mother, how to choose what is achievable and important against your greatest desire."

"I don't recall teaching you that." Ahsoka chuckled.

"Not you. I mean mom!" The child argued.

"Oh, that's good to know." She smiled.

"And I should thank you, as well."

She turned her head curiously. "For what? I know we argue about the concepts of mercy and forgiveness. You don't understand it. Is that what I'm teaching you?"

"No. For teaching me to love."

* * *

I have it. The next-to-last piece of the Star Forge's coordinates. The last piece is in Visas' possession, and that's just an elevator ride's distance away. I'll have the galaxies most prestigious, and secret, space station in the palm of my hand. And it isn't even time for dinner yet. Or is it lunch? I don't remember who is cooking or which meal it is time for. Today has left me a lot to think on and I'm starving.

Let's see… cuddled with Ahsoka. Visas freaked me out. News about galaxy being swept into chaos. Checked in with the Mandalorians to drop off one Jedi and one doctor, hold the onion. Showed Ahsoka the Ravager's heart, as promised. Met up with the Infinite device that Nihilus liked to keep tucked away to study.

Good heavens, I skipped breakfast! No wonder I'm hungry!

I don't care what meal it is, I'm getting the flat cake things.

I turn to leave only to stop as the last person, in the galaxy, I would have expected to see was standing right there.

Revan.

"Oh, damnit…" I groan. "This is never a good sign. What are you going to do now? Show me how to pick cards?"

"What do you plan to do with that?" Revan asks me.

"Me?" I look around, but I don't see any ghost images or memories around. Also, Revan doesn't look foggy. He looks clear and crisp like… I'm actually seeing him.

"Yes."

"Uh-huh." I wave my hand threw him. "Okay. So. You can talk to me now? That's nice to know. I have genuinely lost it. Is this what they call a multiple personality disorder? I thought I already had it."

"You know why I am here." Revan said impatiently. "Your last couple feedings took me for the ride."

So... wait. 'feedings'? Oh damnit... If my own memories get put into the ship in the process of me feeding it, and I do it while I have Revan in my head?...

Yep. This is looking more and more like a normal day for me. I really cannot bother being surprised. "Great. So. The Ravager's heart contains a puppy, me as a child, and now Darth Revan, or at least the extent of you from the memories your little trip-mine left in my head. I hope you three get along well. This place is getting about as cramped as my brain is, especially now that Ahsoka is in here."

I move around the holocronic Revan, but he appears in front of me again, and I huff in annoyance. "You didn't answer my question."

"What question would that be?"

"What do you intend to do with the Star Forge?" Revan said.

"Nothing. It can rot for all I care. What I do care about is the system it is in, and how it can hide my people."

"The Star Forge is too powerful for any one person."

"That's rich coming from you. Not to mention, I just said: I don't care about the station. Even your memory listens as well as you did."

"Regardless of whether you go near it and move on, or go near it and stay, it is a very tempting prize. The moment anyone knows what it can do, it stands to be abused."

"Then I'll make sure it is used in the defense of my people, rather than conquest. Happy? I know exactly how dangerous it can be. I have you to thank for that!"

"You know that isn't good enough."

I sigh. He's right. No, I'm right. Wait… I'm arguing with a Holocron memory I planted into the ship by accident from my own memory, which was a memory I originally downloaded from a Holocron, which was planted by the real memories of Revan, who's own sanity was questionable at best after enduring, and recovering from, a mental wipe.

Does this really sound as crazy as I think it does? I think I need my sanity checked. THIS IS WHAT I HAVE TO LIVE WITH!

Regardless of who is right, we are in agreement. The Star Forge had the power to create massive ships wish such speed and lack of resources that it brought a massive portion of the Republic to its knees, when combined with Revan's tactical genius. The two combined left the Republic all but defenseless.

If the Miraluka get a hold of the Star Forge, the Miraluka could become the next galactic super power.

The Miraluka also wouldn't be interested in it. We are too self-interested to have an interest in others. We would most likely turtle up and disappear as a people only to reappear a thousand years from now with a population so large we can't go unnoticed anymore.

And a Star Forge smack dab in the middle of our new territory.

Regardless of whether my people use it now, or later, it will reshape us. There need to be safeguards.

Someone has to make sure the power to destroy the galaxy is not used for conquest and genocide.

I groan. "Why do you make me do this? You know I hate thinking. Thinking sucks. I get it… I'll make sure the Star Forge is not abused. I'll need to make sure it isn't abused even after I die… That means it will be inherited from me to others… GAH! That means I need to learn freakin' political crap to know inheritance laws!" I hate this!

Giving my people a home… or not having to deal with political bullshit that doesn't mean jack squat to begin with! It is so tempting.

"I get it. Thank you. Can I go now?" I ask impatiently. Revan disappears. "And don't go screwing around with anything! People think I'm insane enough as it is!.. Hello? Hello! Great! Now I'm talking to myself! Nice talking to you too, jackass!"

I let my temper get to me briefly and storm out of the room. Damn Revan. If I ever meet the real one, I'm gonna punch him in the face. First for sticking his pornographic marriage memories in my head, then for the daily dose of bullshit and insanity that comes with him! Bastilla had it easy. She only married him! I have to live with him for the rest of my life!

Wait… does that mean I'm married to Revan?

OH, BY THE FORCE, I AM AREN'T I?!"

"You okay?" Ahsoka asks.

I stop myself and realize I had stormed into the main chamber and right past her. I push aside my thoughts. "I'm fine, Ahsoka. I-" Why is she crying? It's not such a heavy cry that its torment. But for her to go from being really happy and amazed to crying gently and looking at me… sadly… uh. It's like she's in pain.

Before I know it, she hugs me so hard I wheeze. Good heavens, she has a grip! "Ahsok-" She kisses me. I let it happen for a moment, but this is still freaking me out. Then she returns to just hugging me so hard I feel my ribs ache.

"I care about you too…" She whispers.

Huh? When is me not being able to get a word out and being suffocated a sign of me caring, and for it to be returned?! What kind of crazy is this! Is Ahsoka smoking something?

I can't get any words out, and it isn't until I start gasping that she realizes her error and releases most of the pressure. With that settled, I return the hug and kiss the top of her head. It hurts seeing her like this and it confuse the mess out of me. "Ahsoka, what did I miss? Why are you crying?"

She whispers into my chest. "I'm not hugging you..."

Ah. I see. So this this is a new form of tackling?

"I'm hugging the boy inside."

I look down at her. "I think you have some screws loose..."

She chuckles. It sounds sad, almost pitying. I don't need that. "It's nothing. I just want to do this."

"Right. In all the years I've known you, between the slapping and smacking and hitting, abusive hugging is right up there at the top of your list." I say sarcastically. "Not that I mind… the attention or anything. And smacking me around is about all that gets my attention."

Probably not the best thing to say. Her shoulders drop guiltily.

"I'm sorry… It is what I am used to with you in dealing with your antics... First impressions tend to last."

"First impressions..." I try to remember. "Oh yeah!" I laugh. "I called you a slut and you slapped me! To be honest, Ahsoka. I had no idea what a slut was. Nihilus would just point people out, label them, and move on. I could have been calling you a blacksmith for all it was worth."

"That doesn't make it any better..." She murmurs. I laugh anyway. "I promise to resist if you don't call me 'mother' or 'mother hen'."

"What's wrong with that?" I ask. She has never had a problem with it before.

Her red face darkens a shade of purple and she hides her face in my chest. "I don't think it is appropriate for… people in our position."

"Why?"

"… Please don't make me explain."

"You've never had a problem with it before."

She sighs. "I don't want to have to explain why. Just please don't."

"Whatever..." I let her hug me to her heart's content, but my stomach has other plans. It growls loudly. Ahsoka chuckles. I groan, "Can we go eat now?"

"Yeah, let's go." She agrees with a small smile in amusement. I glare at her. My stomach isn't funny. I'm starving!

"I take it this means you're staying?" I ask as we leave. I close the door to the heart and seal it.

"Yeah. I'll stay, for now."


	60. Ep13 - Star Forge Part 3

**Note: Been through a lot this weekend... Lost a few friends. Shit happens when you have to stand on principles and reality, and people around you lack impartiality to see situations as they are. As beautiful as friendship is, you should be able to say things as they are without being afraid they will turn on you for stating reality. Things that are wrong are simply wrong, regardless of who does it or your relationship with the person, and its like people cannot accept that.**

**Anyway. This was originally going to be much shorter, but I wanted to press on. If I don't get this episode progressing, it will take forever! So much happens in it.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, so no sue!**

* * *

**Chapter 13 - Star Forge Part 3**

* * *

"We are on our way back to the Miraluka fleet now. If you were looking to get off, that will have to require a detour." I announce as I enter the observation deck.

Lately the crew has taken more and more to being out here. At first it was just Ashley stargazing, or trying to, and now we have the Skywalkers and all the kids. I'm surprised that even Ahsoka's Padawans opted to stay of their own free will. I was under the impression they would be returning to wherever they came from. Ahsoka skipped their training session today and said that she needed to figure out her place before she felt she could teach anyone else to find theirs.

That's up to her really. It's not my place to tell her what path her life should take. I'll support her in whatever she decides it is, although I think what she refers to is extending her mind as to what she can and cannot do as both a Jedi and non-Jedi. 'You don't have to be good to be Jedi or Jedi to be good', or some gibberish as she told me. I know she spent the night talking, but I don't remember much talking.

Anyway, Mrs. Skywalker had wanted to talk to me. "So, here I am." I present myself before her. "What did you want to talk about Mrs. Tree-Hugger?"

"Just call me, Padme." She smiles and extends her hand in greeting.

"Cyborg-Hugger it is then." I decide. "He's a cyborg. I think it works."

I shake her hand and get a good look at her. Her grip is strong. I barely remember her from six or seven years ago as the wife of Tree-Hugger I met once. The first impression was powerful as a person who excelled about being a gracious hostess, comfortable housewife (or at least a housewife who created a comfortable setting), and… actually not much else. Seems being on a planet with no functioning power source forced her to get a few scars and light muscles.

"Yes, Ani told me of your pension for coming up with nicknames for everyone born of a child-like stubborn and rebellious nature."

I sniff my nose at that. "Only people I care to remember. Names are too hard."

"They are difficult." She agrees.

"And I prefer not to think of it as childish."

"Not childish, but child-like with its connotations of innocence and naïveté."

What? I stare at her a moment. "… Ma'am that is a lot of big words. My vocabulary doesn't extend much past 'All-you-can-eat buffet' and 'Serve yourself'."

She chuckles. "There you go again."

"Are you trying to insult me?"

"Not at all. I'm sorry, I just don't know you. The only way I know you is from one day long ago, and what Ani has told me. Seeing the Padawan for myself… I must admit, there is a great deal of mystery."

"Mystery?"

She nods. "I called you because I wanted to thank you. Thank you for saving Ani, coming for me and my twins, and for… being Ahsoka's strength. She is a good friend and while she tries to be strong for everyone, she doesn't leave any of that strength for yourself. You know what I mean?"

"Yes."

She takes my hand in both of hers and leans forward slightly. Oh Force… is she wanting to kiss me?! I start to panic but she doesn't lean forward more than an inch or so. Clearly she is serious about something but I have no idea what to make of this.

"I am in your debt." She says.

"Uh-huh." I continue staring at her, afraid.

"You don't believe me?"

"No, just trying to figure out whether you are trying to kiss me or examine my face."

She leans back quickly. The surprise on her face tells me that it wasn't that. "Okay. No, I was not. That is what people do when they are being serious and want your full attention."

"Yeah."

"But, Varus. Truly. We are in your debt. If there is anything we can do to help you, please let us know. There is little we can do, that I feel, will fully repay when you have given us." Her eyes turn to the kids playing with the Ravager droid. Cahjinawl is with her twins and there is a gentle smile on the woman's face. Seeing Squirt having friends and being happy makes me happy as well.

Pity Koj isn't here to see his daughter truly happy for once. He cried at times over her lost innocence and it was one of his greatest regrets.

Koj has also told me that it is insulting not to accept a heart-felt gift or debt. I don't think the Skywalkers need to pay me back at all, but I accept it regardless. "So. Cyborg-Hugger… How do you want to get to know me?"

"Well. Ani explained to me briefly that you are, in fact, NOT his apprentice anymore. The Jedi on the planet before said you were a Sith, and I saw a clone of yours fighting with all the power and emotion of a Sith. You appear to be the captain of one of the scariest ships I have ever seen, that is full of the cutest droids I have ever seen. My impression is that everyone in the known galaxy knows about you, and I should, being so close to Ani and Ahsoka, but I do not. I have been left out of the loop for so long. So who are you? What's your story? Who are the clones? I just want to know the man that Ani is willing to trust with his family above all others."

I sigh. That is a lot of information to cover. "To understand, fully, who I am… You would need to go back to my birth. My life has had constant ups and downs and I have lived in darkness, loneliness, and pain for almost all of it. I ask that you listen and hold back your comments and do not decide what you think of me until I am done, okay?"

"Alright."

So… I tell her my life story.

I'm the prince heir apparent to the Miraluka Keeper line. We act as the heart of our blind people within a Force bond that connects us all emotionally.

Darth Nihilus tricked me into selling myself, and my people, when I was five. He slaughtered every person on my home world except Visas and myself. I didn't know Visas was still alive at the time, until she had left Nihilus, and even then, never met her until she rescued me from slavery years later. Visas was raised from birth to be the wife to the next Keeper, a responsibility I have relieved her of. I know how she sees me, but I don't share her feelings, and in my opinion two very broken people do not mix well.

I tell her of my training, my connection with the ship, my first kill. My first kill was the day I was named 'Starkiller', and Galen Marek died.

I tell her of how Nihilus had a stupid point system to rate his interest in people, places, and things around him. He couldn't be bothered destroying a planet if it didn't rate high enough to warrant his attention. He simply had better things to put his mind to. He couldn't be bothered remembering anything not rating high enough. I was at the top of his list, right above his experiments on Holocrons and the Dark Side. It was a system I soon learned and used as well for a long time. Only I used it out of spite, while he used it purposefully to not fill his brain with useless junk.

I tell her of the day I killed my first Jedi and met Ahsoka. She couldn't believe it, and naturally, she was apprehensive about it and I could see her judgement already, despite her trying not to. It's easy to see how I fell into a murderer and how I am not a very nice person. I'm only this way thanks to two Jedi.

I tell her of my many attempts to kill Nihilus, and then Nihilus taking the Ravager away to attack Coruscant. I was busy killing another Jedi Master, and leaving Maris Brood as another seed of my vengeance at the time. A seed designed to return on me and end my path after I killed Nihilus.

I tell her how I traveled to Coruscant under Darth Sidius' invitation to speak with him. In Sith terms that naturally meant duel to the death or servitude, and as he had claimed to have killed Nihilus, I felt my life-long prize had been taken. He said he would arrange for me to meet him, and I allowed myself to be turned over to the Jedi expecting them to be honorable.

I tell her how I was mind-wiped. I was given to Anakin Skywalker and had Ahsoka Tano as an equal. At this point she was furious, and looked like she wanted to strangle something. Whether me, the Jedi, or Tree-Hugger… I don't know. I just pray Tree-Hugger keeps his distance today.

I tell her of my time with them. How I gained Revan's memories by touching a Holocron like the idiot I was, how I was employed by the Jedi to follow in Revan's path in finding an ancient relic of war to aid them in the war effort, and how ironic it was that my life had come to mirror Revan's life so perfectly.

It was the fact that my life mirrored Revan's so much, and that I had his memories, that both broke me and redeemed me.

I had endured mental attacks of various kinds, and flashes of Revan memory, so much that the mind-wipe had started to crack. An assassin of some kind, as well as Maris Brood, had followed me and fought me. The assassin's strength pushed me to my limit and brought out my Dark Side power, while Maris's presence pushed my mind into remembering her. The combination did not completely shatter the mind-wipe, because I had begun to depend on it and desperately wanted there to be a logical explanation for everything I was enduring and doubting.

Then Nihilus attacked the Jedi Temple with Sidius as a host body, captured me and Tree-Hugger, and revealed the truth to me. He let us go to test me, to see which master I would choose. I chose Tree-Hugger and we escaped Coruscant on the Ravager, and I turned myself over to authority in an effort to kill Starkiller, just as Starkiller had killed Galen Marek.

I spoke of what I had endured. How the prison ship was attacked by Hutts. How I was enslaved, put on display, shown around as an object or prize, forced to be lover to an alien, tossed around from master to master after I killed one, ended up tossed in with Cahjinawl, saved her life after her endless nagging and annoying attachment, was adopted as brother to a Ghorfa, and found contentment of some kind with them.

I spoke of the more recent events. The Miraluka rescued me after a giant bounty was put on my head, we were chased by a fleet from every super-power there is, the Ravager had to come to the rescue and put us in a hostage situation to make everyone back off, and all because my clones had started appearing and ticking everyone off.

"Did Nihilus have a cloning project with you?" She asked.

"No. That's the crazy thing. I don't know where the clones come from."

"Hmm…" She thought a moment. "Go on."

I spoke of how I was ambushed by Falon, handed him back to the Republic on Dantooine, was nearly captured by Ahsoka and Psycho-Bunny, since they believed me to the be Starkiller, only to wind up fighting Starkiller. Starkiller had tricked Ahsoka to try to find Tree-Hugger, only to kill all of the Jedi she was there with. We managed to force him to flee.

Falon and the others offered to make amends by helping make it clear that there is a distinction between myself and the clones, so we traveled to Mandalore, got me recognized as an ally, and, it turns out, had to immediately leave to go after the Skywalkers since the Starkillers had found the Revanchist, mocked Bastilla's body on the holonet, and threatened to spill lots of secrets the galaxy wouldn't like. Seeing Bastilla like that really hit me.

We helped save the Skywalkers and as many as we could from the Eternal Hand Prior and Starkillers, dropped off Falon with the Mandalorians, and now are heading to return to the Miraluka fleet to find us a home.

Oh, and I was reunited with my mother, a brother I didn't know I had, and there is a political struggle in my people over the existence of the Marek line versus a different form of government, and pressure on Visas to accomplish the destiny set for her.

And now we are where we are.

"That is quite a story." She says neutrally.

"That's my life in a nutshell." I respond offhand. "Now. What do you think?"

"What do I think? I don't know yet. I have never heard of something like this before. But… still. You are a former criminal, and the method of punishment varies between community service and execution. It also isn't unheard of for people to have their crimes expunged purely because of their political strength and what they can offer. That's just politics right there. So… In my experienced opinion as queen and senator: as long as you seek to do what is good, I think you are better off here than rotting in prison."

That is an interesting perspective. "I never really thought of it like that. 'To be better off working than rotting'. Than what is the point of prison?"

"To contain people not worth making the risk on."

"Ah."

"Beyond that… I think you stand as a wonder. You stand on the border of so many ideals and lives. I can't imagine what it is like, but it can't be easy balancing yourself between who you are and the memories of Revan, as well as all you learned as Jedi, as Sith, and now are learning as a Miraluka. I don't know what they teach, but they can't be all that similar."

"Ohhhhhhh, no." I chuckle. "They are as extremely separate as you can get. The Jedi ideal is to serve everyone at the expense of yourself. The Sith is to seek perfection of self, and compete with everyone to achieve it. The Miraluka ideal is to… well… be a nation of Force users, I guess. Miraluka do not care for outsiders." Their treatment of my brother just for being different is proof enough of that. Or perhaps that is a sign of their hatred for Nihilus instead. I don't know.

"I get a headache just hearing it."

"Revan helps though." I mention. "He had already achieved a balance between Light and Dark, Jedi and Sith. It doesn't feel as hard as it should be with… I won't say his memories or experiences or insight… but instinct? I think about it a lot and lean on Ahsoka heavily because of it, but it isn't overbearing."

"That is good."

We fall into silence and a kind of contentment just sharing each other's company as we watch the children be children. It's weird seeing the twins not be affected at all by the Ravager. Makes me wonder if their innocence has reached the point of stupidity. Do they not see the scary ship around them? The loose wires? The puncture holes and fractured metal jutting out of the walls?

At some point a thought comes to me. "What do you plan to do now? You said you were a senator. You going to become one again?"

She shakes her head. "Just a mother. And perhaps a small-time lawyer to keep myself busy and sharp. Considering the pressure of my life thus far, just being a lawyer will be like retirement. If the situation is important enough, and I am asked, I might advise and give personal opinion and council on galactic matters, but nothing more. As for now, the galaxy is too dangerous a place for my kids to be in. I don't want more Priors and Starkillers coming after them. If you don't mind, I would like for my family to stay until it is safe to come out of hiding again."

"Certainly. Any family of Tree-Hugger is family of mine. You are all welcome to stay on the ship as long as you want."

"Thank you. You have no idea how much of a relief it is to hear that. How long until we return to the fleet?"

"I don't know."

She looks at me like I'm mad. "You don't know?"

I shake my head. "Could be hours, could be days. I am rarely bothered to keep track. I just take each day as it comes. It's the only way I stay sane. Well… that and Ahsoka and Tree-Hugger and Cahjinawl."

She smiles. "Yes, how did things between you and Ahsoka?"

"Well, I think. She's emotionally all over the place since last night and didn't help that Visas woke us up and…" I glare at her. "Shit. How did you know?"

"That, you will come to learn, is mother's intuition." She smiles cheekily.

Dammit. I wanted to wait a little while before letting my feelings for Ahsoka be publically known. I don't know if Ahsoka is comfortable with it. I don't care myself, but Ahsoka is an emotional mess right now. She's all over the place.

"So you have the Force now?" I demand.

"Hmm. Not quite, and to be fair, Varus. It's rather obvious. Yesterday, and the day before, you two couldn't be in the same room without there being either sparks or fire. The only ones who didn't know there is something between you two is the kids. I had thought you were already in a relationship before Ani stressed otherwise."

"Dammit..." I sigh. "Please don't bring it up. I don't know what we are."

"You will find acceptance helps a lot. Secrets are hard to keep."

"It's been one day! At most!"

She shrugged. "Alright. I'm sorry, I'll lay off. I won't bring it up with Ahsoka. But perhaps I have an idea how I can be of service to you. What you need is a psychologist, hell, you need a whole psych ward reserved for you and that head of yours. You need relationship counseling and at parental examples of some kind, I can imagine Nihilus didn't give any. You also might need a lawyer if you don't already have one. You're in the middle of a political struggle and need someone to council you in it to keep from drowning."

"And you think you fit into all three?" I balk at the idea. I may tell my life story, but I don't like putting my brain on a plate for people to pick at.

"Well, the second one at least." She relents. "Ani considers you and Ahsoka like his first kids. With neither of you having any parents in your lives for so long, you have no idea what a relationship is, how to develop one, how to begin or work things out, or even if it's healthy for you two to be considering one. I'm actually surprised you two have made it work so far as well as you have."

"We aren't in a relationship." I repeat myself.

"And again, I'm surprised you've made it work this far. You just said you had been sleeping with her."

"For one night… we talked and kissed and… held each other." I turn away and feel my ears burn. This is just embarrassing. Why are we discussing this? "Probably the first night I remember where I didn't have to be exhausted to the point of collapse to keep from having nightmares."

"Then it's a minor relationship, but one still. Everyone has relationships. I have one with you as the relationship of an acquaintance, and is an extension of your relationship between Ani and yourself. Your relationship with Ahsoka is one of what you said, and is as much as you are willing for it to be with all the commitment you are willing to give it."

I stare at her a long moment as my brain struggles to wrap itself around all of that. And… it comes to a conclusion that it makes a surprising amount of sense. It's not a scary possibility as I thought it might be. It's actually somewhat freeing to say it is as adaptive a concept as she makes it out to be.

"That…" I don't quite know what to say. My mind goes blank like it is trying to restart itself. "Makes… a surprising amount of sense… You're good at this."

She smirks proudly. "Helps being a mother. We make good psychiatrists and dealing with the relationship of twins gives plenty of practice."

I close my eyes and think about the possibilities a moment. A… relationship with Ahsoka. Where I give as much as I want, and get back as much as I want. Or is it as much as Ahsoka wants? Either way, it doesn't sound half bad. The only concern is her. Ahsoka only just opened up to these things while I've had feelings for a long time, and have the experience of Revan to back me up.

I say as much to Cyborg-Hugger, and she advises that I give Ahsoka as much space as she wants without pushing her, but just being there to be pushed or pulled at her whim until she figures out what she wants.

"That sounds like hell…" I grumble.

"A relationship isn't always fun and games. Sometimes it hurts. Sometimes all you can do is stand there not knowing where the relationship is going, or what to do to improve it, and just hope for a sign."

"A sign. Like being kissed at every impasse?"

"That's just her experimenting and getting a feel for… having feelings for a guy. It does mean a lot too. Just doesn't mean she wants you to jump her and take her to bed."

"I do not think that way." I defend myself.

"No, but that is the norm for guys."

I laugh. "Name one thing in my life that is remotely normal!"

"Easy. You have a girl."

The answer floors me.

In my insane life of utter BULLCRAP, that is something that is remarkably normal. That's why it's incredible to me and insane and weird and utterly alien. I don't do normal. I never have. Now that I have something normal, I barely know what to do with it.

I do need help with this crap. I sigh. "Okay. I'll consider getting… that stuff you mentioned from you."

"Counseling, I believe is what you refer to."

"Yeah, that thing." I stand up to leave. "I will see you guys later."

"Bye, Varus."

I leave and while my intention is to head to the bridge to check on our path, my feet take me to the training room. I need to think… and I process things best by moving. I check my waist to confirm my lightsaber is still with me. I drop it off at the door and vent my stress and thoughts as lightning claws on an army of hapless droids wearing the faces, skills, and weapons of many famous Jedi and Sith. Pity none of the droids can mimic the Force. That would make the training much better.

I eat dinner by myself in the gym while training. I have more catching up to do to reach Starkiller's level. I feel I am getting close, but it's not there yet. I have an advantage of age by a few years on him, so my muscles are more developed, but he is also faster. I also feel that all of the emotional baggage I am picking up over the weeks, and with being around Ahsoka, is dulling my mind. Venting my frustrations and turning confusion into anger onto my droids helps release it and resolve my determination, but its fuel I can't depend on against Starkiller. I need to find a new fuel to work my power on.

Anger and hatred for Starkiller works fine so I focus on that. I hate myself. I push myself to the point of anger for not being fast enough, strong enough, focused enough. A droid scratches my leg and I chastise myself for not being focused. I need to focus more, more, more, and then concentrate more on top of that.

I stop when I hear the door open. It's Visas with the coordinates she got off Mandalore. I stick it in my pocket. She sticks around for an hour to train in silence and leaves. Eventually the door opens again. The droids notice my diverting attention and disappear into the air. Ahsoka is standing in the door watching me. She's dressed in her night clothes and her eyes are only half open. I ask, "Did I miss something?"

"You've been training half the night. You missed our usual talk."

Ah. Right. "Sorry, I'm talked out." I walk to the side lines on shaky legs and collapse on a bench. I guzzle down some water. "Been talking to you. Been talking to Tree-Hugger. Falon, Visas, Cyborg-Hugger. Hell, I talked to Revan and an Infinite Empire weirdo today." I stretch and look to her. "Were you waiting for me or something?"

"A little while." She yawns.

"Okay... Sorry, but I don't know how this works. Am I expected to sleep with you after last night? Can you not sleep without me now?"

She reddens a bit, but doesn't back off. Rather, she sits next to me. She's sleepy and after a moment leans against me. "Expected? Not really. It's more about whether that is what we want."

I lean back and close my eyes in thought. "What we want... To be fair, I don't know what I want. I mean... I know I want to kill Nihilus. I want to stop Starkiller. I want to help my people. But what I want in regards to you? All I know is I want you, and I don't know how to do it."

"Hmm..." She hums sleepily. I shake my shoulder a bit to knock her awake. She's starting to drool.

"Wakey wakey. You have a bed to sleep in."

"Agreed..."

"Good. Then you should get in it."

"No. No... Not that. I mean... yes. I will do that. But I mean yes. Uh."

"You're making less and less sense by the minute."

"Shut up. It's hard to think."

It is so tempting to poke her in the forehead, but that would break her thought process.

"Um... I mean I want you to, but I don't know how... All I've seen is people kissing and talking."

"You feel resolute enough to say it?"

"Yes." Despite how sleepy she is, she still has a firm answer. "Things are much clearer, and less confusing, when you just... make a decision."

I poke her. "And when you're not sleepy."

"Yeaaah... that helps." She mumbles.

Before long she is snoring against my shoulder and I sit here thinking. It does feel clear to just decide things and not let it brew around in your head for forever. But it also is bringing a lot of problems of its own.

I'm terrified. I love how she agrees with what I want, but then... how do we figure this out? I am a fighter, not a lover. I make war not love. I kill people for a living and make horrible first impressions, I don't strengthen bonds and relationships and make girls happy.

"We're going to need some backup..." I murmur. I can't believe I am seriously taking up Cyborg-Hugger on her offer.

"Hmmm..."

"I'll tell you when you wake up. For now, the tentacle-head needs to sleep." I nudge her until her eyes open.

"They aren't tentacles. They're... something else." She mumbles as I raise her up on two feet. Good heavens she lacks focus when half-asleep. I'm a much lighter sleeper and would be focusing on things by now.

"You can tell me what they are when you wake up then."

She stumbles along the way but the work of walking wakes her up enough that I don't have to drag her or carry her. "g'night..." she murmurs as I leave her at her room and shut the door for her. I practically hear her stumble and trip over things all the way to bed.

I chuckle to myself and return to the cafeteria. After a snack I return to the gym and resume training. My adrenaline and thoughts won't stop. If I go to sleep now I will just have nightmares anyway and be up most of the night having visions of Nihilus, Marek Brood, and a bunch of other ghosts of my past.

The night passes into the next day. I return to my room to sleep, then get up and train again. I spare a few hours to spend with my niece, talk to Ahsoka about Cyborg-Hugger's offer, and then to inform the woman of our agreement. Beyond that, there isn't much else to say or do until we reach the Miraluka. I train, I sleep, I train, I sleep, and on and on.

Until the Ravager alerts me to us approaching the Miraluka.

* * *

"About time." I make my way to the throne room and watch the stars fly by until we drop out of Warp. The rest of the crew gathers and the amazement on the newer people's eyes are evident at the sight of the fleet.

It's rather sad to picture an entire race in a group of ships, but it only goes to show how many ships the fleet needs in order to hold everyone. The sight of a dreadnought with a thousand smaller ships around it is impressive for a single fleet. Naturally, I've seen bigger with the invasion of Coruscant, but I doubt there has been a fleet this big since.

"Welcome to the Miraluka. They're all blind, so don't be surprised." I tell the kids.

"How do blind peoples see!?" The little boy asks.

"Through the Force." Tree-Hugger tells them. "The same way we found you."

"Cool!" They have no idea what we are talking about.

"Master, we are being hailed." The Ravager says.

"By who?"

"The Admiral. He does not sound pleased to see us."

I sigh. I should have expected this. "Ask him for permission to join the fleet... and talk. I have a gift for our people."

I look to Cyborg-Hugger and Visas, "Can I depend on you two?"

"I know nothing of your laws." Mrs. Skywalker argues.

Visas glances to Cyborg-Hugger curiously, but doesn't respond to that. "Keeper, you never have to speculate about me. I anticipate there are two possible ways this will go considering we left without permission. In the first scenario: we will be treated as the prodigal son a second time and welcomed back. In the second scenario: we will be seen as being ungrateful for everything our people have done for you, and you will have to prove your actions have been with the purpose in mind to save our people."

"How did you guys leave?" Cyborg-Hugger asks.

"We departed without permission and without warning, kicking most of the crew off except for a chosen few."

Mrs. Skywalker nods in thought. She doesn't have to say it, but that doesn't sound good to her. "You're social structure is military? Is this Admiral King?"

"No. The Keeper is king, but Varus is a prince. We have no king, currently. Power is distributed among the fleet council. The members of the council are all ship captains, and the higher population of your ship, the more power you have. The admiral is captain of the dreadnaught."

"So he has the highest power?"

"Not only that... but he has the warehouse and inner-fleet market. It is not a military vessel, but one adapted to be the center of our society. The only rival to Admiral Rebhorn is Mistress Victoria Marek, the Keeper's widow. She has the people's heart and is officially the steward."

"Let me guess: power struggle?"

"Yes. But the key is in gaining the support of the ship captain's council."

"Regardless…" I interrupt. "How should we handle this?"

Visas says, "You are the Keeper's heir and prince of the Miraluka. You lack support, but have a birthright they cannot ignore. Do not talk to Rebhorn, but go straight to the council with what you have to offer. With the five coordinates, we can produce a final result if we insert them into a cartographer."

"A what?"

There is silence.

"You do not know what a cartographer does?"

I shake my head.

Visas sighs. "Did you really think the coordinates would magically tell you where to go?"

Wait... they won't?! "Well, it was kinda a long journey! I would like to think I didn't need another part! Don't tell me we have to do more crap!"

"No, all we have to do is input the star constellations into the cartographer."

"Great." I nod. "Why?"

Tree-Hugger steps up. "Mrs. Marr, why don't you get the ship settled, and I'll explain to him."

Visas looks to me, and I wave for her to go ahead. The Ravager will listen to her if I want her to. Tree-Hugger guides me to the side and explains it.

I only understand a fraction of the scientific gibberish that comes out of his mouth, and I look to Ahsoka. She rolls her eyes. Whether that is toward me or Tree-Hugger, I don't know. She translates it, "Varus, a constellation coordinate is like a two-dimensional picture. Everywhere we are in space we see constellations, but the constellations are different from every possible angle. So a constellation from Coruscant is different from Mandalore even if you look at the same place."

"Okay?" Makes sense. Stars not same one place from another. Gotcha.

"So, what a cartographer does is take every known star in the galaxy into account, and figures out from what angle the constellations can only be seen from. Now… with so many stars, there is room for error, and some constellations look amazingly similar from different planets. So the more constellations you have, the more it can narrow the results. To put it shortly, the cartographer pinpoints where galaxy you can see all constellations used in the address."

"Oh. Why didn't you just say that?" I ask Tree-Hugger.

"I did…"

"No, you said something else and I can't even pronounce half the words you used much less know what they mean!"

"Well, maybe if you pay attention it would-"

"VISAS!" I bark. "How long would a cartographer take?"

"A matter of hours." She replies.

"HOURS?!" I exclaim.

"There are a lot of stars to sort through."

"Fine… do we have one?"

"On the Fleet Mother, yes."

"Then get it rolling. The sooner the better."

* * *

The Ravager has permission to enter the fleet and we maneuver into the mass of ships. Smaller vessels move aside to allow us entry to dock directly up to the Fleet Mother.

"Visas, Cyborg-Hugger, stay with me."

"Who?" Tree-Hugger asks. I point to his wife and he gives me an exasperated look.

"You're a cyborg; hence the name," I continue. "Ashley, I'll let you decide whether to come or go with Cahjinawl. Either way, I want HK within ten feet of her at all times. The rest of the crew stays here until we know what happens."

"Why is my wife joining you?" Tree-Hugger asks apprehensively.

I sigh. I know I am not the most experienced when it comes to authority, and I let people do what they want a lot, but I would really appreciate it if he didn't question me every few minutes. "Because if she is going to understand how my people work, she needs to see them for herself."

"I'll be fine, Ani." His wife assures him. "I want to help. I asked for this."

"I know, but-" He doesn't look happy and about to argue, but he relents from just an expression on her face. Expressions change between them. It's like they're having an unspoken conversation. Is that what marriage is like? Fascinating. "Alright."

We board the ship and make our way to the council chamber. We were so kind as to leave a notification that I wish to speak to them. I'm not big on public speaking... I have no experience in this regard, but I figure I'll just tell them what I have found in my journey and leave it at that. Hopefully it will speak for itself.

We sit outside the council room, and Visas leaves to continue arranging it. Cyborg-Hugger asks, "What exactly are you going to give them?"

"Ah, yes. You don't know. The coordinates lead to the Star Forge."

"The Star Forge. As in... Revan's treasure?" She gapes.

"Yes."

"Wha- are you sure that is wise? Something as powerful as the Star Forge can compete with nations on its own! Are your people able to handle the responsibility that comes with its power? Will they be able to handle becoming a super power?"

I shake my head. "No. It does worry me, but I don't trust them that far."

"Then why? It's amazing enough you have it to give, but you have to know they will use it."

"Because the important part is not the Star Forge, but the fact that it is hidden. Some people know of it, but no knows where it is. There are planets there, planets and systems my people can colonize safely. I don't want the Admiral to get his hands on the Star Forge, but the safety and home it offers is what is important."

She looked away in thought. "You have put a lot of thought into this."

I lean onto my knees and put my hands together in pensive thought. A number of Miraluka pass us by and enter the council room. From a glance it is slowly filling. Almost all of them glance at me with an expression of distaste, curiosity, or pleasure and respect. Before it was nothing but respect, but time has slowly shown them I am not quite the savior they expected.

It will be almost amusing to prove them wrong.

"It helps to have Revan in my head. We know how powerful it can be in the wrong hands. Revan worries, and I share his concerns. I want to trust my people... but truly, I don't think I know them well enough. It's been... four months now? Among that I have spent scant hours around my people and learning of them and observing them."

"Hmm... What laws are there about possession?"

"Same as most others I would assume. I have no idea."

"Okay, then hold off until I can speak with Visas."

I nod and lean back to wait. It isn't long before Visas returns to us and flocked by more captains. Some of them look to her curiously. Whether it is the bandage on her scalp or the fact that her hoody is still down, I can't say. I find it curious she is letting her hair out over her shoulders instead of tied up inside her hoody, and that she is allowing her face to be seen.

If I were to psycho-analyze her I would almost think she is going through a kind of change. Her expressions are almost more relaxed, but determined.

"Mrs. Marr, what are the laws relating to possession here?" Cyborg-Hugger asks.

"Depends. What is the case?"

I insert myself and whisper, "The fact that we found the Star Forge."

Visas nods. "It depends on who claims possession with the power to carry it out first. As prince, you can claim ownership of the findings and are handing out segments of it as a gift. You can claim it in the name of the Miraluka, and thereby receive great honors but also be claiming minimal ownership as you are more or less handing it over. You can claim a title for yourself in ownership of the land, and have the title passed down to chosen heir, to male heirs, to daughters, to first born, to the council, and so on. If you want to keep it in your possession, then you will need to write a deed quickly."

"Sounds good. My thought is to turn over all planets in the system. I only wish to keep the Forge and a single... area? District? State? Something for my family and yours... and Koj."

"Who?" Cyborg-Hugger asks.

"No one you know." I answer quickly. "But that is what I want Visas."

"Then from beginning to end declare your finding, and that you are handing the system to your people while withholding the Forge and a single state for the Marek family." Visas says. "Whether you provide sub-states for the Marr Family and your brother, or not, can come later. It is an unnecessary detail."

"Sounds almost feudal." Cyborg-Hugger reflects.

"We are." Visas replies.

* * *

Visas had to admit she had doubts.

To a degree her doubts were validated. She pitied him, felt sorry for him, wanted to help, but she quickly squashed it. It was his time to stand before the Council. His lack of social etiquette showed, as well as poor wording, but he stuck to his points and spoke as Visas suggested. She was warmed that he used her words. To her pride, he didn't quake under the council's eyes, but held strong despite his lackluster performance.

All the same, his gift worked for itself.

Visas squashed her feelings to examine the feelings of others. The room was a mixture of open shock and awe. They had expected that Varus would defend why he had left the fleet without permission and kicking 99% of his crew off, but this? This was beyond their expectation, and she had to admit their expectation was already pretty damn high in terms of what would be needed to please them.

"I think they like it." Mrs. Skywalker said with pleasure.

"Not all of them." Visas focused her attention on the key players around the room without moving her head. The Admiral looked like he had been slapped with a fish, which brought no small amount of pleasure to Visas. Victoria Marek, in a whole other room observing the proceedings from her hospital bed, shown with pride as bright as a sun. Other key players were apprehensive. Visas could guess they felt Varus's sudden gift would bring him so much honor that they were threatened by him. They were inconsequential players anyway. Leland though… was odd. He felt nothing. He was not surprised, he was not shocked, he was not brought to awe, he was not happy, he was not sad. If anything he was bored. His boredom wasn't just on his face, but in his aura.

Visas wasn't the only one who noticed, because Rebhorn looked to the young man and scowled.

Visas had the distinct impression something was going on and she had missed a major detail between the two. She didn't trust the Admiral in regards to the Mareks, but there was an undertone in Leland that gave her the chills. It was almost like when he looked at you… he didn't see a person. He saw an object, something inconsequential, nothing more than an annoying pile of meat.

Visas noted people's attention and pacing. They didn't have any reaction to the word 'Star Forge', leading Visas to consider the possibility of them being ignorant of it. They reacted to Varus bringing up the hidden system it was in, and the worlds it offered for them. Worlds where they could seek refuge, hidden in safety, and the possibility of a new home world yet untaken.

Visas and Mrs. Skywalker talked a bit more in whispers. Before long a resounding cry to celebrate rung out. Varus looked shy about the idea, and Rebhorn took the stage. Visas felt a combination of relief for him getting Varus out of the spotlight, worry that Rebhorn would turn it to give him more honor rather than Varus in some way, rage that the man dared think himself equal to her Keeper, and curiosity as to what he would say. All of it she squashed down.

"This gift is a wondrous gift." Rebhorn said loudly. "But let us not be premature. You have gone on a great journey, prince Marek." Visas growled to herself. He didn't use the word 'Keeper'… Prince was less honorable. True, Varus was prince, not full Keeper, but now was not the time to be going for specifics. "However, I ask for a test. A simple test to prove the validity of this gift."

"You saying I am lying?" Varus asked. Visas wanted to smack him or smack herself.

Rebhorn chuckled. "No, no, not at all, my prince. You have coordinates. Of this there is no doubt. However, I don't want to think that the one who gave you these coordinates are as honorable as yourself, not yet. In addition, this place you have found may exist, but be destroyed. Should we not at least send a scout? Or see of ourselves the truth of it? You can say you have found a city of gold in a faraway land, but the king still will want to see it for himself, to at least be able to return home and say 'I have seen it with my own eyes and it was glorious!'"

Visas listened as the people reflected and agreed. She had to admit it was wise herself, but she didn't like the way he was wording it. Mrs. Skywalker seemed to notice as well from the tension in her.

"In further addition, let us not consider now to be a time of celebrating!" Rebhorn announced. "But a time of preparation! You do not celebrate the food before it is cooked, but once it is done, after all! So let us not enjoy the finding until it has been found and we can stand on solid ground and yell out to the sky that we have returned!"

"The cooking example was unnecessary, but he is right." Mrs. Skywalker whispered.

"Hm."

"First he asks for a test, then says the celebration should instead of preparation? I don't like it. He's putting pressure on Varus. He's forcing Varus to gamble all the respect he just earned. If everyone prepares and it turns out to not be as good as claimed, then Varus loses all credibility more than he would otherwise. There is nothing wrong with just waiting for the scout to return."

"He would lose all credibility if the system isn't there to begin with." Visas stated.

"Yes, but more so because they aren't going to just wait. They are packing their bags and prepping to go into Warp at the slightest inclination. He's pumping them up and putting them on the edge of their seats."

"Then we better not be wrong."

Rebhorn continued talking a bit, but Visas didn't notice. Her attention was on Leland. The young man was leaving prematurely. He looked slightly bothered. There was an urgency on his face that Visas couldn't explain.

"Hold on. I will be right back." Visas said. She rose and followed Leland as distantly as she could. He walked right out of the council chambers and entered the primary part of the Fleet Mother towards the apartment complexes. Visas kept him at her maximum range of sight. She could see much further than most.

Leland entered an alley and disappeared.

Visas hesitated. He didn't enter a box or doorway laced in special material, he vanished out of midair. Visas slowly followed in his footsteps regardless and stood here he had vanished. There was nothing here. No energy patterns, nothing to explain his disappearance.

Visas could detect the light around her was gone, revealing she was shrouded in shadow.

Maybe…

The only way she could figure was that he had used a shadow step technique. But that could not be! There were only three who knew it. Varus, herself, and Nihilus.

With more thoughts to fear, and meanings to worry about, Visas returned to the council chamber. Her feet automatically moved on their own as they returned to the Ravager. Her thoughts were so distracted that Varus had to physically grab her to get her to hear him. "Visas, I need you to get the crew off the Ravager and to your house, then take the Ravager to the coordinates as our scout. The Admiral is allowing the Ravager be sent as the scout, and we agreed that you and a man selected by him would go."

Visas bowed her head. "I am honored."

"Yeah… just watch yourself and him. I don't want his guy near anything dangerous."

"I will ensure the Ravager's secrets are well kept. Even if I have to kill him."

"Agreement: I like the female's style." HK commented from the side.

"Let's not go that far." Varus argued.

"Request: May I go?"

"No."

"Further Request: May I kill him?"

"No, that is part of going."

"Explanation: Not if I poison, cause slow fatal wound, set bomb, or hide the body on the ship. I can sever a blood vessel with my finger stealthily that will cause the meat bag to die six hours later from a brain stroke if stealth is a condition."

Everyone stared at HK.

"If there is any question on my ability to perform I can provide an example." HK said.

Varus sighed and rubbed his temples. "HK, no."

"Awww."

* * *

While we wait for Rebhorn's little pet to meet with us, Visas and Ashley took everyone to the Marr residence to stay. The maid ushered them in. Visas disappeared to her room while Ashley showed them around.

The residence was a compact mansion. It had the many rooms, many halls, many bedrooms, many bathrooms, two kitchens, and a large main area; but the size of each room was smaller to compensate for the needs of the fleet. For the duration of their stay the Skywalkers would be in one room, the idiots in another two rooms, HK insisted on being with the three for some reason, Squirt and Squirtette and Squirt-dude in one, Ash in her own room, and Cupcake in another. This left one remaining room for Ahsoka... and me.

Ahsoka tenses up while Cyborg-Hugger just smiled knowingly. Well, this is awkward. Thankfully, I already had plans. "My family have a residence of our own. I'll stay there. I'm sure mother would love to have me living within the same house for once."

"Oh, that's right. You're practically a prince. Hard to picture you as one." Tree-Hugger teases me.

"I'm sure Victoria would love that!" Ash smiles brightly.

I smile tightly. Mother is… confusing. I feel I should feel something that I just don't. I have forgiven and moved on and accepted her as being the woman who birthed me, but there is always this bright expectation towards me every time I bring her up. "Yeah..."

"Mind if I come?" Tree-Hugger asks. "I've never met the woman, and I have to see what kind of person spawned someone like you." Cyborg-Hugger elbows him. "What?! It was a joke."

I roll my eyes. How bad can it be for Tree-Hugger to see her? "I'm sure it will be fine. Just be careful. Having visitors may be too stressful."

"Well, this is it." I announce.

"Looks quaint." Tree-Hugger muses.

"Possibly." I don't bother knocking and enter. There is a lot of staff, but I don't like the idea of being waited on. The residence is much smaller than the Marr house. Not because they have more prestige and honor and deserve more space on the ship, but because the residence only serves to house a single woman and all of her needs. The rest of the residence is rented out. It's almost a fancy family-hotel in a sense. Except none of the renters bother mother.

I haven't seen Leland the last few times I've been here, so I will

The first room we enter is a long hall I would expect from a king's walk-way to the throne room. Only in this case, it is lined with statues of the previous Keepers and leads to Mother's room.

Near the end of the line Tree-Hugger stops and says, "Hey, this one looks like you!"

I look to the statue he is referring to. "That would be Father, the last official Keeper."

A realization passes through his eyes and he looks to me. "So... this is him. I'm sorry, it's almost easy to forget your father wasn't actually Nihilus."

"I've only told you guys a million times Nihilus kidnapped me..."

"Yeah, but-" Tree-Hugger stands in front of the statue face to face. They're about the same height, except father's statue is broader. "It's another thing to see it with my own eyes. What was he like?"

I sigh and try to remember. "All I remember about father is that he loved everyone and gave his attention more to our people than to me. He was as strict, rigid man, but then that just might be my impression as a child. I just know I spent more time playing with Visas growing up and wandering the fields than at home. If that means anything."

"Depends on the culture. In some cultures that would mean you just had a lot of freedom and was expected to be home by dinner. In other cultures it meant you had no one at home for long periods of time, and was already on your road to being a little delinquent."

"Then there is your answer then." I move on. Thinking that far back is stupid. It's too blurry to know for sure of anything, even with hindsight.

I knock on the door and after a moment a servant cracks it open and slams the door in my face. "Friendly." Tree-Hugger mutters sarcastically. Another moment and the door is fully opened for us to enter. In the usual place is Victoria...

And Leland.

Something about seeing Leland gives me chills. He peers back at me with his one eye and there is something in his eye I cannot place. He shows nothing, but I feel like I'm looking into the eyes of a snake. Ridiculous... I already know he is dangerous. Not like he is any more dangerous now than he was the last time we talked.

Mother looking between us with fright isn't helping. Why does she get scared every time Leland comes near? He isn't being threatening at all, and I certainly am not going to hurt her. The most she should be scared of is Leland and I sparring if he challenges me to a little duel or something. Not that I see that happening, he is too much of a stick and is dainty. He doesn't have a single scar, if you exclude the huge one he got at birth, and looks like a pretty-boy.

It's probably my nerves at the idea of sleeping here for a few nights.

"Good evening, Mother, Leland." I say.

Leland nods. Mother doesn't move. Tree-Hugger hasn't entered the room at all and would much rather stare wide-eyed at them. Leland looks to me curiously, "Is he afraid we will bite?"

"Probably the bandages." Leland isn't wearing the mask in the house, but has a bandage around half his face, shoulder, and corresponding arm down to his fingertips, like usual. And Mother is in a hospital bed, as always.

Leland nods in understanding. "It was good to see you again, Mother. I will be around." He bows to Mom and nods to me before walking out. Tree-Hugger watches him go, but my attention is on Mom. She relaxes as soon as Leland is gone.

"Mother, did he say anything to scare you?"

"It is... nothing." She smiles. "Just... visiting."

I don't buy it, but Tree-Hugger still is left in shock by everything. He whispers to me, "What happened? Why is your mom in a bed with tubes sticking out of her and your brother looks half-mummified?"

"Long story short: Nihilus touched mom. The contact was brief enough to only shave years off her life, but has left her crippled, scarred from head to toe, and scarred Leland while she still carried him, effectively destroying half of his body and giving Leland's Force signature a bit of a Void touch."

He pales and looks shaken. "I-is there no-no one in the Marek f-family that Nihilus hasn't wounded?"

"Father is dead, I was kidnapped, Mother is crippled, and Leland is called monster by many. That's all of us. So no."

Mother just watches us whisper back and forth. I have no doubt she knows the overall idea of the conversation. She just wait and finally says, "So… son… who is… this?"

"Ah, yes. Mother, this is Tree-Hugger."

"I have heard… so much… about… you." She smiles warmly to him and extends her hand. Tree-Hugger takes it and squeezes gently. He looks like he is dealing with glass. If he touches too much he will break her hand.

"I get the feeling I should be concerned that you know me by his ridicules nickname." He smirks. "My real name is Anakin Skywalker. Jedi Master."

"And you… are… the man… who gave… my son… his… life back."

"I wish I could take all the credit, but there have been a number of us involved in that."

"Non… sense. You were… the man… he… needed. He had… no… father… figure. I… re… fuse to… consider… that… monst… er his… father… figure." She gasps out. To my surprise, she reaches over herself with her good hand and snatches needles and tubes out of her.

"Mother!" I step in and Tree-Hugger looks as scared and freaked out as me, but Mother waves us off as she continues whatever madness she is doing. The nurse argues relentlessly and tries to hold her back, but Mother snaps at her.

Mother swings her good leg over the side of the bed, pulls her bad leg over with her good arm, and tumbles out. I picture her falling face first, but she manages to balance herself on one leg. Her entire right side hangs limp and the agony she is in just having moved this much is clear as day. She is already drenched in sweat.

She slowly lowers herself on one leg, barely managing to balance herself, until she is in a kind of one-handed bow with her face to the floor. "Thank… you."

I look up in amazement to Tree-Hugger. He recognizes the significance of it. The scar on her is readily seen, her pain and agony as a constant is there, and she is thin as a stick. He shakes a bit, but places himself down on his knees in front of her and hugs her. "You do not have to thank me. It was my privilege to consider him a son."

Something about the moment refuses to be tainted or messed up, but once Mother starts gasping for breath and is about to pass out, "Okay, tender moment! We all love each other, blah blah blah! Help me get her back on the table!" I grab her legs and Tree-Hugger helps me get her back on the bed. The nurse hastens to get mom fastened back to the wiring and machines and tubes and medicine keeping her alive, and after a moment all I hear is my racing heartbeat beating about as fast as mother's heart monitor.

"I'm going to have to ask you two to leave." The nurse says apologetically. "She fainted and might have a heart attack now. The stress of today (not to mention what she just did) was too much. You may see her again tomorrow, but I'm calling it quits for today."

Tree-Hugger nods shakily and bolts out. I rush out as well. I close the door behind me and we both stand there shaking.

"So…" I say. "You have now met the Mareks. What do you think?"

"Your family seems to have a lot of strength… and determination… and will."

"Basically we're insane."

"Yeah."

We share a glance and burst out in chuckles that can only be had when in mad situations. The kind you get from hiding behind a rock while snipers pepper the ground around you. Seeing mom do that really made me panic. My adrenaline is pumping. I might as well be behind that rock.

* * *

Visas had underestimated Admiral Rebhorn.

Of all the men he had chosen to escort her on a several day journey to the mysterious location and back, the Admiral had chosen_ him_. The fellow Seeker who conflicted her, made her question her place in life, and tested her loyalty. She had thought she had put him behind her, but recent turmoil and... having her purpose in her Keeper's life no longer secure, she had been at her most vulnerable.

"Well played, Admiral. Well played." Visas thought out loud.

Visas considered herself to be emotionless in public. Anyone who knew her knew better, that her thick shell was as strong as it needed to be for what lied within, but it left her with few known weaknesses for others to exploit. And he had chosen one of her greatest at the greatest chance. It was perfect. Coincidental even. There was no way he would have known how conflicted she was inside, so it was a stroke of luck to force her to share a quiet ship with the one person she couldn't bring herself to harm. If anything, she had be to be on the defensive by just evading the person, but she couldn't. She had little choice but to work with him to some degree.

So she was trapped. Trapped on a living ship. Trapped within herself. Trapped in a room with the one man who had a key. For days.

"Visas Marr, we are approaching the coordinates." The ship announced.

The man beside her jumped in surprise at the sudden voice. "Whazzat?" Visas couldn't help but chuckle.

"It's the ship."

He turned over on the bed and looked at her. They were blind, but it served to show attention. "You really were not joking when you said the ship was alive, were you?"

"When was the last time I joked?" She said sarcastically.

"You joke all the time and always with a straight face. It's what makes you so funny."

"Hmm."

"Visas Marr?" The ship asked.

"Yes, yes. _We're_ coming." She climbed out of the bed and slipped into some clothes.

The man groaned, but acquiesced. He climbed up as well and put his clothes on as well. "Really. I think if you weren't the 'Chosen', you could be a comedian."

"A comedian." She echoed. "I don't see what is so funny about me."

He laughed. "There you go again. Don't act like you don't know. You know what dry humor is."

"I know what dry humor is."

"Yes, and how many other people can say exactly what they are thinking, regardless of the consequences or social norm, and with a straight face like yours?"

"I still do not see the connection."

"Then I'll take you to a comedy some time." He offered. Now fully clothed, Visas left the room to head to the bridge room. He wasn't far behind. He struggled to keep up with her and she smirked. It amused her to see him struggling to slip a shoe on while hopping.

"For the last time, no." She said for the millionth time. "I didn't accept your invitation last time, the time before that, nor any time before that since the day you decided you were going to figure me out." That was how they met. She was new to the fleet, having only recently escaped Nihilus and served the Revanchist, and this man decides he is going to figure out how many layers thick the ice-queen was.

Annoying. He has proven to be as stubborn about asking as she is about refusing.

Her life was one of servitude. Of commitment. Of being a living sacrifice and slave to a man she was chosen for at birth. She could not allow herself to waver.

But then, Varus hadn't exactly chosen her had he? She had made her feelings abundantly clear, but whether he was scared or put off by it, he had chosen an alien. And she had made her feelings clear to the alien as well, as both a warning and attempt to scare her away, but the alien had disregarded all of it selfishly. What was a woman that knew Varus for days to her who had been given to him at birth?

Visas couldn't shake the image of them in bed, try as she did. They had not been in bed. They had been on a couch, fully clothed, and not having done anything. Visas knew that. But her imagination played tricks with her and distorted everything.

Even if Visas acknowledged that the feeling between the two was mutual, and growing. Even if she acknowledged that Varus had, technically, released her of her burden, that didn't release her of twenty years of mentality pounded into her. She had been chosen as a sacrifice on the altar of tradition, set aside from all others, trained and conditioned to meet a need that would secure and strengthen the core of the Miraluka people.

Mere words could not change that.

But actions could.

Visas understood his will. He had released her for a reason. He was not a creature of tradition. He had been stripped of all traditions, alienated from culture, and turned into a person delved in self-interest. In the same way, he had tried to free her from it just as he was, for what was the point of a sacrifice to a man that would not accept it? It would be meaningless.

So Visas tried. She did the one thing she thought would tear the burden off her shoulders and free her of the choking tradition passed down for centuries. The Admiral had placed this man with her to test her loyalty, but she had taken advantage of it for the same thing. It was to her advantage, not his. She slept with him.

Instead, she only felt like she had spit on the grave of so many.

Her ancestors going back a thousand years loomed over her, their dead eyes peered down on her in disappointment, and she knew that she might have destroyed the core of her people. She felt the burden only be heavier and the weight that much greater. Only now, it seared into her soul.

"Something is bothering you." He said.

They stood in the bridge room around a radar. Being Miraluka, they could not technically see out the window. The radar was necessary to scan the system and provide proof. Varus Wynn claimed there was a star, a space station near the star, and a number of planets in the immediate system. The station put them on edge, because it might mean someone was already here despite his claim. He had assured them it was abandoned. There would be a few stragglers or pirates at most. Visas suspected there might be some Revanchist in the system left behind, cut off from the rest of their dying organization.

"Visas? Hellloooo?" He snapped his fingers.

"What?" She snapped.

"I said something is bothering you."

"I am aware." She said nothing more. He sighed. The ice-queen had put up all her walls sky-high, and he knew he wouldn't get anything out of her.

The radar hummed to life and they stood by in anticipation. They were entirely blind to what was around them. It was frightening.

"Might have been nice for the ship to come with a radar already installed." He grumbled.

"It doesn't like having things installed."

"It's a ship." He said in exasperation.

"How would you like having a third eye installed?" She asked.

"... Alright. Alright. It's a living ship. I get it." He backed off and returned to tinkering with the machine.

"If there was to be a conflict between..." Visas asked before she could stop herself, but cut herself off. It was stupid.

"Between?" His interest was piqued.

She sighed. "Rebhorn and Varus. Which would you side with?"

He nodded in understanding. It was a difficult position, to say the least. The majority of the Seekers were loyal to the Keeper, but Varus was not Keeper yet. So they were loyal to the government in turn. All the same, many of the Seeker's loyalty was turning to the Admiral because of how he kept their people going for twenty years. It was impossible to say anymore if people would side with the old tradition of Keepers, or be loyal to the leader they all knew now who had kept them alive in their darkest hour.

Even Visas wasn't sure which was better. Varus was not a natural leader by his own admission. In fact, probably the only thing keeping her to him was tradition, old friendship from their youth, and the friendship she believed she had now. Take all of that away and he only looks like a spoiled brat flying a gigantic haunted ship, no respect for tradition, and a tendency to piss people off at first contact. Hardly the makings of a king.

"I don't know." He answered.

Visas felt it was an honest answer. Seekers were devoted to the Keeper, but the Admiral had already proven himself time and time again.

"How about you?"

"My place is with Varus." She answered simply, factually, robotically.

He didn't show it, but she knew her words hurt him. He had always been a hopeful person. The fact that she had invited him to bed had probably set off all kinds of red and green lights, and now she was tearing them all down.

"But is his place with you?" He asked. He stood up from the device to face her.

Visas didn't know how to answer that.

No... She did know the answer. She just didn't want to accept it.

The radar beeped, drawing their attention. She hit a key and water flowed out of it, reshaped itself, and formed a three-dimensional picture of the system. "A sun, station of some kind, five planets, seven moons, and no ships in range." She counted out loud.

"Looks like he was right. Launching beacon... Uh... wait." He hit buttons on the ravager's console, but nothing happened. "Its… why's it not working?"

Visas smirked. "Ravager, please launch the beacon. None of your buttons work."

They heard a small pop from a side port and he pouted. Visas shook her head in exasperation. "Come, there is nothing more to do here. Let us return to the fleet with the good news."

He glared at her, "Yeah, totally no sense of humor. Riiight. Bitch."

"Bastard." She returned without missing a beat.

They insulted each other all the way back to their room before she yanked him in by his collar.


	61. Ep13 - Star Forge Part 4

**Note: To be clear, I am not making up the Rakata nor am I exaggerating. From what I have researched about the Infinite Empire, and seen from playing Knights of the Old Republic, how I describe them is how they actually were.**

**Originally my plans was to find the Forge and have a huge party! I was going to make it fun and funny where Varus has to endure being poked and proded and measured and stuck into a dumb suit, taught how to dance, and forced to take Visas to a huge politicial version of the Prom, all in his honor. It would have been tense as he sees how the Miraluka treat non-Miraluka, such as his niece and Ahsoka, and then him saying 'screw it', and dancing with his niece like a silly uncle.**

**But then I considered my plans with Koj, and realized there was an alternative ending to this that would have a bigger impact.**

**I might have the party as an interlude, if people want it, but it doesn't have an impact on the main plot, and as big as this story is getting, I think it is important to stick to the main plot now that we are kicking into final gear to head towards the big-final plot that will eventually conclude the second season in another 5-7 episodes.**

**Yes, 7 episodes. I already have a name and plot written out for each episode too, although I might revise it. It stands as this:**

**Episode 13 – Star Forge**

**interlude – Nitheal's Journal**

**Episode 14 – Price of Brotherhood**

**interlude - SCP**

**Episode 15 – Ancients**

**interlude – Birth of Hatred**

**Episode 16 – Marek Unleashed**

**interlude - Starkiller**

**Episode 17 – Starkiller Unleashed**

**Episode 18 – Time of Death**

**Episode 19 – Time of Sentiment**

**Episode 20 – Time of Abomination**

**That is what I have at this moment, and I expect it will largely stay like that.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, so no sue!**

* * *

**Episode 13 – Star Forge Part 4**

* * *

A ship popped out of Warp, followed by a second, a third… Within seconds thousands of Warp windows appeared and ships varying from the size of escape pods to a single Leviathon-class warship appeared. From the second largest ship in the fleet, Admiral Rebhorn surveyed the finding.

"So… this is the system Varus has found for us." He thought outloud.

The fact that Victoria's oldest princeling had found something as extraordinary as a corner of the galaxy yet unclaimed was enough to boggle the mind. But for it to be a man who had spent his life devoted to their worst enemy, greatest shadow and tormenter? This was enough for Rebhorn to wonder about Varus' intentions, almost as much as Leland's, but…

Rebhorn found himself wondering whether or not to analyze his opinion of the man. Was he better than what the Admiral had thought? Was he someone truly worth trusting?

He wasn't so naïve as to think to trust him without taking every moment into account. There was still the possibility of the planet's being inhabited by natives that would ruin their attempt to colonize. There could already be colonies. There could be an outpost.

The space station alone sent too many red-flags going off in Rebhorn's mind. (Not that he knew what red looked like.) It meant that someone, whether past or present, lived here. If the former, it was most likely booby-trapped, if the latter, then alarms would go off and their presence would be disclosed to the owners.

On the holographic radar behind him, the leviathan-ship started moving in the direction of the system's star.

"Sir!"

"I know." Rebhorn sighed. "Don't mind him. He laid claim to the station already. Our concern will be on analyzing the planets. Send out ships to every object and begin intensive scans. Look for signs of life, signs of civilization, and geographic conditions we can live in; in that order."

Varus was impulsive, but, for the moment, Rebhorn would appreciate his supposed desire to help their people. His impulsiveness was allowable.

Rebhorn continued to bark out orders even as his men handed out the orders and organized the fleet. "Have the carriers and civilian class-ships keep close proximity to either the Ravager or the Fleet Mother for protection. Anything with offensive capability will escort the scouts to each planet to do their scans. The Fleet Mother will move here-" Rebhorn moved the projected path of the Fleet Mother to the middle of the system where it could react, while the Ravager would be positioned by the distant star. "-and if any ships encounter resistance, or signs of civilization, they are to immediately return."

The Ravager stopped next to the space station and looked like it was in the process of boarding. What is what idiot doing? Does he have no sense of caution!?

Rebhorn continued, "I don't care if you find people strapping rocks to sticks and having no vocabulary higher than 'ugh!', I want them returning!"

* * *

This is the Star Forge.

We step off the Ravager and enter the hanger, and what I feel is overwhelming.

Revan feels at home, and as alien as the place feels to me, I welcome it. The station is filled with the Dark Side, but there is something more to it. An underlying tone that is more than just the Dark Side. The Dark Side is power that feeds on emotion, largely darker emotion, but emotion none of the less.

"After all the years, we finally find it!" Tree-Hugger cheers. I chuckle. He looks like a kid in a candy store. I bet he wants to pry open panels and get into how the space station ticks. Ahsoka smiles widely as well.

I close my eyes and breathe it in. The air feels alive. The power of a star within a station is more than just its fuel, its in the walls, in the air, in the ground we walk on. The space station breathes of power and the ghosts of the past look down on us as unworthy of it.

But its not ghosts. Its subtle, very subtle, but there is a connection of life and Force energy within every the walls that remind me of the Ravager, except more structured.

To look at the life within the walls of my Ravager, it looks incomplete, broken, leaking, but the life within the walls of the Star Forge… there is no loose connections. There are no broken points, nothing leaks. There is a perfect flow of energy through the hull of the station around me. The station hums around me, and I come to realization even before Revan shows me.

"The Star Forge is alive." I say. My eyes still closed.

"What?!" Tree-Hugger stops what he is doing and turns to me in amazement. Like I expected, he was trying to pry open a panel.

"He's right." Visas agrees with me. "The way the Force flows through the station reminds me of the Ravager. The space station is not just alive… its practically glowing."

"Well this changes things." He grumbles. "I don't think we should be doing anything stupid then." He puts the panel back where it was and backs away slowly. "The Ravager is devoted to Varus, but we can't say what the Star Forge has in store for us, or who's side it's on."

"It has no master. Never has."

"But… It was Revan's home base." Ahsoka argued.

"And do you see any Revanchist?" I ask.

They look around and come to the realization. This was the primary base of the Revanchist at their prime, but there are none here. No Revanchist are here to welcome us. There has been nothing. No droids, no people, nothing. HK stands at alert and the others hang back near the open port where we are connected to the Ravager.

I continue, "The ship had no master. The Infinite Empire made it, and couldn't tame it. Revan claimed it, and he feared it too much to explore more than what was safe for him to expose himself to. Even Malak, as insane as he was, was more terrified of the space station than anything."

"…"

"That might have been why the Republic removed this system from the map as well."

"Now you're just guessing." Tree-Hugger replies. All the same, the wariness is evident in his attention. He has a hand on his lightsaber and is listening to everything.

"Perhaps. But think about it… The Republic had the Forge, the prize of Revan, at their disposal after the war. So why hide it's existence? Why go so far as to lie to themselves and make it disappear from all records?" I shake my head. "No… They came to the same realization as everyone else. The Forge is something to be feared."

And now I am feeling it. It's a slow process, a cancerous poison of fear, but it enters from my shaky legs up to my fluttering heart.

The Forge is watching us. Judging us.

And we are unworthy.

It reminds me of what its like to stand in Nihilus' presence. The Forge has that same silent thoughtfulness. The Ravager shakes, echoes, quakes, and has a pained loneliness, but the Forge is completely silent and is observant.

"Have I made a mistake… should we be here? Should I have brought my people here? Have I only doomed us all?" I whisper.

Despite my whisper, they still hear me. Visas says, "You knew the power of the Forge even before we set foot on it, Keeper. You claimed it as yours to keep it out of our people's hands. If it was so powerful and dangerous as for us to not come to begin with, you wouldn't have offered the system to our people to begin with. Instead… you claimed it for yourself."

"You saying this was a subconcious decision?"

"I cannot say." Visas shrugs dismissively. "I don't know how your mind works after having so many sets of memories separated, suppressed, and added. But whether it was because of your connection with Revan, or your own desire, you chose that the best thing to do was this. But I find it curious. Is it because you want to keep it away from anyone's hands."

She looks at me. "Or will you try to tame it?"

"…" I look away and reach back into the Forge with my mind. I can't answer her… because I don't know.

I know how I am. I'm a stubborn person. I was the apprentice to an emotionless spectre, and took up the challenge in becoming an arrogantly-humorous person with his emotions on his sleeve in multiple layers.

Looking into the face of the Forge, I can't deny the challenge. Even if the challenge is only to look into its eyes and acknowledge its strength. I've already spit in the face of Death, Void, and Hunger.

"But at what cost?" Ahsoka demands. "The Forge drove Revan and Malak mad!"

"That's wrong." I correct. "They were already mad. Revan was already named Darth Revan when he found the Forge…"

I see Revan talking with some natives of the system in my mind. All the remains of the Infinite Empire is the Rakata tribes, and they are insane cannibals with little more than stick huts and their claws for technology now. But for all of their insanity, they do acknowledge their history. The Rakata tribes believe the Forge drove their Empire mad and destroyed them from the inside like a cancer. It's a view Revan shares.

Along with some disease not of the Forge's origin, and some foe they couldn't fight.

"But it did contribute to the Rakata's fall." I admit.

"Still, I repeat myself: at what cost?" Ahsoka asks. "We've only been here for minutes, are only on the edge of it, and already the Dark Side feels overwhelming! If you try taming it, what will it do to you!?"

I look to her and see the fear in her eyes.

The Forge will destroy me and leave me as a shadow of what I am, or what I will become with Ahsoka by my side.

I sigh, and look to HK. "HK. How would the Forge react to our presence?"

"Clarification: The Forge has a history of being dangerous to any party that it does not judge as useful to itself."

That means… it has a purpose for them in mind. "And how does it judge that?"

"I do not know."

We stand in silence. I don't really think much, and no one says anything while we let that sink in.

Now that we are finally here… now what?

I sense it. I know why Revan feared the Forge. It's like standing in front of a caged animal you can't quite see. Its silent as a predator and just as lethal. If you stand too close it will gut you, but it's the unknown that draws you in just as much, because as dangerous as I know this place is, I want to understand why.

I've felt this way before… when I was young I would look across the horizon and wonder what was just beyond it, even knowing it was dangerous and I would most likely starve.

Ahsoka grabs my arm and I turn to her. She looks at me so worriedly that my heart clenches. "Please, Varus. Let's just get back on the ship."

"Ahsoka…" I start to argue.

"I realize you're curious…" She looks down. "We are finally here, and as cautious and worried as you are, I can see the excitement in your eyes. But we shouldn't be taking risks. If we are going to explore the station, then let's do so slowly."

I glance up to the others, and while no one says anything, they look to her approvingly.

They all want to take this slowly…

I don't want to. I want to at least know why the Forge's presence makes my knees shake. I want to see its heart.

Because it has a heart doesn't it? The way the Force flows here is identical to the Ravager in nature, and the Ravager has a heart. I want to see the Forge's heart. I want to see and understand it at the very least and know what it is I am afraid of.

Even the Ravager, a constant presence in the back of my mind, feels like she is resting next to one of her kin. It is a very unusual feeling for her to have. She has always been lonely to some extent, but for the first time, she isn't. The Ravager is afraid, naturally, the Forge is so large and has a powerful dark aura, but the two truly do feel like… similar.

Did Nihilus base his plans for the Ravager off the Forge in some way?

"Varus." Tree-Hugger says and my mind snaps back to reality. I had at some point walked forward and neared the door to the Forge's inner corridors.

I look back to see Ahsoka is looking down silently afraid.

Crap… the Forge is powerful.

I say apologetically, "I'm sorry. Let's go back to the Ravager. Our first priority should be on my people having a home."

No one moves. They're waiting for me to move first. Cheeky bastards. I take the first step back. The Forge calls out to me, but I ignore it. I have something more important.

After all, I can't allow the Forge to tame me. That's not how this works. Either the Forge will submit to me, or I will show it was true isolation feels like until the day my family bloodline ends.

I pass by Ahsoka and lean down to whisper, "I'm sorry. It's easy to be drawn in, but then, that is the nature of the Dark Side."

She nods. "I know I can't stop you… but please, be careful."

Something about the finality of her words hurt me. Does she really think I can't contain myself? "Yes, you can stop me. Just ask, and I won't return."

"I know." She smiles. Its fake. I don't like it. "But I know you. We've been chasing the Star Forge for so long that not facing, despite it being so close, will torment you for years. Just promise me you will rely on me… and you will be careful."

I look into her eyes a long moment and nod. "I promise."

* * *

Rebhorn slammed the results of his finding down on the desk.

Varus didn't flinch and glanced down at it in mild interest before looking up to the Admiral with a haughty expression. "What is this supposed to be?"

"Take a look for yourself! I had it translated just for you." He spat.

Rebhorn sat at his desk and waited patiently for the brat to read. As he did so, Rebhorn continued, "I haven't shared my findings with the fleet. If I did it would destroy you and your family."

"Pft… isn't that exactly what you want?"

"To remove, not to destroy!"

"So there is a civitlization already, so what? I expected as much. They're all that remains of the Rakata Em-"

"YOU EXPECTED THIS!?" Rebhorn jumped up and barked angrily.

Despite how experienced Varus was, he still backed down slightly under Rebhorn's sudden outburst, while on Rebhorn's part, his brain was still playing catchup with the realization.

"Yo-you! You expected this?!"

"Yes!"

"And what exactly did you have in mind when, Oh, I don't know, THE REST OF US find the barbarians on the only inhabitable planet in the system!?"

Rebhorn stopped when he saw the expression on Varus's face. It was one dangerously close to an expression he saw in his nightmares on Leland's face. It was a level of indifference that disgusted him.

"You expected us to wipe them out." Rebhorn concluded. "You scheming little bastard…" Right then, Rebhorn was ready to remove all good feeling he had for the brat.

Death's apprentice was no better than Death's spawn.

Varus gasped, "No! I didn't!"

"Really?" He responded blandly, not believing it. "Then what exactly did you have in mind?"

"I expected we would take a land or continent far away from the Rakata tribes, and have a homeland!"

"And we would all just co-exist and there would be peace and we could walk hand-in-hand right?"

Varus glared at him. "Don't insult me."

"Then what did you think would happen?! Look at reality, Varus! Okay, let's go with your little plan of co-existence on the same planet with a barbaric, ruthless, cannibalistic set of tribes that would rather kill each other and lose themselves to bloodlust than use two brain cells. Let's say we thrive on another continent where they cannot find us. Then let's say we grow…"

"What are you getting at?" Varus growled.

"If you knew a single thing about history, Varus, co-existance almost never works out. Coruscant was once owned by two races, the Huma and the Mandalorian. The Mandalorian were kicked out."

"Naboo worked." Varus argued.

"Only because one race didn't give enough of a damn to bother with the other, and the two races wanted it! But even then, the Gungans are receiving their own world, and their own system, as part of some big deal they made. Even peacefully, co-existance only goes so far!

Varus quieted and Rebhorn continued, "So what do you think will happen between us and the Rakata?"

"The Rakata will not accept us, and we will be forced to wipe them out to protect our future colonies."

"Exactly."

Varus sighed. "It sounds almost like you want it to happen."

"When did I give you that impression? Yes, if the Rakata are as barbaric and twisted as you make it sound, then they might deserve extinction, but that is not my wish! I would hope it is not yours!"

"It is not!"

"Then how exactly will we resolve this?" Rebhorn demanded. "Because it looks like you brought us into this either expecting war, or you're so stupid and naive that my objective to remove you from power is completely justified!"

Varus growled, but didn't react. He tried to respond in some way, but he couldn't find the words.

How exactly could they resolve this?

There was one planet in the system, and it was inhabited by all the remained of the Infinite Empire. In the collapse of the ancient empire, the tribes fell to the Dark Side so hard that they were nothing more than cannibalistic barbarians who sacrificed their enemy to pagan blood gods.

Their culture was unknown to Rebhorn, but Varus knew it from Revan's time with them.

Peace would be impossible.

"There is one hope… If we can isolate Rakata that are willing to be peaceful and learn to rise above what they have fallen into…"

Rebhorn nodded. Slightly appeased. It was a bad plan, and not something he hadn't already considered, but it was something for Varus to personally think about. "That is one possibility. But it still leaves us the problem of war."

They fell into silence and Rebhorn sighed. "Listen… I can't hide this for too long. Already, I fear rumors are spreading from the scouts I sent out. The situation will explode in your face if we don't bring the results promised to our people."

He continued, "I will send scouts out further for an extended journey. This corner of the galaxy is large enough to have a bunch of systems unexplored. We are bound to find something. But you have given them hope, Varus. Admirable as that is, hope is a double edged sword."

"I know…"

"We need a home. And soon. Or all that remains of your support will be gone."

"You sound almost worried." Varus remarked. He tried to smirk, but the reality of how bad this news was kept him from mustering the will to do it.

"I am." The Admiral admitted openly. "Let me speak plainly, Galen Marek. My war with the Marek's is peaceful, slow, and will leave your family with honor, prestige, history, and a comfortable life. We will have a home, and the people will have a stronger form of government based on law and judgement rather than a monarchy reliant on empathy on a national scale."

The Admiral walked around his desk and stood face to face with Varus, looking down at the younger man. "I admired your father, and honor him. I love your mother, always have. I tutored your brother and saw him like a son, and I have high hopes for you; but if you force my hand with stupidity, again, I will have no choice but to make it a humiliating, sudden, destructive experience."

"Is that a threat?"

"It's reality as a leader." The Admiral clarified before turning around dismissively. "Now get out of my office."

* * *

Ahsoka was startled awake by sudden movement on her bed, and a warm weight on her back, followed by something entrapping her. She struggled against the person. "Wha- who? No! Get off!"

"It's me."

"Varus?" Ahsoka stopped. Her instincts went from panicking to being protective so fast she almost got whiplash. Varus had never approached her unannounced, and they had not yet moved beyond cuddling in the middle of the day yet. This was night, she was just asleep!

And something in his voice sounded broken.

Ahsoka didn't say anything, but let him hold her while she laid there. She didn't plan to let him stay, this was already going far beyond what she was comfortable with, but if it would soothe whatever was wrong to just be there morally…

"I screwed up." He said plainly, but it sounded false. Like he was trying to have some kind of strength that was failing.

"What happened?" She asked quietly.

"I've forced my people into a position to choose between destroying my family and destroying the last of an old race."

Ahsoka's heart broke. She could forget trying to sleep now. She rose up, and he released his hold on her as she sat up to a lotus position in front of him. "Tell me everything, please." She implored him gently.

His pain and turmoil was clear as day as he explained everything. He was sweating heavily, shaking, bruised, and wearing gym clothes so he must have saught an intensive training session to get through this, but it didn't work. The problem couldn't be escaped from and hitting his fists into something or becoming stronger wouldn't solve it.

Varus was at odds with a fight he couldn't fight back against, no matter how powerful he was. This wasn't a problem of power, but of moral dilemna and a powerful choice. It would be so easy for him to just fall back on modern Sith principles of 'natural selection' and destroy the Rakata, but Varus's growing heart had come to include even strangers.

A part of Ahsoka was proud to see him in pain, because it showed he was taking seriously the possibility of killing them as a bad thing, but it also broke her to see it for her own eyes.

"And… I just don't know what to do!" Varus whispered. He looked to be on the verge of crying for sheer frustration. "The Rakata diserve every thing we can give them! They glassed Tattooine, boiled Manaan, forested-to-death Kashyyyk, and enslaved and wiped out many other planets and races! They're the pinnacle of the evils of the Dark Side, full of bloodlust, cannablism, blood sacrifice, lawlessness, and generaly just really bad people! But…"

"It's still genocide. And your people have been on the opposite end of it…" Ahsoka guessed.

Varus nodded. "I don't want my people to be no better than Nihilus."

"They won't be. Granted, genocide is bad, but Nihilus's reason had no higher purpose than hunger. Your people need a home, and it is part of life for one nation to uproot another to claim land."

"That doesn't make it any better…"

"No, but there is two degrees of evil. Your people wouldn't be Sith destroyers like Nihilus, your people would become conquerors."

Ahsoka didn't really have a point, but just talking seemed to calm him down. "Truth is, Varus… I don't know what to say. I don't think I have a solution."

"Oh, I'm not here for one." He said defensively. "I didn't come to you just for you to bring me a solution on a silver platter. I just… needed to be with you."

She smiled. Hearing it made her feel warm. She kissed him, something he quickly returned. "Thank you." She looked at his sweating, shaky state and had an idea. "All the same, I don't think destroying droids was the way to go about things."

"I hoped it would have make me feel better… but it doesn't. My mind is… spinning."

"Yeah… Sounds like what you need is guidance, not training."

He snorted. "No kidding, but the only person on the ship who's guidance might do me any good is Cyborg-Hugger, and there would be screaming and panicking if I snuck into the Hugger's bed to talk."

She narrowed her eyes at him playfully. "So you thought it was a good idea to sneak into mine…"

"Yep." He smiled innocently.

She sighed in defeat. "I wonder about you sometimes…" She climbed out of bed and pulled on a silk bathrobe over her pyjamas. "Come, I have an idea."

"You're not going back to bed?" He wondered, following.

"Not after you come to me like a kicked puppy with a sob story highlighted by the keyword 'genocide', and definitely not with you in bed with me." Yet. She thought.

"Then where we going?"

"You see." She smiled teasingly. She loved how he was insationably curious. It only grew worse as they kept walking, until, at some point, realization came to him. He did know the ship like the back of his hand after all.

"The Heart. Why here?" Varus looked from the walls of the Ravager's Heart room to her. She opened the door and they entered in. As expected, the true Ravager ran over to them and loved being at the center of attention. She saw the holocron Galen standing to the side shyly, but not disappearing.

"Meditation."

"Yeeeeeaaaaah…" He drolled. "Not my strong suit unless it involves looking into a lightsaber."

"This room has a strong connection to the Force, so that is what I think we should use." She sat down on the ground and he mimicked her. "I'm going to show you how to meditate on the Light…"

The Dark Side lacked clarity and answers. It provided strength and power, but that wasn't what Varus needed. Varus needed guidance. He needed to open himself to the Force and seek guidance and answers rather than power within himself. He had no answers, so he couldn't rely on himself for it.

Ahsoka expected him to fight her on it. After his treatment by the Jedi Council, she expected him to fight tooth and nail and be angry at her only now saying what her idea was; but to her surprise, he mellowed. The boyish demeanor disappeared, and after a brief nod, he was a serious man, focused and attentively listening. He truly seemed to want answers, and he was willing to go into Jedi territory to get it. He was willing to delve into old wounds and grudges for what he needed, and again Ahsoka felt her heart lurch with pride.

It took a surprisingly short time for him to get a grasp of it once he was focused, and she left him to it to continue meditating on his own. Odds are he wouldn't get anything out of it, not even most masters received visions until after years of training (although Ahsoka felt it was more because they had drifted away now rather than lacked training), but it would clear his mind and let him see everything with more clarity.

It didn't change how he would most likely continue claim to be a Sith or Miraluka, but it was just another way she saw that the normal expectations of one didn't apply to him.


	62. Ep13 - Star Forge Part 5

**Note: And here is the final piece to the Star Forge!**

**I feel I rushed it a bit in this part to explain something essential, so I may not have done it right. But learning of the the Forge's origins, and then of the Infinite Empire and how it correlated, and how it started its war with the Jeda'ii is an essential step towards learning of the Abomination's origins. **

**Its one step, one big step. A step I have been building on with the entire 'In the Path of Revan' story talking about all this crap the Infinite Empire had done to various people.**

**So now that this chapter is out of the way, the next major arc will begin.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, so no sue!**

* * *

**Episode 13 – Star Forge Part 5**

* * *

I hate meditating

Training I like. Focusing and concentration I am good at when I have an object to focus it on. Meditation lacks that, so my focus and concentration go out the window, and I run into a very common problem.

I get bored.

What am I supposed to focus on? My breathing?

In. Out. In. Out. Bo. Red.

Yeah, calm your mind, my ass!

Does Ahsoka even realize the number of people inside my head? I can literally have a conversation between me, myself, I, and Revan if I wanted to.

She said to focus on my breathing For three minutes.

Three freakin' long minutes. That's uh, sixty times three... Round the one. 160, is still a lot of seconds!

I sigh and it comes out as a groan. I hate this.

Calm... Be calm... My face itches

"Dangit!" Now my whole body itches! This is driving me mad!

"Stop being so twitchy. Just relax." Ahsoka tells me.

She is all perfect and relaxed and a show off about it all.

"I've been trying to meditate for three days! All I've gotten so far is a numbness in my legs." I whisper.

She doesn't answer. Fair enough, I won't talk either.

The seconds go by, and unfortunately people are right. Your other senses do pick up when you close some off! I hear everything!

"Just relax." She says, barely a whisper.

Relax okay. Trying to obey isn't working, so let's think and solve this instead.

How do I relax?

I blow stuff up!  
I don't sit on a floor letting my butt fall asleep.  
I get people mad and aggravated!  
I don't get bored.  
I sleep!  
I...

I'm a genius! I've slept sitting up plenty of times. It s practically the same! From what Ahsoka tells me of meditation, it's so similar to sleep that I should have thought of it days ago!

I just need to not actually fall asleep I think.

* * *

Ahsoka had to admit, Varus caught on fairly quickly.

He stopped twitching, he stopped moving. He was completely relaxed. She watched him a long moment. At first she thought he was unconscious, but his back was too rigid and his head was straight. There was a bit of a slouch, as was to be expected, but she had seen too many Padawans fall asleep to not pick up the signs.

'Good job.' She thought to herself for him with a wide smile. She didn't want to break his focus.

The seconds ticked by, and she figured he was getting the hang of it. She wanted to spend some time with her actual Padawans. While she was training Varus, she might as well give some to her students. She left as quietly as she could.

Minutes later Varus swayed gently, then fell backwards sprawled out on the floor, and snored.

* * *

I see stuff.

A lot of black with white dot's kind of stuff. Is it a galaxy map? No, there are too few dots. There are only a few hundred dots, at most.

One by one, the white orbs are covered in darkness. Its not an instantaneous transition, but a rapid one. Something stretches across the field consuming them. But it doesn't consume them all, seven dots remaing. Seven dots that shine brighter than all the others combined. The darkness wants them, yearns, hungers! It wages war on the seven dots.

The darkness manages to catch one off guard. It takes one of the special white dots and puts it in a cage. The caged dot yells out fearfully, but as the six other dots move away from it, the seventh dot fights back on its own. It consumes the cage itself, becomes the cage, and lashes out against its masters, leaving a cancerous color in it that slowly corrodes the darkness.

The darkness becomes discolored and weak, and in its hunger, ignores its weaknesses. It wants the dots so much, that it fails to notice how the darkness is weakening. The six dots turn around and fight back. They rally weaker dots to themselves, and the darkness becomes angry. A war is waged everywhere, but the darkness slowly recedes. It no longer has the strength to fight, as it has become discolored.

The darkness eventually crumbles into nothing, and the six dots disappear into the midst of the other dots. But something has changed in them. They are discolored to. They no longer shine as brilliantly as they once did, but change into a mix of colors, all of which lack the purity they once had. Something is missing in each color. Their war with the darkness tainted them.

I wake up sweating and disoriented. I look around me, expecting darkness and more dots, but all that awaits me is the Ravager and where I had fallen asleep.

I wipe the sweat from my forehead. "Dots why does it always have to be dots?"

"Dots are such a simple shape. They represent a point, an object."

"Yeah they are." I reply easily, but freeze. I don't recognize the voice. I look up to see some kid standing before me. Blond, blue-eyed, and entirely too comfortable around me.

"Do your parents know where you are, kid?" I ask.

"My father always knows where I am." The kid smiles.

"Great, so your father must be psychic. Why don't you go join him and be all psychic together?"

The kid smiles and before my eyes he disappears. In his place stands Maris Brood. "You know, your mouth almost got you killed once before. I would think you would learn to think before you speak."

I jump back at the sight of her and pull out my lightsaber out of pure instinct, but I don't respond. The kid even sounds like her. "Cute trick."

Maris Brood disappears and in her place is the first man I have ever murdered. The grandfather who's death earned me the title 'Starkiller'. "You have many names, Galen Marek. Almost as many as I do. Some call you Galen, some Keeper, some Varus, Starkiller, Revan's Heir, Death's Apprentice, friend, foe, lover, slave, the list goes on."

"So you know my names." I respond. "But I fail to know yours."

"Death. Life. Hades. Universe. Spirit. Force. To name a few. In truth, I carry as many names as there are people." In the man's place is the kid again.

The Force

I chuckle and turn off my lightsaber. "Wow. I-I have to admit you really had me going there for a second, kid. You've certainly done your research. And your power is impressive. I truly felt I was in the presence of Maris and the old man again."

Kids must have pulled them out of my mind.

"Let me guess " I continue. "You're going to tell me next that I just had some kind of vision in my dream and that you're going to hand the solution to me on a nice silver platter complete with donut rolls and cupcakes?"

"Yes, actually."

"Well then, good night." I turn around to leave, but the kid is already there. "Damn you're fast."

"You're eyes deceive you, and your self-reliance clouds your judgement." The kid says. "Do not look to me with the logic of a Jedi or the sight of a Sith, but as a Miraluka."

I look down at the kid tiringly. "Then will you leave me be?"

The kids nods, so I close my eyes.

The kids glows.

Correction, to say the kid glows is like taking a candle stick up to a sun and saying its on fire. The kid is practically blinding! He is a connection of millions and millions of strings and lines pointed in every conceivable direction. I can't even see the kid in the midst of all the connections of Force energy!

I open my eyes, amazed. The kid nods. "Now do you see?"

A part of me continues to think that there has to be a reasonable explanation for this, and I agree. There has to be.

But sometimes the explanation just isn't the reasonable one. Isn't that why they call genius's crazy?

I have to be to be talking to a kid that calls himself Force.

"Aright. I'll bite."

"Then follow." The child turns and walks away.

I sigh. Typical. The Force has been playing a joke on my life from the day I was born. I really shouldn't be surprised that the first time I try to approach the Force for guidance in the Light-Side-Meditation-method that Ahsoka showed me, that I actually get visited by the Force.

I follow the Force-kid to a shuttle in the Ravager hanger, and he sits down expectantly, leaving the controls wide open. "I guess I'm driving huh?"

He nods. "Take us to the Forge."

I shake my head in axasperation. "As you wish. Just so you know, the station is a nasty piece of work."

I do know how to fly like a complete amateur at the very least. I've never flown myself, always had other people do it for me, but I've seen it done enough times that I understand the idea. I take it slow and the kid sits patiently on the other chair.

Whether by the will of the Force (ironic being that he is sitting next to me) or me suddenly getting good at this, we land without a hitch.

"Why are we here?" I ask. "I get that you came to me for a reason, and I have been meditating lately, but I don't know if you are here to help me, to answer my questions, to have me do what you want, to play poker, or what? You haven't exactly been clear on that."

"I am here to prevent the destruction of all that exists."

"Oh." I nod. "That is wonderfully vague and very ominous. It all makes perfect sense now."

"Then I will explain on the way, but there is something I want for you to see, something for you to do, and something for you to understand. The final years are upon you, and after a thousand years your enemy still eludes you as he brings the universe closer and closer to oblivion."

"And who would that be?"

"The one whom the Eternal Hand worship."

"Oh, lovely. That guy. Yeah, we are being led by the nose in his game."

"This 'game' has gone on for many generations, young Miraluka and his victory is all but assured. The key to his victory is that all trace is forgotten. It was the wrongs and sins of the past that birthed him, and so long as they remain forgotten, he cannot be fought. You cannot fight a foe you do not find. You cannot defeat an abomination you do not understand."

Okay, so something about remembering something done in the past because that is where this Eternal Hand creep hides. So he hides in the past?

No, wait. The Eternal Hand err Starkillers had made some big announcement when they killed Bastilla. They had mentioned something about being the 'Harbingers of all your sins'.

We enter the Forge, and despite my reservations, the kid is unafraid. The doors open, and the Forge actually feels welcoming. We pass droids of all kinds that stand at attention as the kid walks by, and I follow with my senses at alert.

A door opens to a large dark room, and the kid starts talking. "The vision I granted you was to help you understand a piece of that history. Already you have seen the work of the Infinite Empire first hand."

Tatooine, Manaan, Kashyyyk. Lovely places. Maybe I'd vacation there. Get some sheep and build a fence to sit on.

Yeah, no.

"I have. Tatooine, Manaan, and Kashyyk, right?"

"Correct. The Infinite Empire were attracted to places of great power. They lacked travel by any means other than in utilizing my energies directly, and it was the source of their technology. They gorged themselves on me."

The lights turn on, and I instantly panic. My every instinct screams 'RUN LIKE A BAT OUT OF HELL!'

Oh shit.

There are a dozen of those snake-baller-droids from Coruscant around us.

Oh shit.

Oh shit oh shit oh shit!

They don't move, and I don't either. The kid keeps walking by them as though he doesn't notice, and the large droid's attention are on the kid rather than me.

That has to be a good sign of some kind. I force myself to keep moving forward and keep my feet at the ready.

If anyone so much as farts, I'm out the door so fast my pants will still be in mid-air with a trail of smoke and sparks following me. I couldn't teleport fast enough out of here if I tried!

I don't feel the Forge's ominous presence judging me anymore. Every machine is turned off, droid is waiting for orders, and the presence of the ship in the Force feels anticipating.

The kid continues talking once I catch up. Thankfully his pace is slow. "Long before the time of the Jedi, Sith, or Miraluka, my children were merely special people who could hear me. I talked and spent time with each of them individually, with their own needs, desires, purpose, and destiny."

"Like Koj." I reflect.

"Exactly. He is one who heard me, called, and to whom I answered without the influence of any mortal organization. This system always was, but as they became segregated from their peers, my mortal friends needed each other. I created a number of planets for them, gathered them from all corners of the galaxy to my planets, and encased them in giant ships to move with my wishes."

I whistle. "Planets inside of ships. These planets would have had to have an insane amount of Force energy, if having a close relationship with them was in your plans. Sounds big, and very impressive."

"That is what the Rakata thought as well, because they sought them out, and tried to take them from my people."

The darkness from my dream wanted the seven glowing dots because they were special. And one of the dots was caught off guard and captured and caged while the other six waged war on the darkness.

"And they succeeded with one." I guess.

"Correct. One of my special homes was taken. The Rakata thought they could tame me. They thought they could use my energy for themselves. So they built a giant cage around it and turned it to a factory "

We enter another room that looks like a control room with closed windows, but I stop.

What he is saying does that mean ?

I start sweating because if he says what I think he is saying then that's huge. I had no idea.

The kid stops before one of the controls and taps away for a moment. The window blinds open in slits, revealing beams of light onto us, but my eyes are drawn to his as he turns back to me. His eyes glow with the brilliance of diamonds. I see every eye color in him, every shade of hair, he looks neither feminine for masculine if I wanted to, I could see a million faces in him. A million million faces.

" and they called it the Star Forge." He finishes.

The blinds open and right there, in plain view, is a planet. Kind of

Okay, so we're actually looking at a miniature sun inside of a giant ship where the walls are covered in what amounts to a planet. I walk in a daze to the window to peer out.

There is green fields and forests, rivers and oceans, continents, islands, brown desert all along the inside of the walls of the innermost part of the Forge.

The northern and southern poles have giant towers reaching towards the center point with energy streaming out of them that circulates in the center to create a miniature sun that shines of all of the 'planet'. Meanwhile on the eastern and western poles I see giant metal doors walled off from the nature to be doors that could possibly allow ships in.

"You have a part in the fight against the Abomination, just as Ahsoka, Skywalker, and Koj do. It was imbalance that birthed him, it was ignorance that kept him safe, and hatred is what he has fed on for a thousand years. Now. The first great step towards defeating him is yours to take."

I gulp. The sight alone makes my legs weak and my head spin.

There's a planet right here and the power and energy I feel from it is enough to make it feel alive! This is the secret to the Forge! The darkness, the fear, the anger and hatred and destructive nature of the Forge was the creation of the Infinite Empire! It was the factory built around this!

We have been afraid of the cage to afraid to see that the thing it contained was crying out for help, because we confused the cage for a monster it was supposed to contain rather than a prisoner.

"How?" I breathe in disbelief. "What is my part in the fight? What is their part to play? How am I supposed to take this first step? Tree-Hugger is understandable, he is the Chosen One but "

"And he is. Skywalker will bring balance to the Force, to my people, but he cannot fight the Abomination and bring balance without those by his side. You have lived your life, Galen Marek, as a Miraluka, as a Sith, and as a Jedi, and all three from equal perspectives. You have the memory of Revan, the only Jedi I will acknowledge as having achieved balance. In this way, your role is to show that balance is possible. It is an obtainable goal, and being of the Dark Side does not make one evil, no more than being of the Light Side."

I nod. My role is to be an example Well that doesn't sound too hard.

"Ahsoka's role, is simply love, mercy, and a kind of motherly understanding. Very fine qualities in their own right, but essential in finding balance for anyone. Even the Sith are not above forgiveness, no more than the Jedi."

"Without her I don't know what I would be." I admit.

He smiles warmly. "I am happy to hear that. In a way, your relationship with her, being a Sith and Jedi, is another example Skywalker must come to reflect on. He has been taught his whole life to see Sith as evil, and he has had to slay many. Hard lessons like that are difficult to reverse."

It makes sense It would be hard for the 'Chosen One' to bring balance to the Force and defeat this great evil if he didn't understand balance himself to begin with. It would be like asking me to make a pot out of clay or to dance.

That's not happening.

Ever.

I lick my lips and hesitate. "You you mentioned Koj. Can yo-" Curses, I shouldn't be this afraid. It s a simple question about my brother a brother that left angry because of justifiable hatred toward the Jedi. "What role does Koj play?"

The kid silent a long moment. My heart threatens to beat out of my chest. Does Koj have a big role to play? Does this mean I will see him again? Will it be on good terms? Bad terms? Over a cup of tea? What? Give me something!

"Your brother has fallen into hatred, and there he will stay." My heart falls with the words and my fists clench.

No Please no The Force-child continues ominously, and every word is like a knife in my chest, "He will fall, drift, drown, and become so filled with hatred and the Dark Side that it will threaten to consume him "

I clench my eyes shut and fight back the tears streaming down my face.

Koj you idiot!

Do you really hate the Jedi this much!? Do you feel the weight of your ancestors this heavily?

I know I should have expected this! Koj's own people and culture is baesd on hundreds and hundreds of years of rebellion, resistance, and outright disdain for outsiders! They have been spat on for so long and now with Koj being the last

Koj must feel like he has the weight of all of his ancestors on his shoulders and that he feels the pain of his people a thousand years back. Koj is an avenger, even more so than I ever was.

I was a child who witnessed my people's slaughter and believed it to be my fault.

Koj is a man who endured and heard the stories of hundreds of generations die, and after witnessesing his people's slaughter, became the avenger of the Ghorfa, both past and present. Koj practically is the Harbinger of Sins to all who have been oppressing his people His hatred is the culmination of a thousand years of pain and desperation.

A thousand years' worth of survivors guilt Compared to his hate, mine was childish and miniscule.

"But I will not let it destroy him." The kid says comfortingly. "Because it is at that moment when he will see the Abomination. He will look it in the face, he will see it for what it is in all of its power, its hate, and its fears, and its desires and in that moment he will understand."

He looks up to me seriously, "And he will need someone who knows darkness to pull him back out."

He look at me as though expecting me to do it. As if he is ordering me to get my brother back.

Damn right. I'm going to pull Koj out of his own ass kicking and screaming.

His hatred is the culmination of a thousand years, and his pain is the pain of his people's blood calling for vengeance. I can respect that. Pain like that the burden and survivors guilt that doesn't excuse Koj's selfishness. He will hurt people who had no part in his people's pain, and he is hurting most the very person he should be teaching forgiveness to: Cahjinawl.

"But for this moment." The kid motions to the windows and the planet within the station. I never even thought to consider that the station was technically the size of a planet itself!

Without him touching any controls, the gigantic doors on the eastern and western polar sides of the planet start to open. The stars become visible through them, and the doors look large enough to fit multiple dreadnaught through!

"Bring your people, my children, home."

* * *

Leland could scarcely believe it. He had seen many wonders in his exile, but this... this...

Leland stepped off the ramp of the ship along with the flock of other people just as astounded as him, and he dropped down on one knee to touch the ground. The grass under his fingers was damp and green. The dirt caked itself in his finger nails. A small star loomed overhead, and as if with the timing of night and day, the star was diminishing on its own to create an artificial, yet natural, night. The land itself felt alive and echoed with life so vibrant, he wondered if the emotion he should be feeling is joy or some kind of thrill.

This was beyond anything he had ever imagined.

His sentiment was shared by everyone he saw. People didn't know what to do with themselves. Rebhorn had ordered everyone to enter, and land, after the inside was scanned and inspected, in a tight circle of ships for protective measure. The 'town' that had just been born was nothing more than an assortment of docked ships on the grassy field. The Fleet Mother and Ravager both landed for a time to unload passenger, but shortly after lifted off to act as guardians in the sky over them.

In the distance, someone yelled up something about being the first to plant a flag down, or build a cozy fire, to be the first to establish a tent (and therefore a temporary dwelling) on this new world given to them by Varus.

No one actually believed the rumor that Varus had been visited in his sleep by the Force and guided here, although Varus had only told a few. He had told his family, and his crew. Leland believed it, personally. He had seen much of what the Force was capable of, and its creations, both good and bad, and didn't think Varus to be the type to come up with fantastic stories to cover up his ego. Varus did have an overactive imagination, but he was gullible and honest to the point of stupidity. If he came across this place while on the toilet, he would have admitted it.

No... the Force had engineered this, and that worried Leland.

The Harbingers would not be happy to think the Force was playing a direct role in this. It was unprecedented. It had never been done.

They wouldn't believe it and Leland knew that. If he tried saying anything, they would consider him mad and chastise him or try to hurt him and punish him in some way. He had been tortured a few times, and he frankly found the whole experience boring and tedious. Doing it to others was fun because they tended to have that kind of vulnerability and it was amusing to see who they really were when under extreme pain and near death. More than a few times he had seen, and caused, men and women who proclaimed bravado to be nothing more than disgusting, weeping, begging cowards in their final moments.

No... trying to say anything about that was pointless.

Nearby, Leland saw Varus and his friends having a small gathering. The large lizard and three fat men were trying to show off by making a fire by hand with a bunch of wood, and nothing else, but an alien girl grew impatient and punched the air, causing fire to explode and light it on fire. Leland didn't see what was amusing about it all, but then they were a crazy bunch.

Leland walked over and nodded as he drew their attention. Varus looked up at him, and for a moment Leland concluded that Varus looked quite comfortable in the outdoors. Everyone around were uncomfortable in the grass and the night air and the burning wood and sparse trees and the bugs. A generation living on ships had made them so clean that it was new to them, but Varus looked like he was experienced in it. If anything, he looked like he was as comfortable as being in a living room setting.

Leland said, "This is a wonderful find, brother. As soon as our people get past their shock, they will be singing your praises and demanding a grand festival in your honor." Leland meant it as a praise, but Varus frowned sharply and paled.

"Oh, please no " He whispered in horror.

Leland looked at him confused. "Did I say something wrong?"

"No." An alien girl chuckled. Her skin was reddish white, her head had tentacle things going down to her waist, and she was sitting entirely too comfortably next to him. "He just hates parties and the idea of people singing his praises brings most likely the prospect of dancing."

Leland nodded in understanding. "The process is tedious, but the people will want to show gratitude."

"Great, they can send me tacos every day of my life and leave me a little cabin..." Varus flopped down backwards and sprawled out on the grass. "Right about here. I'll put up a sign that reads: Trespassers will be shot. Survivors will be shot again. All at the whim of my pet droid." Said droid immediately remarked how delighted he was at the prospect of being used in such a ridicules manner.

Leland blinked in surprise and stared at him with his one eye. Was the man serious?

As if reading his mind, a grown man in their company said, "Don't worry about him, Varus is always like this."

"There is one thing I don't like..." One of the children said.

"There are no stars." Her brother finished.

"Then, as Miraluka, I do not believe our people will mind. All but the Mareks do not see stars anyway." Leland remarked with a gentle smile.

"REALLY?" The kids gasped in horror. Leland nodded.

"That is right. We do not see the sun either, but our people will acknowledge the night from its coldness."

Leland felt a quiver go down his spine and glanced out of the corner of his eye to the Marr sisters. He expected a cold shoulder from Ashley, considering how long it had been, but Visas? Something in her expression made him tense. She was focused intently on him, and he didn't like it.

Unsure whether the bad vibe was from his proximity to the children who's question he answered, and whose attention he had effortlessly obtained, or whether it was from his proximity in general, Leland backed off just to be safe. He walked around the fire to his brother. "May I sit?"

Varus looked up at him from where he laid on the grass for a moment, and nodded. Leland sat down next to him, and was immediately startled as Varus made some kind of excited noise, jumped to his feet, and ran off into the night. Leland watched him go curiously.

"I don't think he ran off just because you joined..." Varus' female alien companion murmured, looking just as confused as him.

There was a faint rustle in the nearby trees, and Varus returned a moment later carrying an armful of dry pine straw and a massive grin on his face. Without any prompting he stomped to the fire and dumped it all on.

The fire exploded into a bonfire in his face and shot up into the sky instantly, scaring, startling, and thrilling everyone in various combinations. Varus laughed like a madman even as he threatened to lose all his hair. The children screamed in delight at the explosion, the older boys were having fun, the parents were not happy and rebuked him, and everyone else was either amused or slightly panicked. The droid suggested they increase the load of fuel to create a truly great fire such as the whole forest.

Almost effortlessly, the odd assortment of people were arguing, laughing, and being excited about all manners of things, and Leland, despite himself, shook his head and chuckled. A faint feeling of melancholy blossomed and he, despite his disposition, found himself truly amused and enjoying his big brother's presence for the night. He certainly had a way with stirring things up.

He wondered what Varus would be like in his final moments... What would Varus show?


	63. Interlude - Journal of Nihilus

**Note: This interlude will be my way of announcing that I am making a new fiction. The fiction will be a small one, not designed to be finished, but act as a supplementary-side story to 'In the Path of' series. The side fic will be a collection of journals from Nihilus with his still-mortal name, Nitheal. Naturally it will be AU since it will suggest that Nitheal, Revan, Surik, Malak (Alex), Treya, and Palpatine all knew each other, were raised together in the same group, and went to war together. (I'm not including Sion because of reasons that will be explained later in 'In the Path of the Ravager'.**

**It's called 'Journal of Nitheal', and I am releasing the fic a full day before this interlude as a teaser of a teaser haha.**

**As for how often I update the journal, I can't say. I already have my hands full. It really will just be a series of one-shots at this point I think.**

* * *

**Interlude - Journal of Nihilus**

* * *

Varus gulped.

The door of Nihilus was an oppressive monument of his trauma and the dreadful gate of his nightmares. He dreaded the door. What lay within terrified him. Varus may have an agreement with Nihilus, but that didn't help when you consider the nature of the presence behind the door.

And Ahsoka wanted him to understand.

In the last meditation session -slash- talk they had, Ahsoka had discussed with him how understanding one's fear allowed them to grow beyond it. Ahsoka admitted to being afraid and hating Starkiller, but she understood him and was able to move beyond it and come to care for Varus because he chose to not be that person. Varus chose to redeem himself and Ahsoka admired that.

Ahsoka wanted him to learn about Nihilus. Not to learn of him as an apprentice to Master in search of a way to destroy him, but to learn of what made him. Why he is what he is. Varus had his theories, but what Ahsoka wanted him to learn was the truth.

There was no way in the universe he was going to sit there and ask Nihilus for his life story. Varus was willing to do a lot of things for Ahsoka, even give her his heart, but he drew a line at asking Nihilus to tell him a bed-time story like a wide-eyed child.

He was going to steal the man's journal.

Nihilus was a meticulous scientist and philosopher in his own way. He documented everything, had a million OCD's, was a cold sociopath, loved to preach or be silent as a ghost, and was always working or studying or researching. He would have kept a journal of some kind. Whether the journal was of his findings or his thoughts, he would have something.

He would never have considered something like this. Before, he wouldn't have had the strength to do it. He knew as much as he wanted about Nihilus. To truly know the mind and heart of the Void-Smith was to look into the heart and mind of insanity so far as he was concerned, and that was a thing that could shatter one's perception and destroy innocence. What happens to an innocent man who learns the mind of a monster and sympathizes? How much more could it affect him, a former Sith, to know the heart, mind, and resolve of his master?

Such things terrified him. He would never have considered it nor have had the strength to. But as Varus stood before the gate to his personal Hell, it didn't seem as bad as he thought because of Ahsoka.

He loved Ahsoka.

He wouldn't admit it in public, of course, but he wasn't the type of man to lie to himself. He loved Ahsoka. When had that happened? He couldn't say. It was a reality he had been contemplating for some time. When he thought Ahsoka had betrayed him on Dantooine, he had been hurt more than he should have. He hung on her every opinion like a hungry dog and was willing to listen and change himself based solely on her word.

He swore to be her rage. To take on the burden of her pain against Starkiller.

He gave his life to her on Mandalore, to do with him as she wanted.

Even as far back as when they first met...

'Um. Perhaps not that far back...' He thought.

As far back as their first missions together, he had been more comfortable around her than any other female he had known. Perhaps it had been acquaintances, partners, and friends, but the first time she truly struck a chord in him was after Kashyyk, when he saw the depths of her forgiveness and resolve to see the good in people. Something that was so... amazing to someone like him. To her it may be the most natural thing in the world, but to him it was either the most naive, stupid thing in the world or the most beautiful.

Was there any doubt?

Varus understood love now. In the back of his mind he could see the experience of Revan. He was merging with Revan's memories more every day. He wasn't half-Revan/half-Varus, he wasn't losing his personality to Revan, but he was coming to gain his experiences. Revan experienced love, something Varus had never understood nor experienced, and in gaining the experience, Varus could now understand the signs and why his heart beat around her.

Perhaps Varus had gained a bit of Revan's personality. Revan was a tease, but then Ahsoka didn't seem to mind.

Varus breathed in deeply and closed his eyes. "The things I do for her... Ravager open the door."

* * *

Later, Ahsoka found him already in her room. It had become tradition for them to spend the last hours of the day together, talking, allowing Varus to be himself and learn about himself in the process, teach him how to do small things like cook more than the small selection he had been self-taught already, and generally being comfortable. The comfort of being around her had become a kind of refuge that Ahsoka recognized he needed, and had lacked most of his life, and so he was still difficult to opening up. He was a jokester and was very outgoing, but that was only a defense against the inner layers and the scars. She was finding that his true self, the deeper layers, were more and more unsure, scared, guilty, and had a child-like ignorance of things she took for granted. It took her days just to get him to be able to sit on a couch comfortably because it was foreign to him.

What was unusual was for him to already be there. He usually waited until a few hours after their shift at watch, chores, or training. In his lap was a large book of paper and leather. It looked old and was torn in many places around the edges. She was going to ask at first what he was doing here early, but there was a deeply disturbed look in his eyes. He stared into space and didn't even notice her enter.

"What's that?" She asked. She approached him and sat down next to him. He glanced to her, but did not seem to register her completely. His eyes were dazed.

"Nihilus' journal."

She gulped. "That explain why you look haunted. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not. You say that every time you aren't fine. Not only that, but its horrible. If it was a normal level of bad, you would be cracking jokes and complaining about how the Force hates you. If it was normal or good, you wouldn't be here to begin with for another..." Ahsoka checked the clock. "Hour."

Varus looked to her a moment and relented. He sighed, "Fine. I'm not... fine. I'm... disturbed. This book is a couple hundred pages long, and there are another ten where I found it."

"That's a lot of entries."

"Going in, I thought I would find medical mumbo-jumbo or something. Stuff about his research. I wish it was just that. Here. Read this." He flipped to the beginning and handed it to her.

Ahsoka glanced at him in concern, but he pressed her on, and she read the beginning. The handwriting was thin and small enough that it took a while, but she was barely past the first page before she had to close it and shut her eyes to keep from throwing up. "I..." She gulped. "Why come to me with this? I mean... isn't this the kind of thing Visas can understand better and go through with you?"

"Do you not want me going through this with your help?"

"No, I do. I suggested it, and I am happy you are leaning on me for it, but she did endure Nihilus just like you can. I have empathy, but she would have sympathy."

"Perhaps, but then I don't need someone that is broken... Ahsoka, a while back, I told her that I wouldn't accept the arranged marriage we have had since birth, because the last thing she needed was someone else that was broken. Both of us are broken. I told her to find someone that was stable that could take on her problems and help her, not break her further."

Ahsoka didn't say anything. She didn't know what to make of it. A large part of her was happy, and she hated it. She hated feeling happy that Varus rejected Visas... It made her feel sick, so she pushed the feeling away. Varus was right, Visas needed someone that was stable.

"I'm the same way." Varus said. "I need to depend on someone stable enough to hold me up, not someone broken." He looked to her intensly, and Ahsoka thought she saw something in his eyes. It was mezmering and made her feel warm. For a moment all she could do was stare back.

How could she not smile? "Thank you."

He nodded and returned his attention to the journal. "You want to read the first entry or should I? I've read it already, so I'll warn you, it's a lot to swallow. You may need a drink."

"You know I don't drink."

"Trust me, by the time we are done with this book, we both may be heavy drinkers. We'll be competing with Tree-Hugger." He laughed darkly. He started reading.

_Dear Mother,_

_I wish warm salutations up on you, mother. I hope death is a cool place. I would dislike it to be hot for you. I believe I have obtained my dislike for hot climates from you, for I certainly did not obtain it from father._

_I am sorry, Mother, that this must be the first letter. I would like to go back and rewrite my previous journal entries to be a letter to you, but father burned them and I cannot remember them. I had the habit of not bothering to remember after I had written it down. Then again, empty drivel of endlessly asking the same question of 'Why did you die?' is not becoming and is merely the dribble of a child with a childish mind. Other questions, such as asking why father beat me is not a question worth answering anymore, not just because the answer is so simple as to say 'because he is a fool', but also because he won't be a problem any longer and to ponder on useless questions is pointless._

_All the same, Master Treya has answered some of my questions that father refused (usually before another round of attempts on my life) and has told me that the dead are no longer limited by the limits of the physical mind. This pleases me. So I have restarted my journals over as a letter to you, knowing that you may know that I am talking to you in at least one manner. I have heard of customs in faraway lands where you go to a grave and talk to it. That is pointless and a waste of time. If you have no limits, than here is as good as there. It is also because of this that I know you know of father and I trust you are pleased. I would much prefer you were alive so I could have a response, but I hope this pleases you none of the less. Is it boring being dead? I'll have to ask._

_Master Treya is a Jedi Master that found me at home and has taken me away to a 'Jedi Order'. She is a person of great wisdom, I can tell. For instance, she remarked that my manner of speech is unusual for my peers. I speak with more intelligence than most, and this will scare them. She says communication is not about using words that people cannot understand in a way that is odd, but about creating common understanding between people, and so I must speak on their level because the odds of them spontaneously understanding my speech is unlikely. Is it really my fault that I read so much in father's house? Must I lower myself because of it?_

_Master Treya still wants me to speak as I wish with her, and with those of my peers that come to understand me in time, but that I am to have a 'dumber' first impression so as to not 'burn bridges' at every impasse. That or be silent. I think I prefer silence._

_The Jedi Temple is in sight. Master Treya is insistent I pack up. I shall return later._

_Nitheal._


	64. Ep14 - Price of Brotherhood Part 1

**Note: I am truly excited to get started on this episode, because for me, we are now getting to the final conclusion of this season. The pieces are coming together, the relationships are shifting into their final positions, the stakes are rising, and the pieces are coming together.**

**And we are also in countdown to the end of the season. There are 6 episodes to go, and I think I have about 20-40 plotpoints to squeeze between them, so I am afraid I will miss something or screw up the timing. that is a problem with having so SO many characters and so many relationships and so many subplots. You just can't give them all proper space. There are a lot of characters that want to do things early, but I have to hold them back because there are a lot of things that need to happen in the correct order for the plot to make sense.**

**Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING! I wish I did own Star Wars, then I would keep the Old Republic Era, Force Unleashed, Admiral Thrawn, and so many characters and eras that give Star Wars so much personality instead of just killing it all and shooting themselves in the foot.**

* * *

**Episode 14 - Price of Brotherhood Part 1**

* * *

Visas was getting annoyed.

She stood in Varus' room, and once again, Varus was not here

Six months. Six months since they disappeared from normal space and hid and now they returned.

Over the last six months, a lot of things had changed. The first to pop into her mind was the growing, and now open, relationship between him and Ahsoka. They fought half the time, and the other half of the time were making up or getting guidance of the Skywalkers. Lately the fighting had escalated more and Visas was pretty sure it had to do with Ahsoka's growing mood the last few months about wanting to return and stop hiding. The work with the Miraluka was important, and sitting back and being themselves for six months had cemented a lot of relationships that were once flaky, including Visas' relationship with the Skywalkers now being less wary, and she felt she needed the last six months as well to get over the sight of her Keeper and an outsider together. Only recently had Visas felt comfortable with the idea of moving on and having a boyfriend of her own.

Then some Miraluka scouts left behind in the Inner Rim had been approached by Revanchist for Varus to attend a big meeting

And now that they were out of Miraluka territory, Visas wanted to report to Varus, only of course he wasn't in bed. He wasn't in the gym, he wasn't in the throne room. Once again, Visas would have to check with Ahsoka. They had started sleeping together on occasion. Non-sexually, Visas hoped for the sake of his image, and in giving him the benefit of the doubt it was never the first place she checked.

Growling to herself, Visas stormed to Ahsoka's room and scanned around. Ahsoka was busy in her private kitchen, and Varus wasn't here.

"Ravager." Visas said, "Where is Varus?"

"Varus is not in the Ravager."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE IS NOT ON THE RAVAGER!?" Visas roared. Ahsoka jumped in surprise on the other side of the wall and the crew around her flinched.

The Ravager said, "Varus is on the Ravager."

"But you just said he is not on the Ravager!"

"No, I said he is not IN the Ravager. Varus, is, however, ON the Ravager."

Visas hesitated. There was no way she heard that right. "Would you say that again?"

* * *

"1-8-0 and closing." HK said.

"Alright." I answer. I have no idea what that gibberish means, but it looks like we want to angle ourselves a bit. "Ravager, keep going steady. A little to the right."

"Aye." The Ravager droid answers.

"Target is 1-7-5 and closing!" HK updates me.

Okay, so that means distance. Gotcha. "Let's try a shot. Give me a seven." I reach my hand out to Tree-Hugger and he hands me my weapon of choice.

"We have a shooting solution!" HK says. I ready myself and aim. "FIRE!"

I hit a golf ball. HK watches it fly and Tree-Hugger whistles. "Not bad for zero-gravity." He says.

"Not bad at all. HK, how long you think it will take for it to reach the sun?"

"At the speed of eighty-five miles per hour, and a distance of 487.6 million miles. It will take 65226.662 years for it to reach the sun."

"Yeah, but will he make it?" Tree-Hugger says with a wide grin.

"It will burn in the sun's atmosphere a million miles before reaching the plasma surface." HK answers.

I gape, agast. "Don't do that! HK, tell him he's an idiot."

"You're an idiot."

Tree-Hugger rolls his eyes and motions for me to move. We are in zero-gravity suits, so moving is difficult and slow. I walk on magnetic boots around him while he takes position at the stand we nailed down. Along with us is HK and Leland. Leland watches with his arms roped together. He pretends to be bored and think us dumb, but I know better. He wouldn't have come if it was that boring. He likes to watch.

A lot has changed in the last six months. My focus has been on getting my people set up, and it has been an enlightening experience. I got to see what made a country from scratch in every way. I watched the economy be born, the culture be established, the borders written, laws be written, and the political changes born.

Our new home world was named Forge. Not the most imaginative, but fitting and easy to remember.

My family has been almost reborn. The Marek have more influence than before, and the struggle between us and Rebhorn now is more open. The Admiral is threatened by the fact that he is no longer the admiral of a fleet of ships, and the change that comes with it. The atmosphere of the home world, and the hope it gives, is no more evident in its healing properties than in Mother.

Mother rose from her bed.

She still has to be in a wheelchair the majority of the time, but there is something about the sheer life in the land and in the air that has given her more energy than ever and made her stronger.

Leland has been on the forefront of the battle against Rebhorn in gaining our family support through backroom deals, and mother has been attending court. The first time she rose from her bed and had herself wheeled into the room during a session had left the people in shock, and it was a pleasant surprise to see Rebhorn struggling to know what to do or say with his mouth hanging open.

There was a party in my honor that Leland helped me escape. But in the wake of it was an uproar for me to be declared Keeper that was harder to escape than the initial party. My enemies have pressed for time that I may gain experience, and I am fine with that. I have no desire to be a leader.

Since then, Leland and I have found time to be together and hang out. The man has a seriously lacking sense of humor, but he has a social grace I can't hope to have. He is good at spinning words and twisting conversations in his favor. We finally found something we have in common, we like messing with people. Watching him manipulate people into making fools of themselves has offered us many laughs. Him and HK have also had a certain morbid understanding. In fact, the only one I have seen truly dislike Leland here is Visas. Even Ashley has warmed up and gotten over what problem she had with him. She doesn't like him, but she can be in his presence without being apprehensive about it.

With mother handling matters on Forge, I offered Leland a place here too. The Ravager has grown to have a full crew and between him and Visas, it is easily managed without my notice.

The Ravager is the next biggest change. It took a lot of convincing, but I got the Ravager to submit to being deconstructed and reconstructed from scratch by the Forge. The only part of her left untouched is the Heart and Nihilus' personal chamber. The rest of the ship was rebuilt in a fashion to be seamless with its Heart instead of broken and barely holding. The Ravager is no longer five pieces held together by the Force alone, but a proper ship.

The Ravager was reborn. It has the same overall structure and design, but without the cracks and holes through all of its hull and halls. It's almost kid-safe!

To that end, with Leland and Visas' help, I have allowed a crew to join. They are all Seekers loyal to me, and among them is some guy who seems to have a close relationship with Visas.

Good. She needed a stable guy to help her heal.

But the ship now has a real engine, a real set of guns (that I tested out as soon as I saw them), a real bridge room with working systems in an operating system that allows the crew to interface with the ship without restraining her free will (I had to put the throne back, manually), and a really really real cafeteria with a variety of things like tacos!

The ship has a bunch of gyms, living quarters, food courts, and storage for the crew of ten thousand. Complete with fighters, transports, bombers, and other things. All of them are of Star Forge design so it would be like seeing a fighter squadron straight from the war with Revan. Even our armor and gear looks like it is straight out of Darth Revan's armory, visor and silver armor and everything. As if this wasn't enough, the Forge gave the Ravager a miniature Forge-room where the Ravager could make its own assortment of fighter droids and its classic Ravager droids and PROXY droids.

It feels like the Ravager, but the Ravager feels alive and healed and happy in a way I have never felt. The Stooges even came to me and said that they think they could upgrade her further to allow her 'Heart' to leave its holocron shell and travel the full confines of the ship. If they can pull it off, the Ravager will be like a puppy with a million playmates and an endless supply of coffee.

Then there is Ahsoka and me and the chemistry there. It has been an adventure of its own, but its working out. Cyborg-Hugger has pressed us to take it slowly, since neither of us have real exposure to relationships in our lives. This slowness has, at times, made it difficult since we want more, but then being more open and intimate too fast has only resulted in us fighting. There are some things that just do not work, yet, and are holding us back.

It also hasn't been made easy by my people. Ever since people caught on to us, the Miraluka council has been pressing for me to put her aside as a mistress or something and marry Visas. Visas has startled us both with openly speaking out on our defense, but the Council won't listen, and for once, Rebhorn is on my side as well on this subject. But even with the support, it has made things more difficult to think that if we want to be in a more serious relationship, that it will not be accepted. That if we ever want to go as far as getting married, it will be rejected.

Well, lover or not. Wife or not. I love her, she accepts it, and there is nothing I look forward to quite as much as spending the evening with her.

Her padawans have been awesome about it all. They were obstinate about me at first, but after they saw how Ahsoka is happy, they seem to have accepted it. They told me that she was very lonely even amongst her own kind, and that it is practically gone now. She is lonely when faced with the Miraluka's rejection, but Mother all but adopted her and that seemed to change everything. They say that Ahsoka isn't lonely anymore, and that is what is important to them. They were officially moved to Tree-Huggers students after a discussion they had, so Ahsoka could focus on herself until she felt more stabalized with her changing life. They are staying on Forge for the moment to go through some kind of special long-term wilderness training Skywalker assigned them while we are gone.

We left all the kids behind with Cyborg-Hugger and Ashley on Forge. Something about our return feels more dangerous than ever, and I don't want them in danger. I almost left the Stooges and Cupcake behind as well, but the Stooges proved themselves to be the best of all the crew at working with the inner-most Ravager systems, and Cupcake has almost as many weaponized uses as HK, only lacking the awesome personality.

"Very mature, making your droid side with you." Tree-Hugger replied.

"I do not! HK, tell me I don't make you do stuff!"

"You do not make me do stuff."

"How is that going to help you prove your point?" Tree-Hugger demanded. He lined up his shot and hit the golf ball towards the sun.

"Your ball is traveling at the groundbreaking speed of exactly 84.999 mph." HK reported. "It will also fail to reach the sun."

"Yes, yes, I know. It will burn up."

"No, you missed."

I laugh and point at him, and Tree-Hugger glares at the droid. "You're just kissing Varus' ass! What are the odds of my ball traveling at exactly 0.001 less mph than his?!"

"Congratulations rainbow-farts. You now qualify as the one-in-a-million."

Leland raises an eyebrow while I guffaw in laughter. "YOU TOLD IT?!" Tree-Hugger barks at me accusingly.

"Oh yeah!" I cry in laughter.

"You're all a bunch of asses! You better not have told anyone about that rainbow crap you came up with!"

"Oh! Pft, don't worry. Aint told a soul. Technically, HK doesn't have a soul." Only if you don't include Cyborg-Hugger and Ahsoka. Visas is cruel enough to use it and leak the fact that I told her, and everyone else, namely the kids, wouldn't be able to hold it in.

"I have to hear the story behind this." Leland says.

"No! No, you don't! Let's just return to the game "

We return to the game, and at some point, Leland, who passes every turn, says, "Is it truly wise that we be out here?"

"Well, the way I see it." I reply. "I have been working hard. And as captain, among my duties is to hand out R&amp;R to my crew, among which I am one. Therefore, it is my responsibility to give myself all I need to ensure my mind is at one-hundred percent at all times. I intend to ensure that my work efficiency isn't any lower than exactly one-hundred percent relaxed!"

"I do not think that is how it works."

"No definitely not." Tree-Hugger agrees.

"Well, welcome to the Ravager! Where I do whatever I want, whenever I want, however I want it! In fact, to that end..." I spin the golf club around so I am holding the club head while the grip touches the ball.

"Now you're just being stupid."

"Watch me." I hit the ball and hit it on the side. It goes flying in to the side, completely missing the direction I wanted it to go.

HK says, "You are going at 90 mph and will hit the sun in-"

"I KNEW YOU WERE SUCKING UP!" Tree-Hugger points at it accusingly.

"KEEPER, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"

I know that voice! "Oh shit! Hide me!" I yell in panic. HK responds immediately. It jumps to my side and shrouds us both in a cloak of invisibility or camouflage or something of a particular electrical frequency that Miraluka cannot see through. HK learned about it from that planet we got Cyborg-Hugger from.

I watch Visas stomp over to us, but unfortunately for her, I learned how to hide from Miraluka!

Visas looks at the others in open aggravation from within the space suit. "Isn't there one grown-up among you!?" Her face is pointed to Leland.

Leland raises his hands defensively, "I am nothing more than a passing observer. If it pleases the court, I may be an acting witness to his crimes."

"Get. Back. Inside!" She growls with gritted teeth.

Leland bows with grace even in a space suit and says, "If it pleases you, my lady." Tree-Hugger is already walking back, and HK and I walk along gently as Visas stands there continuing to look for me.

My chuckle escapes and Tree-Hugger manages to save my hide by not turning towards me. "You got us out here just to tick her off didn't you?"

"No, not at all." I reply. "Although, I do admit, it did pass my mind. Actually made the idea sweeter."

* * *

The Ravager drops out of Warp and I look over where we are.

"Are we sure it's here?" I ask.

"Hard to say, Keeper. There is nothing on our scans."

I pull up the radar with my hand and look over the image. Nothing. Just a star and some planets, but no space station and no ships.

We had received a summons before coming. Seems there is a big galactic meeting going on. Ahsoka had received the message from long range broadcast back at home, and insisted we attend. No one knows where the Ravager disappeared to, but we were requested as a leading consultant on the Starkiller matter.

Whatever that means...

"No ships. No Space Station. Any signs of a trap?" I ask. The bridge crew reports nothing.

I nod toward Visas. "In that case, if you please."

Visas nods and sits down. "There are three ships to our starboard side."

I don't see them. Must be cloaked. "That's a warm welcome. Ravager, turn to our starboard and send out a broadcast telling them to uncloak before we consider them hostile and wipe them out."

Visas says, "The three ships are moving around us."

"Show the Ravager where. I'm not putting up with this crap."

The Ravager continues to be pointed to where Visas points, and before long the three ships uncloak in front of us. I recognize them as Revanchist.

"Keeper, We have a message. They want us to follow them to the meeting place."

"That s rude." Leland murmurs. "Being cloaked and threatening, then ordering us around."

"They better have tacos then if they are going to be rude about it." I reply. "Tell them we'll follow."

"You can't seriously be considering cooperating with them?" He argues.

"They re Revanchist. They're all spies and espionage. This is to be expected. Perhaps not cloaking technology, I've never heard of it used on a ship, but it fits."

"If you insist."

"Don't worry, just be your charming self." I assure him. "Smile." He glares at me with his one eye. Yeah, stupid idea. He's half mummy. "Okay, better idea. Stay here. I'll take Tree-Hugger, Ahsoka, Visas, and HK to the meeting place. For now, let's just see where they take us."

Before long, Visas stands up in amazement and says, "Whoa "

"What?" I ask.

As if in answer to my question, a whole planet uncloaks in front of us with a space station by it. Within orbit is a whole fleet of ships from all kinds of nations. I recognize the major players quickly. The Hutt Cartel, Mandalorian, Systems Alliance, Dominion, Old and New Republic are all here, and then there are a couple designs I don't recognize with national symbols from other parts of the galaxy. All of it is assembled around the space station.

"Whoa." I agree.

"Keeper, we are being requested to send our party in with a shuttle. A docking bay has been reserved for us."

I look to the others and sigh. This will be fun. "Let's not keep the party waiting."

* * *

"Remember, Varus. Be patient and do not talk unless talked to."

"I know, Love. Don't be myself, blah blah blah. Do not get on everyone's bad impression from the start."

"And do not talk unless talked to."

"I know, you said that already."

"Just making sure you heard me." Ahsoka chastises me. "It would be more politically correct, and wiser in your case, to allow Visas to do all the talking."

"If I wanted a talker I would have brought Leland. I said Visas because she knows how the Revanchist work."

"And that is an advantage at this moment just as well."

"Does anyone else get the impression we don't exist?" Visas grumbles.

"Never." HK states immediately with absolute finality.

"Focus guys." Tree-Hugger says. "I agree with Ahsoka's idea. Varus, prince of the Miraluka or not, your ability to get on people's bad side very quickly is a strong disadvantage right now. It would be wise for Visas to do the talking, and for HK to naturally be a bodyguard while Ahsoka and I do our best to offer what input we can have, keep the peace, and make sure this six-way stick of dynamite between all six major nations doesn't blow up in our face. That's my advice and you're captain."

"Fine! I know me talking and stuff is bad, so I guess we can do that. What we will be entering is not my strongest playing ground anyway. Can you take command Tree-Hugger?"

He nods with a smirk. "Thank you. Nice to feel appreciated. I am still the Master, after all."

"Does that mean I have to do what the meat-bag says?" HK asks.

"Yes." Tree-Hugger says victoriously.

"May I go with Visas' prior statement and end my existence?"

"No."

"Dammit."

The shuttle stopped and the captain alerts us that we have landed. The five of us, and a squad of Seekers, depart down the ramp as it lowers. The ramp lowers to show a line-up of Revanchist soldiers and a woman in Jedi robes walks down the line toward us. Behind her is a guy about the same age and looks similar, most likely a brother.

I motion for Tree-Hugger to go ahead, and he extends his hand and greets her, but she completely bypasses him and extends her hand to me. Sharing a perplexed glance with Tree-Hugger, I shake it. Tree-Hugger drops his hand and looks offended, but the woman's eyes are only on me.

Woman, more like older teen.

"Hello, Varus Wynn. It is a personal pleasure for you to attend. I have heard so much about you."

"I'm sure." I take my hand back. She had held it longer than normal, and there is a kind of hidden longing in her eyes that creeps my out. "I appreciate it, but you leave me at a disadvantage. I don't know you."

She laughs nervously, and steps back. "I'm sorry, of course you wouldn't know me." She looks me in the eyes, smiles brightly, and there is that longing again. I'm going to need to shove sun-glasses on her if she keeps it up. Even Ahsoka doesn't look at me like that. "I'm Satele Shan, and this is my brother, Vaneer." She motions to the man by her.

The words floor me. Images and words and sounds flood my sight.

Bastilla pregnant. Bastilla begging Revan not to leave to fight and find the hidden enemy that turned him into a Dark Side puppet to begin with. Bastilla and Revan deciding the names of their children should they have any.

Satele Shan.  
Vaneer Shan.

My Revan's children. Revan didn't remember his family name, not after having so many people in his head, and they went with Bastilla's family name Shan.

Oh, boy I feel dizzy.

I take a couple difficult steps away, anything but to be directly under their earnest gaze. The world spins and I fall to my weak knees.

My children. No! Revan's children. Revan's children. Revan's children. The children whose very existence he wanted to change the galaxy for, to find the great enemy, and disappeared for twenty years ago.

I groan painfully and clutch my head to try to make the world stop spinning. But I know better. The world isn't spinning, it's me spinning, and my perception of the galaxy.

Revan had kids! I might as well have half-kids.

Oh boy how am I supposed to react to this? No wonder they look at me with such longing! They probably know I have the memory of their father in my head! And my clones killed their mother! How am I supposed to face them?

After a long moment, the world stops spinning and I find the energy to stand. I'm sweating and panting. My head hurts from how hard I was squeezing my skull.

I raise myself up, and what I see is just great. There is a circle of lightsabers and Seekers around me in a defensive position, Tree-Hugger and Ahsoka stand facing the Shan kids with their lightsabers out, HK has them in its sights, and the Revanchist have all of their weapons out and aimed at us in turn.

The Shan kids Beautiful. They shouldn't be that beautiful! They aren't my kids! They look scared and frightened, not by the weapons out and everything, but by my reaction. I see the fear of rejection in them, and I close my eyes and will the trimmers away.

"Varus, are you better?" Tree-Hugger asks gruffly.

"Yeah."

"Good. You started screaming, calling out for Bastilla, and would have collapsed on your face if Visas hadn't caught you."

Damn was it that bad?

"What did you do to him?" Ahsoka demanded.

"They didn't do anything." I reply for them.

"You can't know that."

"Pretty sure I can."

"He's right." Visas says, "Everyone stand down."

The Seekers hesitate, but after Visas cuts off her lightsaber, they do as well. Ahsoka looks at me long and hard, analyzing my well-being, and I hold my head high. I'm fine. She nods and cuts off her saber. Tree-Hugger follows, and HK lowers its gun with clear disappointment, "So close "

"I expected Varus would have a reaction when I saw you, but I didn't think it would be that bad." Visas explains.

"Care to explain for the rest of us then?" Tree-Hugger asks.

"Simple. Meet Vaneer and Satele Shan. That much you know, but here is the part you missed. They are children of Bastilla. Children of Revan."

Ahsoka and Tree-Hugger's eyes go hilariously wide as they realize the connection. Ahsoka gapes like a fish and looks between me and Satele. "But Revan's name wasn't Shan!" Ahsoka argues in confusion. "Bastilla must have had children after he died! To another man perhaps."

"Father had no family name." Satele explains patiently. "He took on his wife's family name."

"Oh."

"Its fine, easy to misinterpret. All the same, I am happy to meet you, Varus Wynn. The Revanchist welcome you to the meeting. Mother's death was a heavy blow, but she had prepared my brother and I for leadership since birth. The last few months have been a difficult one of transition and refocus, but we are still as strong as ever in the galaxy."

"Forgive me if I do not take comfort from that." Tree-Hugger didn't glare at her, but his tone showed his discomfort as if he had.

"I recognize the abuse some of us inflicted on your family, and wish there was something I could do to pay you back, but at this moment all I can offer is my promise that the guilty party has been punished."

"If we had our way, it never would have happened." Vaneer speaks up. The first thing he said this entire time.

"Then that, at least, IS a small comfort." Tree-Hugger allows diplomatically.

Satele nods. "Leaders across the galaxy have been gathered today to hear information on our threat that has been gathered and to formulate a plan of attack."

"You know who the leader of the Eternal Hand is?" Visas asks.

"We have an idea." Vaneer allows vaguely.

Satele continues, "That information will be revealed in the meeting. For now, you have been requested for your special insight into the mind of the Starkiller clones."

"I'll offer what I can." I say.

"Good." She smiles brightly and for a moment I see a young Bastilla, and can't help smiling in turn. Revan truly loved her.

Ahsoka snaps her eyes at me from the side. She doesn't seem happy about something. In fact, she looks downright angry. Its subtle, nothing more than a glance, but I know her.

Well, shit. What did I do?

"Quarters have been reserved for your party, isolated from our other guests. Vaneer will show you the way." Vaneer bows in turn and we follow him.

Ahsoka keeps her distance from me as we walk. Normally we hold hands and walk side by side, but she doesn t this time. Oh yeah, she's ticked about something.

Vaneer opens the door to a lobby and motions around to a number of doors. "You have your own kitchen, set of living quarters, camera terminal where you can see who is at the door, and an escape pod. You are free to check for bugs, you will find one listening bug on the coffee table for security purposes, and we ask that you leave it. There should be no others, and those may be removed if you do find any. Feel free to freshen up and prepare, the next session is in fourty-five minutes."

"Next session?" Visas asks.

"Yes, we exchanged pleasantries, nothing more. Many of our guests were growing impatient with waiting, and we wanted to do something productive at least."

"Good. Means we can skip that crap." I groan and collapse on the couch. Having Revan kick me in the head still has me reeling.

Vaneer nods, and after an extended glance to me, turns and closes the door. HK and Visas immediately set out to secure the area themselves. Ahsoka sits on the couch opposite me and refuses to look at me, purposefully, and I just close my eyes. I'm gonna need all fourty-five of those minutes to get my head back on straight.

Tree-Hugger walks out of the pantry with a bottle of medicine. "Found some aspirin if you want some."

"Gimme." I put my hand out, but Visas snatches it out of my hand and glares at the Jedi.

"We shouldn't be risking poison."

"Relax, it's out of my personal stash." Tree-Hugger chuckles.

Visas allows me to take the medicine with cold water and I put the cold water against my head. My head's pounding

Something wet and sticky hits my lips, and I reach up to touch it. Ahsoka suddenly looks to me, and there is fear in her eyes. I pull my fingers back. They're red.

"Of course " I jump up and run to the restroom. I dunk my face under the faucet and grab a towellete to stuff up my nose. My nose is bleeding again.

I hear voices behind me. "What happened? Was the medicine poisoned?" Visas demands.

"No, his nose is bleeding again." Ahsoka answers worriedly.

" " Visas sighs. "Meeting Revan's kids suddenly must have triggered it."

"Yeah "

They fall into silence. I hear footsteps behind me and the door shuts. Then hesitant silence.

Must be Ahsoka.

"You okay?" She asks.

"That's what I should be asking you." I reply with my face still under the running water. I spit blood out of my mouth, stand, and stuff toilletes up my nose. It's really funny to feel liquid running through your nostrils. Most people don't know your nostrils move all over your skull, it's not just your nose.

"You suddenly distanced yourself from me and started to give me the silent treatment, which in Ahsoka language is: I'm ticked. This is just a nose bleed, Love, I get them all the time."

Okay, that s a lie. It's been a recent occurrence. Doctor says it's not a tumor, nor is Revan's memories killing me. I'm just stressed and have high blood pressure. I'm on medicine for that.

Revan's memories are not helping though. Its unprecedented, but the doctor thinks I am having more and more trouble separating myself from Revan, and the harder I try to do it, the more stressed I will get.

I think that s just a load of bull, but I can't say that to his face. I do agree that Revan's memories are merging with me more and more, but it's all background memories. I'm not having an identity crises. I know who I am. My friends and family keep me grounded. Ahsoka, Squirt, Visas, HK, Tree-Hugger, Leland, Victoria too many to name.

Ahsoka looks down shamed. I cut her off. "No." I nudge her chin up. "No pity for me, no shame for yourself. None of that. What's wrong?"

"It's nothing. Just a stupid feeling." She evades. She reaches up and puts my face in her hands. A Force technique bathes my face.

I reply beneath her hands, "Don't pull Jedi rhetoric on me, if you feel something, it's not nothing. If you don't want to tell me, that's fine. Just promise it won't affect the meeting."

"I promise, will you drop it?" She grows aggravated very quickly.

'Only so long as you stop', is my first thought. The last thing I need is her getting ticked and not opening up. But then, the last couple times I said that, it made things worse.

I'll just pester her about it till she cracks if it keeps up and becomes obvious.

She drops her hands and I tug the toillette out of my nose. The bleeding is stopped. "Thanks." I reach down to kiss her and she squeals away.

"There's blood on your face! Don't!"

I laugh and hug her anyway before forcing a kiss on her cheek, and spread blood across her face in the process. She pushes me away and runs out. I just laugh at her expense and finish wiping the blood off in the mirror.

* * *

Satele was more nervous than she thought she could ever be.

Picking up the Revanchist from falling while mourning her mother? That was protocol. There were contingencies in place. There were advisors ready and most of the work went down into simply declaring she was taking over, her mother was dead, and then plugging security holes exposed in Starkiller's takeover of the primary station.

Keeping a half-dozen diplomats and leaders happy that were at war with each other just days ago? That was law. It was about stroking their individual egos and pleasing each one, but also enforcing neutrality to an extreme. She actually had to take the word 'neutrality' out of the Manaan's dictionary of all places in order to make it work. At times it also took a subtle threat of maybe blackmailing them with information they didn't know she had.

Talking and presenting information with those same diplomats all in the same room would be potentially more difficult, but only if they be allowd the room to speak. She had every intention of doing most of the talking, and ensuring they would stay focused on the subject when they did.

She smirked. Oh yes, she had plenty to say. She had all the cards, and they were merely here to listen and learn, and then to discuss after. She expected they would be taking action against the threat in their own way, but the goal of the presentation was merely to focus them on a common enemy, not to unite them under one banner. That would be an impossible goal.

The thing that made her nervous was dealing with Varus.

What are you supposed to say to a father you never knew, who left to protect you, and failed to return? Not because he was too cowardly to return and face her, but because he was too brave to not face what enemy he feared.

The fact that Varus was not Revan, but had the memories of Revan, only made it more complicated. She wanted to get to know her father, sit with him, get to know him but instead the face of her father in her eyes was a man not much older than her.

What was she supposed to do? What would Varus/Revan think of her? Would her father be proud of her? Was her makeup too obvious? Did she look like a woman or a little girl? (She had been told that having her hair in ponytails like this made her look like a little girl.)

The doors opened and the diplomats entered. She put her thoughts aside to focus on the situation at hand. Just behind her was her brother, who preferred to sit in the back and speak up only when necessary. He was her backup, as always, and she relied on him to pick up for her mistakes. He was a genius, but also too lazy to lead himself and was a bit gruff around people.

Behind her were also seated two men in cloaks, one very large, and one average. They were hidden and seated as guards.

The table before her was where the diplomats would sit. It was a half-circle with seven seats. She stood before them. The seats were designated, in order from left to right, the Cartel, the Clans, the Dominion, the Miraluka, the Systems Alliance, the Old Republic, and the New Republic.

It was a pattern designed to throw everyone, keep them from creating a sided argument with their comrades against each other, but also balance them. Sticking rivals next to each other so much did offer problems of its own, but then no mix was perfect with the group they had. Stick too many on one side and it would be imbalanced. The Miraluka diplomat would be the most neutral, and as such was center.

She would be lying if having Varus/Revan in the center wasn't a personal gesture as well.

One by one they all shuffled in. The diplomats sat at their designated seats. Their bodyguards stood just behind them, at the ready, and the Revanchist Jedi lined the wall all around, ready to break up any fight.

Thankfully they had already had a brief session to get the welcome out the way. Although realistically it had been a seven hour yelling-fest over who sat where, before she had enough and sent everyone back to their guest rooms. One of the biggest concerns was with who would be center chair. It was the most respectful seat and was empty.

When Varus and his group entered, found the last chair, and Visas Marr sat down, it sent a ripple of amazement around the room. People yelled and were generally upset.

Visas leaned back cooly, roped her arms together defiantly, and propped her feet on the table. "I speak on behalf of my Keeper. His skill-set is more in line with leadership and work, rather than dealing with children."

Satele inwardly laughed. She knew Visas from when she was younger during her service. They left on good terms and as loose friends. Satele always had a respect for the woman who could say anything she wanted to anybody. She wanted to agree, but her position couldn't allow it.

Satele stood up and spoke to halt the fight before it escalated, "If you will refrain from suggesting we are adolescents, we can begin."

That caught everyone's attention, and Satele cleared her throat. "If you all will open the pamphlets before you, you will be able to follow along with the presentation." Everyone had a folder in front of them with information in their native language, and a video played above her head in Basic. In the case of the Miraluka, she had expected the talker to be Varus, not a blind woman.

No matter, Satele asked for a folder to be given to her in Braille.

"Welcome, gentlemen, and ladies. Thank you for coming. I will skip the pleasentries, with the exception of the newcomer, the Miraluka. They are by no means a power equal to any of us here, but the infamous Varus Wynn, Anakin Skywalker, and Ahsoka Tano have an insight into the mind of our enemy that we would be foolish to not acknowledge, and they have been at the forefront of the battle for quite some time."

"Except for the last six months." The Cartel diplomat argued. "What have they done? They disappeared."

There was brief silence where Visas said, "Are you saying you cannot handle yourself without us holding your hand for a few months?"

"How dare you!"

"No, it is a fair point." The Mandalorian diplomat replied. "Are you really saying you have to rely on just one ship?"

"We are dealing with wide-spread rebellion, not to mention war on multiple fronts!"

"Who isn't? You don't hear us crying."

"Enough!" Vaneer barked. "Whether the Ravager chooses to participate for days or months, or disappear just as long, it does not negate their position. Unless you suggest you have more insight then them? No? Stand down."

With the room quiet again, Satele continued. "Let us acknowledge a number of facts before we delve deeper. First, the clones of Starkiller are an enemy. Second, the Eternal Hand is an enemy. Third, they have differing objectives, and act both separately and together. Is there any that dispute this?"

No one did.

"Good. Now, answers I seek to answer here is the origin of the Eternal Hand, the Starkiller clone legion, the identity of their leaders, what objective they have, and then how we might combat them effectively both individually and together."

"You know all of this?" Someone asked.

Satele shook her head. "I do not have all the answers, but I have many. Which is why I have special guests." She gestured to the large man beside her. "If you will."

"Certainly." The large man stood. Armor clattered under his cloak, and he removed it to reveal his face. Or rather mask.

The mask of Mandalore.

The Mandalorian diplomat stood in amazement. Shock, betrayal, hurt, joy, concern all played across his face, and less so on everyone else in various combinations as well as fear.

"What is this?!"

"You were poisoned!"

"Have you abandoned your people?"

"I KNEW IT!" Varus laughed. "You got poisoned, got back up, and smoked a dozen cigars at once!"

Mandalore spoke, "Not quite. The news of my coma was highly exaggerated. The poison attempt was very real and done by a maid in my household. She had been converted to the Eternal Hand in secret and acted against me. For the sake of my family, and the mission, I had to allow the enemy to think they won. There were secrets I needed to speak with the Revanchist about, information and pieces they did not have that I did. As of the conclusion of our meetings here, I will be returning to my people as leader, if you will." He looked to the Mandalorian diplomat.

"Of course, Mandalore." The man looked to his leader with nothing more than adoration.

The screen above them changed to show a pair of Priors. Identified by crystal staffs, white eyes, and runes burned into their flesh. Mandalore spoke, ignoring the outburst that continued, "Priors have the power to give the Force from one user to another. In all documented cases it creates a Prior, who is also capable of doing the same for others. However, it is a rare occurrence. This leads to suggest the power can only be spread so far, or be done on special individuals. Regardless, there is no other documented way of Priors being created. It is not a natural occurrence."

Mandalore waited a moment, "This information lead me, and the Revanchist, to the possibility that there is a followable chain of Priors."

The screen above changed to show before and after pictures. Men and woman who were normal and then turned into Priors. "This chain is created by a Prior meeting with potential converts, and converting them in a special process." The screen continued to show people. "A pattern emerges that shows that everyone turned into Priors are charismatic, powerful figures, or people of influence and nobility. The Eternal Hand do not waste 'Prior attempts', if you will, on people who will not bring a certain quality to the table. They also are people who have a history. Many are former criminals or are still engaged in some kind of criminal act at the time."

The screen showed a number of the galaxy's most wanted as Priors. "They call it 'salvation' and make these people out to be people who can be saved no matter how bad they are, and can have eternal life and never die. As noble a gesture as this is " Mandalore motioned to Anakin Skywalker. "Skywalker, you witnessed one such conversion. What is your take on it? What is the deciding factor from one person to another?"

Skywalker, briefly caught off guard, stepped forward and thought a moment. "Anger. Hatred. Every person shown on the screen is a criminal, and many I recognize as having psychological issues or a criminal leader, whether a gang or terrorist. The nature of the Force around the Priors is one of hatred, and the process itself is unnatural. I have felt the Dark Side, been raised to acknowledge it as a Jedi, but the Dark Side I feel in them is pitch black. It is darker and more hateful than anything I have ever felt."

"What would you say about their promise of eternal life?"

"I would say it s a load of bullshit." Skywalker said bluntly. "I felt the man have his energies ripped away and replaced. If anything, it was almost like he was murdered and something else was left in his place."

"What was put in?" Someone asked.

Skywalker shrugged. "I can't say. Soul? Energies? Consciousness? I don't know."

"All the same, it fits. They are different people after the process is finished." Mandalore returned to talking. "And the pattern is a great boon for us, as every one of them is a documented criminal or citizen in one right or another. We have been able to trace them back in a time table to when they most likely met Priors and were converted."

The screen changed above them to show a kind of map time-line. Originating from a single point, a couple of lines spread out across the galaxy as a gesture of expansion.

"And a beginning point can be drawn." Mandalore concluded. "Judging from the expansion of the Priors, the timetables between a person being normal and changed, we believe the Eternal Hand originated here."

The news stunned the room. "Then let's strike!" Someone said.

Vareen replied, "We already checked it out. The Eternal Hand moved on, but the place of origin is telling, as it grants a likely date to their origin as well, and their leaders."

Mandalore practically felt the whole room gulp.

"To explain, years ago after the fall of Revan, the Republic captured Sith left and right. The Mandalorians and Revanchist aided in this. A planet was designated to prison them."

"Are you saying they're Sith?"

"I am." Mandalore replied. "There were a group of six Sith captured and imprisoned there, and these six were found to be so powerful that their presence changed the world around them. They were called the Dread Lords. They specialized in converting minds forcefully and subjecting anyone within a certain range of themselves to their will. They were imprisoned deep the planet's surface where the other prisoners would be kept safe, but after the fall of the Republic, and the rise of the Mandalorians well " He paused sadly. "We checked the prison, and found these six Sith had taken advantage of the confusion and power vacuum to break out. They had been biding their time, and it paid off. They had an army and disappeared. From the list of Priors and logical dates of encounters, the next place they went to was a prison ship "

Mandalore pointed to Varus. "The same Republic prison ship you were on, Varus Wynn."

Varus and his friends looked like they were a combination of being slapped and on the verge of throwing up.

"Are you saying my Keeper is compromised?" Visas Marr demanded.

"I am not saying anything." Mandalore replied coolly. "Varus could have implanted memories, he could have been ignored by them. He could be a sleeper agent without knowing it, he could have been tossed aside when his use was over, he might have been lucky enough to be untouched. No matter the answer, it answers the question of the Starkiller legion, and of why a few of the powerful men in your prison ship suddenly turned up as Priors."

"The Cartel attacked the ship!" One yelled.

"We did not!" The Cartel yelled back.

"For once, I must agree with the Cartel." Mandalore said. "It was faked. The Dread Lords would have been in a position to easily spark anything they wanted. They had an army of turned from all walks of life under them. The correct pieces in the right place can make it look like anything. This action alone makes it clear what their objective is: Chaos. They want us all warring with each other and destroying each other, and in the chaos, they appear as a religion designed to take people fearful for their lives in times of conflict and offer them security."

"War was almost inevitable." Satele spoke up. "There was a power vacuum. Our views and ways clash, and the Cartel and Clans were both expanding rapidly. But there was still a chance for peace. The Dread Lords timed it, placed the blame, and ensured that very peace never happened. It was almost too easy."

They failed to say that Jabba knew it. Jabba was bought in by the Sith and given promises. That little tid-bit of info would have shattered what chance of peace there was here, and sparked another war. It was also unnecessary with Jabba no longer in the picture to be put or blamed.

Satele thanked Mandalore, and the massive armored man sat down. She said, "Varus Wynn, do you remember the attack on the prison ship?"

"Yes." He said from the back.

"What details do you remember?"

Varus sighed and said, "I hid in the back and did as I was told by the guards. I couldn't be bothered to lift a finger."

"What do you remember next?"

"I was knocked out by the attackers and " He paused. "Woke up a slave."

"You do not remember any moment when you were put on a table or waking up with neck or genital pain? Extracting DNA pure enough for cloning is specific surgery."

"What's genital mean?"

Of all the answers, that was not what she expected. Satele gaped and wanted to hide. Mandalore roared in laughter, as well as half the room. Varus' friends looked like they wanted to hide or die on the spot.

"I'll explain later " Skywalker said.

"Okay?" Varus looked confused. "To answer your question, I had neck pain. A device had been implanted into my neck."

"Makes sense. Do you remember any faces?"

Varus shook his head.

"If you can try to remember later, faces would be important. The reason being this:" Satele gestured to her other guest.

The man hesitated, but stood and removed the cloak.

Half the room armed themselves in lightsabers and blasters all aimed on him.

"STARKILLER!"

"WHAT'S HE DOING HERE?!"


	65. Ep14 - Price of Brotherhood Part 2

**Note: A part of me feels that this chapter is just one big teaser! I'm such a tease. Truth be told, I do have a few basic ideas of what to do next, but it is very crucial that it be done right. Having characters meet in such circumstances as you will understand can be very complicated and done wrong very easily. Because of that the next couple chapters may be written slowly, and take their fair bit of time for me to ensure it goes smoothly. I will not hold myself to any time table like I have been.**

**Also, I have been doing some research, within my own head, for the final episode. It will have a large number of battles of various forms of epicness and themes. I won't say who fights who, as there will be 15-18 people involved, but I do have 7 specific battle combinations set as very interesting themes that I want to have.**

**These are the battle themes I have in mind for the final episode:**

**1\. The Undying**

**2\. Of Honor and strength**

**3\. Final Redemption**

**4\. Broken Champion**

**5\. The Void**

**6\. The Family**

**7\. Abomination**

**At this exact second these are seven fights that will occur in a single episode between a combination of characters. As a little game, try to guess who is fighting who in each! :P A fair number of people in the fight will either not be introduced until the fight, or be introduced near it. But do your best and theorize. I will not reveal who fights who publically, but I will let people know if they are right if they want to give it a shot.**

**All the same, I am looking forward to the next few chapters. This is a series of chapters that I have had in my head for MONTHS! and I want to give it the attention it diserves as one of the most pinnacle moments in the season, dramatic, and made me cry. A lot. Actually, for that matter, there are a lot of chapters in the next few episodes that made me cry when I wrote pieces of them.**

* * *

**Episode 14 - Price of Brotherhood Part 2**

* * *

"He is not Starkiller." Vaneer answered and stood by the man's side. "His name is Galen Marek."

Satele felt for Varus, as the man looked like he was having a hard time swallowing this. Him and Galen Marek kept their gaze on each other.

Galen spoke, as an explanation to Varus, as much as anyone else, "I am a clone. As you have figured out, the clones of Varus Wynn are your enemy and have the Force, but as a clone myself, I am here to say that there is a division even among them. The ones you call Starkiller are clones born with memories of being under Nihilus' apprenticeship and have the Force, and are driven to anger and madness."

Galen let that sit a moment for them to digest. "The ones they call 'Galen' are ones born either without memory inherited from the original or without the Force. Most of us are killed and used as battle fodder by the Starkillers. Mysteriously, I was born with both partial memory inherited from Varus and enough power to escape and save as many of my brothers as I could rather than be transformed into a monster like the Starkillers. The Revanchist were so kind as to offer me, and my brothers, refuge and a home, and I have aided them as best as I could in this time."

Galen's gaze was still on Varus, and Varus looked back blankly.

"To that end I have engaged the Starkillers on multiple occassions, killed a few Priors, and helped stop the assassination of the New Republic Chancellor." Galen added.

Skywalker nodded to himself. He did remember hearing that the Starkillers had been fighting with the Eternal Hand at times, which made no sense for allies to do. Now it made sense if you considered these Galen clones and Starkiller clones being confused easily, just as Varus and the Starkiller Legion were confused.

It was going to be harder figuring out which was which.

"You knew all this time!?" Someone demanded.

Satele replied, "Mother did, to an extent. I met Galen only after Bastilla had found him drifting in space. Galen does not know where the cloning facility is, nor can pinpoint on any map where the Eternal Hand are. The only information he had was the existence of the Sith clones and his offering of help."

Galen rubbed his head nervously. "Yeah I think I inherited my map-skills from the original. Sorry. I didn't bother with any names or people or anything. I can say the Dread Lords are leading the show, but my concern was more with grabbing as many of my younger brothers as I could and fleeing."

"Younger brothers?" Varus asked. The first thing he said to his counterpart this time.

"The Starkiller 'project' was mixed in many ways. Some age normally, some have no memories, some no power. But the only ones deemed acceptable aged quickly, had full, angry memories, and enough power to satisfy the Dread Lords."

"So that means " Varus's eyes widened. "Some are children?"

Galen nodded. He smiled in the irony. "Most are five years old."

"Gentlemen." Satele said. "Let us return to the subject."

"Of course." Galen nodded.

"Varus Wynn." Satele continued, "Galen's memory is spotty, and he lacks the drive of the Starkillers. Can you describe the mindset of the Starkillers?"

"Nihilus. Revenge on him. Simple as that. Nothing else matters." Varus replied. "These Dread Lords might have messed around with them a bit, but from what I see, the objective is same as mine was long ago. They will kill anything and anyone in their way of killing Nihilus."

"That fits with what I know." Galen agreed openly. "Now things make more sense There is a device the Dread Lords have they use to consume the Force from people and plant it into a prison of their own."

"Would it contain Nihilus?"

"They are putting their hopes on it, and its provided by the Dread Lords. It might."

Satele spoke up, "Right now, the Starkillers are on a rampage. They have stopped flooding the holonet with leaked information and resorted to causing destruction to draw you out. They have reason to believe you might know where Nihilus is."

"I " Varus hesitated. "I know where he is." Judging from the shock of his friends, save Skywalker, they didn't know that.

"Then that is something we can use to draw them out and fight them at a place of our choosing." someone said.

"Exactly." Mandalore agreed. "Varus Wynn has what they want, and we should take advantage of that."

Satele said, "This has been a lot to digest, and it is everything we have at our disposal. Let us retire for the evening and discuss how we might combat this threat tomorrow, unless we have more information to be shared?"

"One thing." Skywalker spoke up. "Sorry to interupt, but there is some things I need to share. It is early to retire."

"Very well."

"I know what I have to say cannot be proven, and is only by trust, but for a short while I had talked with a Prior that had me prisoner. He revealed a couple of things. First. The leader is a single person I have come to call 'Abomination'. Not a group of six. From the power I felt in the Prior's staff, the power supplied to Priors comes from a single source, not a combination of six."

"What are you suggesting, Master Jedi?"

"I am suggesting that, even though the Dread Lords may be at the top of the food chain, are they at the peak? We, being Varus and I, have reason to believe there is a single person at the top. Until we ascertain the identity of this person, it may be early to think we can fight them openly. The second fact presented is their objective. It is easy to assume their objective is chaos, but from what the Prior said to me, the chaos is a means to an end. Their final objective is to replace or kill the Force."

The reaction was mixed. Satele couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Would you repeat that?"

"The Eternal Hand aim to destroy the Force or place their 'god' in place of it."

"You speak of this person you call 'Abomination'?"

"Yes."

"And how do we know you haven't just been fooled with by this Prior? Planting false clues and doubt in your mind to chase when the real enemy is something else!"

Anakin and Varus shared a knowing glance. Skywalker sighed, "I have no evidence all I have is my word. Just as we believe the word of Mandalore in there being a group of Sith called Dreadlords, I ask that you trust me in believing there is someone higher. Someone who's objective is not anarchy or chaos, but to replace the Force or kill it. Almost all sentient beings have a bit of the Force in them. The Force is life. Only people who have a large amount of Force energy, and are able to hear it's whisper, can be a Force-User. But to kill the Force will leave the galaxy lifeless."

The explosion of silence was deafening.

"ARE YOU SERIOUS?!"

"Throw this doomsayer out of here!"

"Galactic genocide is ridicules!"

"How exactly do you suggest this 'Abomination' will accomplish it?" Mandalore asked. He sounded disbelieving, but also unsure, as though he didn't quite know whether to consider it as a possibility or not.

"I I don't know." Skywalker admitted. "I don't know HOW they will do it, but I have no doubt they can."

The room exploded in yelling and noise, and above it all, Mandalore stood up. He didn't say a word and everyone quieted down. Satele stood by him and nodded for the help. "Gentlemen, Let us retire for the day. We have much to absorb and much to consider. Let us continue our talks tomorrow."

* * *

We return to our room, but I'm barely paying attention. At this point my feet are walking on their own.

I feel like things are falling into place and a picture of the galaxy, and the last five years, is coming together in my mind.

These Dread Lords took advantage of the confusion to free themselves, create an army, and spread.

I remember the attack well. I can't say it was faked or really the Cartel, but cracks in my memory I had taken for granted are becoming evident.

It is odd to be captured then only to be dumped on a slave master. I wasn't sold, I don't recall any prisons. For that matter, could these Dread Lords have implanted false memories?

Does it even matter? Perhaps, but then perhaps not. What's done is done. Truth be told, I had already figured the clone legion would have started in the time between me on the prison ship and meeting Cahjinawl, purely because they didn t recognize her.

I stop walking.

The others stop walking with me. I ask, and I know it must seem random to them, but I need to know. "Between the prison ship and slave ship where I met Cahjinawl, there is only one place I remember being. I'm not a psychologist, but if I go to the one planet I remember and the facts are wrong then does that mean my memories are false?"

"It would." Tree-Hugger acknowledges with concern.

I nod. Pieces continue moving around my head and I feel I am almost looking at a complete picture, but I can't put my finger on it.

We enter our room and everyone keeps their distance from me. Their concern is appreciated, a lot of the revelations has been life-altering for me but then I can't let them change anything. There is a specific thing I need to focus on, I feel it. There is a core to all of this, and these details the factions of Starkiller, the Eternal Hand, the recent war its all details. There is a center to everything.

At some point I remember there is a folder in my hands and I open it. Most of it is information already laid out, but more detailed. Faces an names. A number of Priors to watch out for as well as their most recent locations.

I stop on one page, and everything becomes clear.

All the talk hasn't confused me, in fact, it has done the opposite. Everything makes more sense to me.

The Abomination is leading the Dread Lords.  
The Dread Lords are creating an elite army and causing chaos.  
They made a legion of Starkiller clones to go after Nihilus, because while Nihilus is evil, he is also an enemy of the Abomination. Nihilus destroyed the Jedi because he believed it would weaken the enemy of Revan.  
The Abomination is the enemy of Revan.  
Revan learned from the Mandalorians that they had been tricked into war by another person, and it was this person that Revan hunted down, was turned to the Dark Side by, and later chased after again.  
The Abomination was the instigator was every war for decades.

_"Your brother has fallen into hatred, and there he will stay. He will fall, drift, drown, and become so filled with hatred and the Dark Side that it will threaten to consume him But I will not let it destroy him. Because it is at that moment when he will see the Abomination. He will look it in the face, he will see it for what it is in all of its power, its hate, and its fears, and its desires and in that moment he will understand."_

"And he will need someone who knows darkness to pull him back out..." I whisper to myself in memory.

Koj will see the Abomination.

After, and only after, we find the Abomination will we know who to fight and how to stop all of this. I bet the galaxy would like to say hello to this guy and pay him or her back for decades of bloodshed.

The last known location of Koj marked is on Zygerria, as of a few days ago. The same world I was on, where my memories are at question now. A slave world. That can't be a coincidence.

Pieces continue to fall into place. If there was any place for Koj to focus his hatred on, it would be on one place. "Tree-Hugger. How many slave worlds are there in the Cartel?"

"Dozens, why?"

"How many would have been in reach of Tatooine five years ago?"

He looks at me a long moment. "Two. Longast, and Zygerria."

Zygerria, where I was enslaved, turned into a gladiator, tortured, and raped.  
Zygerria, where my memories right now are in question.  
Zygerria, one of two most likely places where the Ghorfa slaves would be taken.  
Zygerria, where I remember the blasted queen liked her trophies and exotic slaves.  
I was her trophy, and my gut tells me Ghorfa qualify as exotic.

And where the Prior I would otherwise know as my brother was seen.

Truth be told, I'm not that concerned about my memories. I am concerned, yes, but it doesn't change much. Our enemy hasn't changed, and I don't think I would get much out of making sure my memories are intact or uninfluenced by these Dread Lords.

But this is too big of a sign. It can't be coincidence.

He will need someone who knows darkness to pull him back out...

"Varus what are you thinking?"

I look up and face all of them. Their concern is evident on their faces, but I brush it off and stand. "I think it's time HK, and I took a trip down memory lane. We're heading to Zygerria."

"We will not be allowed to leave. We are officially required to stay until all sessions are over." Visas argues.

"I would like to see them try to stop me." I check to be sure my lightsabers are on my hip. They are.

"Agreement: I would appreciate it if they would try to stop us too." HK said.

I feel Ahsoka's gaze on my back, but that isn't important right now. This isn't about us. This is bigger than that. This is about a war... This is about Koj. I know what I need to do.

"We won't be taking the Ravager. This shouldn't take long."

Without another word, I leave and HK is on my heels.

* * *

Ahsoka rushed to the door to stop him, but Skywalker grabbed her shoulder and shook his head. "Don't."

Ahsoka shoved his hand away. "He took HK! He never takes JUST HK! You know what that means!"

"I know what it means " Skywalker replied.

Varus always took Ahsoka or Anakin for their guidance and kept HK back because of its murderous nature. Even before he had Ahsoka and Anakin in his crew, Varus kept HK back and chose Koj'inawl instead. Varus always had some moral backup to keep him straight.

This time, Skywalker had the feeling Varus either believed he would manage fine on his own, or he didn't plan to allow himself to be restrained by morals.

The picture of Koj as a Prior glared up at all of them from the papers Varus had been looking at. Skywalker remembered his wide-eyed expression, and then how they narrowed and how determined Varus became.

Varus had been staring at Koj's picture a long time.

"Varus is a man on a mission right now, Ahsoka. Right now he is at this most stubborn."

"And that is the worst time!"

Skywalker agreed. He was not at ease over this. "Ahsoka. I know you are concerned. I know you want to whisper in his ear and tell him what to do, but there is also a reason he calls you 'mother' so much Ahsoka, we have been by his side constantly for six months, and then a year straight before that when we met. Right now, he is going through a personal trial of his, and we cannot interfere."

"He intends to kill his brother!"

"No." Skywalker denied. "We know him. Stop. Don't be upset. Think. This is his brother we are talking about. What is Varus doing?"

Ahsoka stopped herself and focused. She had let her emotions run off with her

"He intends to save his brother and kill him if he cannot."

"As much as it hurts, if Koj is a Prior, then his objective is clear, and Koj has made himself our enemy. Also, remember that the process of a Prior destroys the person and replaces him with someone else. This may not even be his brother anymore, and I think Varus is wary of that. It could be a piece of the Abomination's power, a parasite, or a brain-washed Koj in his brother's body now. We can't assume he is the same man anymore."

"But if Varus kills Koj, parasite or not, it will destroy him."

Anakin looked down. After all the years of work that had changed Varus into a man who was simply good, loving, compassionate after so long to think it would all go on the line over a single man.

If Varus kills Koj, it would kill him either by guilt or turning him back down his angry path he was in the process of leaving.

"I know. If you want to help him, Ahsoka then pray. You cannot take the journey for him this time. It all comes down to this. This is Varus' greatest trial."

Ahsoka didn't like it one bit, but after long moments, Anakin could see her come to accept it. He felt for her, he really did. It took a lot of work, talking, understanding, and effort to get them to where they were now as a couple, but something she would have to learn is to just trust him.

Trust was easy for her. Not being involved, not even 'just to be sure', was tough.

"Now why don't you tell me what has you all up a hissy every time you look at our host?" Anakin prodded.

"Not you too "

"Yes, me too. Come come. I've never seen you give him distance so suddenly and give a woman the stinkeye " Anakin slowly grinned manically. He got it. "You're feeling protective of what you consider yours."

Ahsoka tensed. "I am not!"

"Oh yes you are! I'm the same way Ahsoka, where do you think you got it from? When I was first married to Padme, I couldn't see her dancing with any guy without wanting to shove him aside, preferably into a trash can."

Ahsoka turned away, but Anakin knew he got it. "Come on Ahsoka, they just met and Varus wasn't giving her googly eyes or anything."

"I know " She sighed. "But I couldn't help noticing how she looks at him. And I didn't say anything because it's stupid." She glared at him briefly. "She has to know he has her father's memories in his head."

"That would make things complicated." Anakin agreed.

"I'm trying to get over it but I just don't like how earnestly she looks at him."

"Sounds like she wants to know her father from the secondary source."

"Does it sound awful that I don't want that?"

"No, means you want to clearly set your territory, which is necessary in a relationship, but " Anakin strayed off. "I have no idea. You're dating a guy with the memory of an older man in his subconscious, who has a daughter about your age. Sounds like a cheap love-triangle holovid or a harem story."

Ahsoka felt the hair on her neck bristle. She barked, "Are you trying to make me worse?!"

"No, sorry." He smiled apologetically. "I don't know what to say, Snips. This might be something to sit down with them and talk about. Also, call Padme. She could have a lot more insight than me."

Ahsoka sighed, "I will."

Anakin watched Ahsoka go to her shared room with Visas to meditate, and he asked Visas, "What do you think?"

Visas cocked her head to the side. "Miraluka fall under the category of endangered species, so Varus can legally claim multiple wives. However it will influence his image as Keeper, as he is supposed to be firm in one 'bond' while he maintains the Network. But if he wishes to be in a physical relationship with multiple mistresses, it would be lawful."

"So you're solution is to have Varus marry Ahsoka, Satele, and you? That's a disaster waiting to happen."

"Plan B is for them to stop dancing around and just get laid." She said neutrally.

Anakin looked at her a long moment. If he hadn't known her, he would have figured she was joking. As much as he wanted to argue with it about the whole ethics issue, and how taboo the concept was to them, he couldn't deny it might suddenly shift. They were adults physically, but in terms of understanding relationships they were slowly growing from being children into teenagers. These were things he and Padme would have to be ready to help them understand, and most likely at a rapid rate as they would be playing catch-up with their own bodies.

"I don t see it happening."

"You would be surprised. I have a raffle going to see how long it takes."

* * *

Squirt repositioned herself.

She was really uncomfortable in the box. Her, Luke, and Leia, were in a box in the storage compartment of the Ravager. They had spent a good portion of the trip meditating for breathable air, and it was very compact. She hated tight spaces, and she had to be physically shoved against them. The rest of the box was full of treats, food, and little games they had stockpiled to bide the time for what had turned out to be hours!

The only thing that kept Squirt from going insane is how the twins turned it into a kind of camping trip in the box.

"I think we stopped moving." Luke said.

"We stopped moving hours ago "

"Why didn't you wake us up?!" Cahjinawl blurted out. "We must have arrived! Let's get out!"

"Wait, there might be people nearby!" Leia stopped her. "What if we're caught?"

"Don't care! I'm going to suffocate in here!"

"Um " Luke whispered sheepishly. "Leia and I won't let that happen " Cawjinawl glared at him and replied by sticking her long tongue out before pushing up against the box lid.

It didn't budge.

Cawhjinawl looked at the lid in shock. "Wha?" She banged against it. "It won't open! All this time and we never bothered to check!"

"What?!" The twins yelled. They pushed up with her.

"With me!" Leia said. "One-Two-"

Cahjinawl pushed, but it didn't budge. Leia didn't push at all.

"Leia!"

"What comes after two?"

"Three!"

"Oh. Okay, one-two-three!" All three pushed. The lid lifted a tiny bit, but it was too heavy. They dropped it with an exhausted huff.

"Something must be ontop of us." Luke deduced. "No! Don't do a fire punch! We're all in here!"

"Tsk." Cawhjinawl glared at the top of the lid.

"You will find the solution is easy."

"LARRY!" Luke and Leia squealed in delight. A blond kid with multiple eye colors sat with them in the box. Cahjinawl didn't know who he was, but he was a boy that was always hanging out with them. The adults never saw him, and Cahjinawl speculated he was what the adults called an imaginary friend.

Cahjinawl didn't think his name was even Larry, but the twins called him that, and he answered to it as though it was his name.

The kid smiled gently and hugged the twins. "Luke, Leia. There is no need to worry."

"But we're stuck in a box!" The first said.

"And there is something ontop of us!" The other finished.

"And?" Larry asked. He chuckled. "Leia, Luke Have you forgotten so soon? I am always with you. Compared to me, what is a box lid? I can move the box, you just have to want me to."

The kid promptly disappeared into thin air.

"He's right!" Leia decided.

"When has he ever left us alone!"

"Never!"

"Yeah!"

"Let's do it!"

"Do what?" Cahjinawl asked, but the twins disregarded her, leaned back, put their hands on the lid, and closed their eyes. Cahjinawl knew the twins could speak mentally, but it was still uncanny seeing them do things in sync.

The boxlid above them lifted gently into the air. Once it was high enough, Cahjinawl climbed out and gaped. There had been the nose of a fighter ship ontop of them and two crates. The twins were lifting the crates, the fighter ship, and of course the lid, all at once and were moving them around the room gently. Other boxes around them lifted into the air.

"Guys. We can get out now."

The twins opened their eyes and everything fell with a loud clatter around them that made them cringe.

They climbed out and looked around.

"This doesn't look like the Ravager " Luke realized worriedly.

If anything, it looked like they were on another place entirely. Cahjinawl scrambled over to a window and looked out. There were a lot of ships out there! As well as a planet

And the Ravager.

"Uh, guys. I think we're on the space station."

"When did they unload boxes?!"

"Must have been when we were sleeping."

"Well this is just great!" Cahj exclaimed.

They went around to explore the hanger. It was dark and empty, and Cahj found herself having to ignite a fire in her hand to have any light. It was small, but offered an equally small comfort.

Luke and Leia tried to climb up some stairs, but the stairs moved and threw them back. "What is that?!"

"Moving stairs." Cahj said.

"Stairs do that?!"

Leia took off after the stairs and tried to run up them, but it went too fast for her and threw her back.

"You're doing it wrong " Cahj chastised them. She walked up the other set of stairs that actually moved upwards, and Luke followed her, but Leia was insistant.

"It's just stairs with attitude!" Leia insisted. She ran up the stairs and managed to make it half-way up before she couldn't manage anymore and was thrown back.

"More attitude than you it seems." Cahj mocked her.

Luke went to the top of the down-ward stairs to reach out to his twin sister and pull her up, but he found the stairs moved downward when he reached them, and with Leia running up it at the same time, they clashed and were thrown back down in a tanglement of limbs.

Cahj face-palmed. She took the downward stairs the proper way and helped them up.

"Stop being such an idiot and do things properly!" Cahj shoved them both onto the proper stairs, the ones moving upwards.

"See if you can find a door up there, I'll look around more down here." Cahj yelled up. The twins acknowledged it and ran off together to find a door in the dark on the second floor.

Something told Cahj it might be a bad idea for them to be running around on the second floor of a steel hanger in the pitch black but nah! They would be okay.

Cahj ignited a small flame in her hands and walked around the edge of the hanger. All she saw was a couple ships thus far.

At one point she got to a terminal and looked at it.

'Hanger Door' was lit up brightly on one button.

It had to be it.

Cahjinawl hit the button, and a loud roar erupted through the room. She turned to find that, indeed, a door had opened. It was however much MUCH larger than she thought and it lead out into space. Thankfully it was also shielded otherwise they would be dead now.

"Hey, you hear that?" A voice said distantly.

Cahj squeeled in fright. Steps were coming this way. She looked around and noted places to hide.

Not a box, she was tired of being in a box after hours!

Ship!

"Stay hidden!" She yelled up to the twins as she ran into a ship to hide. They all looked to be of the same design with about four or five small rooms. Cockpit, small cargo hold with an engineering department on the other half, a small lounge with a holoprojector in the middle of the ship, and a few living quarters with bunkbeds.

Having been in ships before, her first thought were to loose places. The voices from before entered the hanger and sounded like they were patrolling. She ran into the living quarters, pulled a mattress up, and found it was mostly hollow underneath.

* * *

Jabba didn't know how long he had been sitting in the darkness of his cell.

Jabba's cell was a prison of stone. Chains covered him as well as blisters and sores and cuts. They were obtained in a combination of torture and him being stubborn enough to thrash about when he had the energy, but his energy was waning.

He forgot the last time he was fed. It was... he wanted to say three days ago, but he had lost all track of time. There was a window, but all he saw out the window was the red glow of lava and dark clouds. It was as if this money-forsaken planet had no sun.

All he knew is that he was alone, and being fed enough to live, but not enough to be healthy. Once he had a very healthy mucus and oil on his skin, but now he was as dry as the stones around him. Water and acid rain beat on his prison enough to keep him from dying of dehydration, in fact it made his prison downright damp most of the time. The air was full of smog that burned his eyes, so he resigned to never opening them. And the heat... it was so hot!

He had to be on a volcanic planet of some kind. He couldn't hear lava, so it was distant, but the planet's nature was just hot.

Jabba cursed everyone. He cursed the Sith for inciting him, tricking him, into a war with the Mandalorians that he was told they would assist with. He cursed the rebels for rising up in his empire and overthrowing him. Most of all, he cursed that damn Ghorfa!

That Ghorfa, cursed be his vile name, that incited the rebellion, freed slaves on dozens of planets, orchestrated sabotage, and war, and terrorism on a massive scale, and all before Jabba ever heard of him. He was as elusive as a snake, and just as lethal, and more difficult to squash than a horde of cockroaches.

And he had a temper. Of all the things Jabba learned, he had a temper.

Jabba had dealt with scores of fools and angry people in his time. They were as common as wheat. They all had in common was that their judgement was clouded by their anger, and then easily defeatable.

But that Ghorfa His anger was something on a scale Jabba had not seen. It wasn't the heated anger of a fool, it was the cold, slow, icy anger that promised pain.

Time came and time went. The days and nights were equal, and at last Jabba heard steps at his door. The metal hinge shifted and the heavy door opened wide.

The Ghorfa loomed in the torchlight and Jabba immediately recoiled away. When he had first been brought here, he had attempted arrogance. He thought he could get the Ghorfa to reveal his plans or make a mistake by being desperate.

The Ghorfa was anything but desperate. Jabba had no idea how long he had been here, and the Ghorfa had yet to say a word. There was no ransom, no demand, no request, only silence and pain.

The Ghorfa entered into his cell. Every step sent terror up Jabba's flexible spine. Every tap of the man's staff made his skin crawl. Jabba didn't allow himself to look up into the man's white eyes, as doing so only caused a session of torture in its own right.

The Ghorfa stomped just in front of him, and the sudden lack of tapping was as loud as an explosion to Jabba.

"I'll... I'll give you whatever you want." Jabba pleaded in a whisper. He no longer cared that his voice was little more than a whimper, or that it was a struggle just to open his mouth. Only that the man stops. "Just ask, and I'll give you anything."

The man dropped down onto a knee to peer into his face, and Jabba snapped his eyes away fearfully. The man reached out, grabbed his jaw, and forced his attention on him.

The calmness he saw was as big a lie as any he had ever seen.

"Will you give me back the lives you have taken?" The man asked.

"I-"

"Can you turn back time? Return the dessert to a lush garden at a time when its people prospered?"

No. He couldn't. "I... I have money!"

"Had." The man corrected. "Your money is now mine."

"I have slaves." Jabba tried again.

"Again, had. Your slaves are now my followers. Only, I have no reason for them to fear me. I treat them well."

"I have secrets." Jabba tried. It was all he had left. "I-I know things! Lots of things!"

"What could you possibly say that would have the slightest bit of interest to me?" The man replied sarcastically.

He was a Ghorfa, what would interest a Ghorfa? Jabba scrambled through his brain quickly.

Jabba barely knew what a Ghorfa was until this one decided to educate him. They were the natives of Tatooine that had been in his way of the mineral veins!

The man's fingers grew increasingly tight by the second until it was about to break his lower jaw. Jabba squealed painfully, "I know! I know where the Ghorfa slaves are!"

The man's fingers loosened, but did not release. "I'm listening."

Jabba opened his mouth to provide an answer, but the man suddenly grabbed his lips tight and said, "If you lie to me, I promise, you will die. It will not be fast. I will start from your tail, and reach your head, one slice at a time. Do you understand me?"

Jabba nodded furiously.

The man took promises very seriously. He was anything but a liar.

"Zygerria! The slaves are on Zygerria!"

The man let him go and left without another word.

Koj left the room and nodded to his personal bodyguard. The man was also his pilot and was fanatically loyal to him, and held him in great honor. The man would die for him if need be. Koj had freed him and his family from slavery, given them a home, and made sure his family was comfortable.

Koj never asked for his servitude, but Jered was insistent on having a life-debt and repaying Koj.

"Did you have a productive talk?" Jered asked.

"No." Koj replied. He left his staff on the corner and sat down in the co-pilot seat. "Jabba didn't tell me anything I didn't already know."

"Then why did you allow him to give information? Why give him hope of having value to you?"

"Because hope in the face of the inevitable, is the worst agony I can offer. It is only fitting for him to understand my people's pain."

Jered felt a cold chill go down his spine. He may consider Koj his personal hero, and may have given his life to the Prior to do with as he wanted, but there were still moments when Jered wondered how deeply the man's hatred went.

"We are going to rendezvous with the rebellion on Zygerria then?"

"Yes."


	66. Ep14 - Price of Brotherhood Part 3

**Note: A VERY VERY annoying pattern I have found is that the -dot-dot-dot- I use a lot in my writing keeps being deleted suddenly and leaving behind empty space. I don't know why that is happening, but if you see a sentence that doesn't make sense, it might be because is deleting some of the punctuation!**

* * *

**Episode 14 - Price of Brotherhood Part 3**

* * *

"Do you believe him?" Mandalore asked.

Galen looked up from where he was looking through the window. Down below a number of children played in a large locked, isolated room. It was important they be isolated and safe. They were clones. They were Galen's brothers.

They had no memory no power They were nothing more than scraps to the Dread Lords that would have been used as training fodder for their crazy older brothers.

"Who?"

"The Jedi Master, Skywalker. His claims of a single leader above the Dread Lords are questionable to me. I find it difficult to believe the Dread Lords, as powerful as they are already, and as 'controlling' as they would be with the power to influence minds, would bow to anyone. Yet I have seen what Nihilus can do and there are some crazies out there we, perhaps, shouldn't be trying to measure so easily."

Galen nodded and looked back out the window. The sight of his younger brothers was calming, and provided a focus and purpose. "I do not recall the Dread Lords serving anyone." 'Before I escaped' went unsaid.

"But, I do believe him. The Dread Lords may have been able to influence people into submission, but the technology to clone in the way they did " Galen shuddered. The memory of the process would forever be his greatest nightmare. "They couldn't have come up with it on their own."

"They have a backer?"

"I would say so. They had too big of a head start to not have someone big backing them."

Mandalore nodded. He understood that. It was easy to understand how the Dread Lords could build up power easily, but some things take time to build.

Cloning takes time, massive resources, advanced technology that's not the kind of stuff you do from scratch overnight.

"The time between the Starkiller Legion and Dread Lord's escape was too small." Mandalore mused. "If Skywalker is wrong, it doesn't change much. We will still be going after the Dread Lords. But if he is right, it means we would need to be more cautious But to be able to kill the Force That is hard to swallow."

Galen argued, "Nihilus is a hole in the Force. If you took Nihilus on a galactic scale, it would be possible."

"Lovely Last thing I want to hear is that there is ANOTHER of him "

"You probably didn't want to hear there was another Varus either did you?" Galen smirked.

"More than one Starkiller? It was difficult to swallow. But then Varus showed up, and then I met you here and saw your little brothers You would put rabbits to shame."

Galen laughed.

They stood in silence. Something about the sight of children playing was enough for them. Galen asked, "Worried about returning to Mandalore? Your woman probably has a thing or two to say about you returning from the dead. Hehe."

"I made sure to get a message to her before I disappeared. She knows but she will have to chastise me publically for the sake of setting an example and to deny involvement. I will most likely face rivals that sprung up out of the shadows, but its nothing I can't handle. I expect the civil war people whisper about is already resolved. Satine is a capable leader. She most likely changed the funding around a bit to be less militarialistic, but I wouldn't have lied to everyone if I didn't trust she could handle it."

"Good enough."

The door opened to the side and Galen glanced over to find Skywalker and Ahsoka enter.

Galen quickly looked away. Their presence made him nervous. Ahsoka's gaze was held to him, and he wasn't sure how to feel about it.

He remembered. He remembered everything up to the point when the DNA was taken from Varus. That was how clone memory worked. So he remember the life he had or rather, didn't have, with them.

It was almost like some kind of amnesia twist. People with amnesia are looked at by their loved ones expectantly for them to remember you, only to have no memory of you. In this case, Galen wanted them to remember him, only, it wasn't him they were remembering. Not amnesia per say, but it felt similar in nature like a badly written identity crisis.

Mandalore excused himself and left.

Skywalker looked out the window and his eyebrows shot up at the sight of the clone children. "And here I thought one Varus was bad enough."

Galen chuckled, but didn't respond.

"You really have his memories?"

Galen nodded. "I remember everything, including you." He glanced to Ahsoka, but felt pressured under her scrutiny.

"You seem more patient and less crazy though."

"Yes, well. That I can't explain. Although it might have to do with the lack of people sticking their fingers in my brain. I can imagine the Starkillers had lots of brain-poking done to them while under the Dread Lord's watch, and I think we can all agree they are extra crazy." Galen tried smiling jokingly, but mellowed at the sight of Ahsoka. She wasn't scrutinizing him anymore, but something about her made him very uncomfortable.

"Revan?"

"I have flashes, but the Revanchist believe the flashing are from memories that overlapped between the original and Revan. Beyond that, no. Revan's holocron memories belong to one person and weren't inherited."

The few times Galen remembered hearing the word 'Revan' from a Dread Lords mouth, it was with such vile contempt and hatred, that Galen felt he was lucky none of them had the memories from Varus. If any of them did, the whole clone project would have been scrapped from the beginning and then they would have been aborted and murdered.

Ahsoka left and Galen frowned. Skywalker sighed, "Sorry, about her. She is uncomfortable here. The sight of you isn't helping things."

"Do I make her that uncomfortable?"

"No, its " He chuckled. "Varus and her are dating."

Galen coughed. "What?! Damn, that s crazy. I realize we have feelings for her, but I never thought it could go that far!"

"Ye, well I think it's just too complicated for you to get involved in right now. The Shan's have her on edge. Then there is you."

"And Varus has Satele's father's memories and let me guess Satele wants to get to know her father "

"Yeah. She hasn't said it, but its obvious in her eyes. There is a yearning there that... I think Ahsoka feels territorial."

Galen shook his head and smirked. "This is sounding like some kind of four-way romance drama-crap in the works. No wonder Ahsoka is so tense. Well, for my part, I'm happy to live my own life. The original can date her all he wants, I'm happy with my brothers."

Galen leaned over and whispered, "And just between us, I'm already with Satele."

Skywalker grew a feral grin. "Really, now? Why shouldn't I just reveal that?"

"Let's let Ahsoka stew a bit. It's not a secret to anyone who doesn't already know me, but I want to see how long it takes for Ahsoka to catch on."

"That is evil, and I think I like it. You Galen's, Starkiller's, and Varus' are a bad influence on me."

"Ten Credits says it will take the rest of the meeting sessions for her to realize it."

"Nah, I'll pass. I swear, between you and Visas, everyone wants me to be gambling today. Visas has a raffle up on how long it will take Varus and Ahsoka to 'Get it over with and just get laid already!' as she put it."

Galen burst out laughing.

Skywalker continued, "I won't tell her for now, but if things get too complicated between the four of you, I will step in."

"Fair enough. But where is Varus? I actually want to talk with him and meet myself."

"Yeah, well. He's busy right now."

* * *

I wish I was busy right now. But no, flying is the most boring job since the creation of... Flying.

So sue me.

I hate this. I hate going near Zygerria. I hate having to go there to face Koj. I hate the path Koj is going down. I hate how its basically the same path I walked for so long. I hate the fact that I am the one who has to pull him out of it I know the Force-child told me himself that I had to, and I know I am the most likely person who can between my experience in his path and my relationship with Koj, but I wish I could have just sent Tree-Hugger or Ahsoka.

The mission sounds simple. Sneak into Zygerria. Locate Koj. Find key moments and places from my memory on Zygerria and see if it really happened as I remember. Beat the ever living snot out of Koj.

I don't care about Koj being on the Dark Side. You can be on the Dark Side of the Force and not be a genocidal psychopath. I do care about him embracing hatred though, as that part will turn you into a genocidal psychopath.

Koj is a former terrorist from a race that had been enslaved and reduced to ruin by their former masters, left with a planet turned into a desert, had to fight for thousands of years for every scrap of resource, and has been at war with invaders who abuse them, have them pegged and treated like animals, and finally destroyed them and took them as slaves. Koj is also the last of an endangered species.

He has a couple thousand years' worth of ancestral pain, burdens, struggle, and hatred on his shoulders, and no small amount of survivor's guilt.

This will be a pain in the ass to pull him out of.

"Observation: Master, we are nearing Zygerria."

"Good." I take my feet off the panel and sit up. "Drop us out of Warp."

We do so and the first thing I see is a dozen dreadnaughts surrounding the planet. Something about the sight gives me a bad feeling.

"Based on the position of the ships, the overall lack of spacial travel in the system, and the IFF tags, it would appear the Rebel Alliance is blockading the planet. With Koj'Ineh leading the Rebel Alliance, I can say with great probability that Koj is already present in the system."

"Turn us invisible." Yeah, we totally stole a Revanchist shuttle just for this. Although, from how there was no one to defend it, I have the feeling Satele WANTED me to steal it. Hell, the door was open!

The woman is weird.

Why are we not invisible?

"HK?"

"Yes, Master."

"Turn us invisible."

It doesn't move.

Freakin' psychopathic droid

"HK, I don't think fighting twelve dreadnaughts with a single stealth fighter is a good idea. What are the odds?"

"I like the odds." It tries.

"Well, I don't. Turn us invisible."

"Aww " HK complies. Just to be sure it didn't pull a fast one on me, I lean over and check the monitor. We're invisible.

Now if only HK will not break it to do a sneak attack.

* * *

"Prior!"

Koj looked up from the map he was surveying and noted the rebel soldier enter the tent. He waved him over to come, and the soldier complied.

Koj's fellow Prior sneered.

Koj knew that his methods were different from the other Priors. They were the types to not associate with the lesser acolytes nor care. Koj was not that way. He earned the hearts of his men genuinely, even if it was with the understanding they would be cannon fodder.

Koj was also different in that he didn't preach with his words. It was something the voice in his staff was displeased with him about at first, and the Priors looked to him as though there was something wrong. There was. The Spirit was protecting Koj.

Koj remembered the first moment he took up the staff and embraced the Eternal Hand's power. The power was exhilarating. But he also felt something wrong. Something was trying to enter him through the staff like some kind of worm.

The Spirit took care of it, and promised Koj he was safe, but Koj hadn't heard much since. Since then, his focus had returned to his people, and he intended to take full advantage of the Eternal Hand to do it.

"What is it?" Koj asked the man.

"Orbital command reports that a ship appeared in the system minutes ago and disappeared."

Koj's fellow Prior scoffed. "Nothing just disappears from our sight. Do not be so blinded by evil."

"Yet to ignore evil only encourages it."

The Prior looked to Koj, surprised to hear him countermand him, but also nodded respectfully. "As you say."

Koj considered the ship. "How large was it before it disappeared?"

"Little more than a fighter, but for it to be able to disappear is the worrying part."

"Then we have nothing to worry about." Koj had a funny feeling about it. There were only a few capable of the resources to have a ship that could disappear, and just as few that were crazy enough to enter a system he was invading. None of them he looked forward to meeting. It could be bounty hunters or Revanchist, but something in his ear distant whispers of the Spirit, told him it was someone special.

Koj waved off the soldier and returned to planning out the crusade of the planet.

The Zygerrians were despicable in every sense of the word. Their army was comprised of slaves, their population was full of slaves and slave owners in a ten-to-one ratio, and they held on to it all with an iron grip of technology designed to respond only to their genetic code. The number of slave camps scattered across the planet were dizzying to comprehend and offered a substantial boon to his army. It was laughably easy to look for volunteers.

The problem was he had yet to find the Ghorfa or take the capital! The natives had centralized all of their standing army to it, and Koj was at a difficult stance on how to siege it. Starvation starved the slaves, and possibly his people, more than it did the enemy. He couldn't get proper intelligence with everything only working when a native was handling it. They had tried faking the scan with a native's hand, but the technology was somehow able to differentiate! It was maddening.

He couldn't attack or bombard from orbit either. There was a shield generator, which was becoming the biggest problem. If he could knock it out, he could sweep into the city.

He had seen urban warefare, and this wasn't one of those times. The natives had little intelligence for guerrila warfare and relied on their technology to give them the upperhand, and it was annoyingly effective.

The sound of a bell interrupted Koj's thoughts and reminded him for his duty as Prior. It was a public duty of the Prior's to be among the zealots, bless them, and to offer sermons and teachings. Koj found that many flocked to him more than the other Priors in the crusade. Most likely because Koj didn't offer mundane writings that were impossible to draw anything from, but rather hard lessons learned from a hard life. If the Eternal Hand doctrine was simple enough for the average man to understand, then he might preach it, but as it was, no one could understand the gibberish.

It was as if it was designed to offer hope, but then provide nothing if you bothered looking yourself. You had to be spoon-fed answers.

Koj picked up his staff and left the tent. The camp was expansive, taking up an entire city, and Koj made his way to the center courtyard. Flocks and mobs followed him. Koj walked up steps to get a higher vantage point and started teaching the crowd simple lessons from the book.

"Aroden then took off the mask and revealed his face. 'Your appearance matters not,' Aroden said, 'Only the truth of spirit in your heart.' Now, let me ask you all, does my appearance frighten you?" The crowd murmured no. "I ask that we speak openly and honestly, I am Ghorfa, and I know my appearance is frightening. Yet you do not fear me because you see that I am more than a mask. For thousands of years my people hid behind masks and clothes because flesh was sacred, our appearance was frightening, the desert heat beat on us, but in time the mask can be said to matter more once its purpose is gone. Just as Aroden claimed, it matters not what you look like, only what your heart is. The Harbingers will show it plainly."

Koj barely had time to finish his words when light exploded all around him and he felt something hard impact the back of his head.

When he came to, he was sitting, strapped down in a chair. He was inside a ship with a gun inches from his face by HK-47, and Varus stood just behind the droid eyeing him with barely contained contempt.

Judging from the light through the front window, of the cockpit, they were on the surface of the planet.

"Hey, what took you guys so long?" Koj demanded.

HK and Varus shared a glance before knocking him out.

* * *

Normally I'm the type to run at the mouth or to find something to do, but for once I can't move.

All I can do is sit here and stare.

My first encounter since Koj left, I thought, might have been happier. He might have returned on his own and asked to see his daughter and tell her that he would never leave her again. He might have strolled in and told me to pull my pants up and grow up, or shut up. He might have simply been there. No explanation would have been needed, simply that he got over his tantrum, finished his soul searching, and decided to just be there. We would argue over morals, culture, and how Koj constantly confuses words.

I remember there was one time someone made a joke, and Koj didn't understand it. He took it seriously. I said "Forget him, everything goes over his head." To which Koj replied, "Nothing goes over my head, my reflexes are too fast."

It feels like just yesterday we were arguing about whether or not you can make tomato soup from ketchup.

Then I had to go and be in a meeting that would destroy the Ghorfa, without even knowing it.  
The Jedi sold the Ghorfa's home to their tormentors for medigel to save a few lives.  
Koj and Squirt lost everything. Their people were destroyed.  
Koj pulled a trigger on me.

And now Koj ran off and became a Prior. If I was in a sarcastic mood, I would comment on his choice of makeup or plastic surgery, but there is nothing funny about this.

Koj's eyes are white and pale. His skin, once a tanned green sort of shade, was now pale. On his skin are symbols burned into the flesh in a way that looks white rather than burned dark. His robes are white, and priestly. In his possession is a staff with a crystal on the top intertwined by wood as if the staff naturally grew around the crystal.

I had tried to touch the staff, but a malevolent darkness sharper than a knife, reaching and grasping out like Nihilus' shadows, reached back. I pulled back without touching the staff. The brief exposure was all I needed. HK had to take it to storage and lock it up for me. I am not going near it.

Koj sold himself to the Abomination.

A part of me wants to ask, 'why?', but then I already know. His burden. It s the same burden I carried all my life. The burden of a survivor, an avenger, willing to plunge himself into the darkest abyss if it means having the power to satisfy the dead, to satisfy the demons that followed him and asked why he lived when they had to die.

I understand it more than he can ever know, and because of that I also know how different he can be. It's only been six months

Is this the same Koj that left? No.  
Is there any of my brother left?... I can't say.

That s why I brought HK with me, because I don't know

If it comes down to it, I don't want anyone to hold me back. I don't want anyone second guessing me.

I will not allow Koj to fall so far as to have to create Maris Brood's and avengers of his own to end his own path for him.

This isn't even about Dark or Light. This isn't about whatever side of the Force he wants to draw on. Both sides have their extremes and evils. This is about whether or not he becomes a monster.

Koj is leaving his darkness behind, dead or alive.

"HK " I murmur. HK perks up. "If I give the command, I want you to put a bullet between his eyes "

"Always."

"Thank you."

"Anytime."

"Yeah."

"Just ask, and I will do it. I won't hesitate."

"Seriously, just open your mouth and give the command. I will do it."

I roll my eyes. "No." I'm not going to tell HK to do it right now. I appreciate HK's willingness and humor, but it needs to learn some tact. Now isn't the time for this.

"Awww Why did you wake him up only to put him back to sleep earlier?"

"I wanted to see what his first reaction would be."

"Did you find it enlightening?"

I lean back and think. What to make of it? I wanted to gouge where Koj would stand with us from his first reaction, and Koj's first words were 'What took you guys so long?'

'Guys' is a word I would never have expected Koj to use. His speech is much too formal in my experience. He uses words exactly as they are meant to be used or conveyed. In this case, 'guys', would refer to an informal way of showing an attachment in an affectionate yet distant way.

But the way it's said sounds like he was expecting us. Why would Koj be expecting us?

Naturally, being brothers by oath, it would make sense for me to hunt him down and drag his scrawny butt back to the Ravager. He might have expected me to come after him at some point when I lose my patience.

I might have also come to kick his ass after hearing he turned Prior-white-eyes on us, and therefore expected me to not stand by and let it happen quietly.

Or

He might have known of the Force's purpose for us.

This war with the Abomination is going so poorly that the Force itself has to intervene, create champions, and guide us personally. The Force told me I would go after Koj eventually.

Did Koj know that?

Knowing Koj's devotion, or prior Prior-ly devotion (haha puns) to the 'Spirit' (otherwise called Force), then he very well might have been in tune with the Force's will.

He could also just as easily turned on his own gods and gone ape-shit all over the galaxy burning everything he can to the ground because he is a pissed off little Ghorfa.

I just can't say anymore, not when I sit here and see my brother like this.

I didn't know what to expect in my first encounter. Would it be over tea? At each other's blades? I'm improvising as it goes and going with my gut, and my gut tells me to observe.

Koj has been here a while waging war with the natives. If I want to know who he is, then look at his handiwork. Is he a terrorist? Is he a rebel? Is he a freedom fighter?

The difference is in how he treats civilians. Koj will openly claim to be a terrorist, but I know him. He never hurt civilians, intentionally. He never targeted innocents who couldn't defend themselves.

I shake my head and push away the thoughts. I'm just driving myself batty.

"HK, wake him up."

HK props up its rifle and adjusts the medicine we have pumping in Koj's veins. Thus far he has been sedated, but there is a drug that will also wake him up. It's painful and if used in the right combination amounts to torture.

It also makes it difficult for one to use the Force.

Don't ask how I know all this. It won't be a pretty answer.

Koj snaps awake with a start. He braces himself against the straps and grits his teeth painfully as the drugs pump into his veins. I motion for HK to stop, and HK returns to its position next to me at the ready with its rifle aimed at Koj's head. (Having HK aiming at him is as safe as not aiming. It won't go against my orders.)

Koj's confused, pain-filled eyes stir around the room before locking on me. He growls loudly and struggles against the straps in the chair. "Okay, now this is not necessary!"

"No offense, but have you LOOKED into the mirror lately?" I demand.

"Surely you don't think I am a threat to you, of all people?!"

"You tell me, and in case you get any funny ideas, you should probably know this: HK hasn't been involved in a single proper engagement or kill for seven months, if not longer. It has a very itchy trigger finger. Looking at how you suddenly decided to go for the complete makeup premium and go bald like this, I am tempted to let it."

"I hardly see how my state of hair defines how dangerous I am nor my non-existent hostile intentions." Koj squeezes his eyes shut and huffs. His face grows red with pain. His veins should feel like they're on fire, and his mind should be clouded, but awake.

I roll my eyes, and a part of me wants to smile in mirth, but I refuse to allow it. Good ole Koj, taking every word so seriously, just like how I remember.

But it can also be a deceiving trait. Parts of him can be the same, but the important parts can be completely different now.

"Then let me lay it out for you." I angrily kick over the first box I find with a shiny surface, grab the lid, and put it in his face so he can look at himself. "You're a Prior!"

His face darkens angrily and he snaps up at me, "I know what I am! What I have chosen to save my people! Granted, at the time, I had never heard of the Eternal Hand. But even if I did, I would take up the staff just as much!"

"Why?!" I yell.

"I don't have to answer to you."

His answer hits me in the gut. "If you aren't going to answer to me, your sworn brother, who will you answer to?"

"I answer to one who is not a hypocrite. You dare to be here and tell me what to do? You, who spit on your own dead by entering into league by their own executioner?"

Oh, he did not just go there.

I hit him, and his head spins with the impact. The sound of my fist reaching his face was loud enough to echo.

He snarls, and the face I see before me is not Koj. The anger, the hatred, the pain. It's not just the skin and eyes, but what I see behind them. "Because this power is what I need! The Spirit told me to go with this. At first I thought it was just a mission, but now I see! Dark and Light are both two sides of the same coin! The Good Spirit and Evil Spirit are one and the same! You are here to tell me how evil the Darkness is! Well, let me tell you, Darkness is what is needed to do what needs to be done! Sometimes the Spirit is angry and must punish!"

"And just who is it going to be done to?"

"EVERYONE WHO HAS STOMPED DOWN ON MY PEOPLE LIKE THEY WERE INSECTS!" He bellows. "I am going to take their own boot and smear them into the dirt! I will bring their cities, built on the blood and bodies of slaves, and reduce it to ashes! Their crimes, and the blood they have shed, calls out for judgements and so many cowards have refused to answer that call for so long, that eventually, when someone does answer it, it will be a call of fire and death!"

I shake my head. Every word he says is a stab in the chest, and seeing this much hatred burning in his eyes Was I a fool to have never seen it?

"Koj I know what it is like to have the dead demand retribution. I have regular nightmares. A demon lurks in my soul and it claws at me every night " Koj softens at my words and looks down, but he still looks like a Prior to me. "People think I'm crazy. Ahsoka looks at my way of doing things as childish. I get told periodically that I need to grow up. They just don't understand. I learned you need a bit of crazy to fight it. And I guess it is crazy how I don't fear much. I don't fear the day, or anything that encompasses the day. I don't fear the Starkiller Legion, the Priors and their Eternal Hand, I don't even fear the Abomination. I fear Nihilus, but mostly because that fear has been put into me. But you want to know what I really fear? I fear sleep, because I know that demon is there, waiting to eat another piece of me."

It drowns me. They think I'm crazy, but they don't know the feeling. The demon surrounds me, circles like a vulture. It wants to break me and wash away my colors."

I sit down on a crate next to him. "Some mornings I wake up and see nightmares of all kinds. Ahsoka dead by my own hand, spouting how I betrayed her, how she hates me. And the same with everyone else I care about. Other nights, I see the people I've killed. Nameless hordes crawling up through cracks from Hell to pull me down and smother me, and at times, champions of the dead, people I knew. Maris Brood and her judgement. The pity of many Jedi who realized how young I was when I killed them. Even Ahsoka's old master, telling me that I will only end up hurting her. Nights like these, I wake up crying, weeping, even wet down there. Other times, I wake up with an overwhelming need for blood, and I look into the mirror and I see a red-eyed monster looking back."

Times like that, I feel it s a sickness that is taking over. The demon seeks control and drags me under."

"The only times I ever remember not having a nightmare is when I was someone was there to scare my demons away. Squirt, Ahsoka you."

"We never slept together."

"No, but being shoved in the same cramped room as slaves was enough. Then there was the time we were both shoved in the same sleeping pod for a heavy dose of freezing torture. Did you know you snored?" I smirk.

"I did not."

"Oh, yes you did. Squirt once compared you to a musical. Bass, trombone, drums. The works, man."

His face softens further at the thought of her.

There it is, a flash of guilt. Just what I hoped for. But then it is gone just as fast.

"I know what you are trying to do." He looks up at me. The hatred is gone, but in its place is steeled resolve. Shit. "I appreciate it, but I am a man on a mission. I cannot allow anything to get in my way."

"Not even your own daughter?"

"What do you want me to say? That I should have taken her with me into darkness?"

"You shouldn't have left."

"Wake up. How many soldiers out there leave home? The galaxy, full of armies by the billions of trillions spread across millions of worlds. I promise you, these Jedi you love so much are no less guilty of it."

I sigh. Koj stares ahead stubbornly as if awaiting the next torture session and attempt to talk to him.

Unable to think of what more to say, I leave. "I'll get you a smoothie with a straw or something. I'm not unstrapping you from the chair. HK, make sure he stays cooperative."

I shut the door behind me, but my feet can't carry me to the pantry. My feet won't move. The weight of his words and the world pushes me backwards into the door and I slide down onto my butt. All I can do is sit here clutching my head and struggling to not cry with the pain of finally knowing truly and honestly the depth of my brother's hatred and pain.

I'm not a hypocrite. I acknowledge what I did, and it was all a mistake. I should have died those years ago, that s just how it is. But I'm alive, and I know that one day Koj will wake up.

And Koj will say 'I should have died' just as I have.

I don't know how to tell him off either.

I went into this angry he left his daughter behind, but then he is also right how many soldiers have left their families behind? How many have picked up their guns, put on their armor, kissed their wives and children, and walked out the door, only to die to people like me and with the story ending with a pair of comrades on the family's doorstep to deliver the news?

How many soldiers have offered themselves up as fodder, as nothing more than a number and resource to be used and tossed aside, for the sake of something they believe in.

How many people in the army are slaves? People looking to defend their home? People looking for excitement? People looking to further a career? People looking to repay a villain for the pain they have done? People looking for justice?

Who am I to judge them apart?

A faint tinkering sound interrupts my thoughts, and I perk up at the sound. Curious, I stand, wipe my eyes, and enter the pantry.

The fridge is slightly open.

Someone is here.

"Well, this is new. If rat's developed opposable thumbs, we're all doomed." I shut the fridge. Even as I talk and walk around the pantry, I close my eyes and let my Miraluka side take over.

A spark of life and Force energy resides in a nearby room. Judging from the amount of Force energy, the person has a decent power level. Whether he or she is trained is the question though.

I call my lightsaber to my hand and creep into the room. It's dark, but as a Miraluka, that means nothing. I can see as well in the light as in the dark.

With my lightsaber ready, I kick over the bed comforter and reach in the grab the person by the throat with an electrified ha-

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" I yell in surprise.


	67. Ep14 - Price of Brotherhood Part 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, so no sue!**

* * *

**Episode 14 - Price of Brotherhood Part 4**

* * *

"Hey, thanks for coming." Galen smiled.

Ahsoka looked at him blankly. "You wanted me?"

"Yes, come here." He returned to looking out the window.

Ahsoka stood by his side and looked out of it. Below were the Galen clones that were young. "Is this what you wanted me to see, because I've already seen it."

Galen frowned. She sounded really put off by him. "I'm sorry if I did something to offend you, but… I must ask, why do you have such disdain for me?"

"…" Still nothing. If anything, she looked like she wanted to be anywhere but there.

"I called for you because I wanted to make a request, and ask for help with something, but if you are just going to be pissy with me the entire time, I think I shouldn't bother."

"…"

"Okay, screw this." Galen had enough of her attitude. Old friend or not, he expected better of her. "We have something to settle apparently. I'll meet you in the duel ring when you are ready. It's on the third floor."

"Why shouldn't I be surprised you have one of those…" She said snidely.

Galen closed his eyes and counted to five. "The Revanchist are Force users too."

Galen made his way to the duel ring and found a couple Revanchist already there, as well as Satele.

Satele took one look at him and raised an eyebrow. "What got you in a huff?"

"Just an old friend." Galen replied. "I remember Ahsoka giving the silent treatment as a way of expressing real anger, but never like this." He shuffled off his outer robes and resorted to less cumbersome layers.

"She has been giving me the eye as well since she got here." Satele agreed.

"Hmm…"

"Is that a 'I-know-the-answer 'hmmm''? Or?"

"From what I've heard, her and the original are an item."

"And?"

"And I look like him."

"…and? I'm sorry, but I'm failing to see the part where we are her problem."

Galen chuckled. "Don't tell me you weren't the slightest bit enamered with him when you met? I saw you staring at him for most of the talking earlier."

She rolled her eyes. "He has my father in his head! Of course, I am curious."

"Curious?" Galen smiled knowingly.

"Okay… Wanting! Needing! Mother never talked about Revan beyond what history depicted. The pain of remembering was too much for her." She fiddled with her hands. "How can I not look at him and not want to know what father was like…"

Galen took her hands in his and kissed them. "Easy. You did good. I was proud of you."

She smiled up at him and kissed him. "Glad to be noticed. You don't give many compliments. Must be my lucky day."

"I only gave you one…"

"One is more than usual." She joked.

Galen pretended to be hurt. "Well, damn. I must suck to be around then."

"Only ninety-nine percent of the time."

"Ow, okay. I'm hoping she will meet me to get it all out and duel, I don't need to be mortally wounded before we start."

"Alright, alright. But still. Just because you and I are married isn't her problem. She can get over it." "I don't think she knows."

Satele stopped and slowly narrowed her eyes at him. "And it didn't cross your mind to explain that?"

Galen chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his head. "Well, we kinda have a… bet." "A bet…"

"Yeah, to see how long it takes her to figure it out."

"…"

Galen smiled.

"And you wonder why she is pissed… WE'RE MARRIED!" Satele suddenly barked past Galen and Galen turned around to find Ahsoka staring at them wide-eyed in shock.

Galen turned back to a smirking wife. "You're evil."

"I know. Have fun."

Galen sighed and took up position opposite Ahsoka.

"I can explain." Galen said.

"Sure." She replied sarcastically.

Okay, he wasn't going to get her to open up. He wasn't sure why he kept trying with her in this mood. So next best thing: let her vent, then pound reality down her throat.

Galen swooped in and started the fight.

To his surprise, Ahsoka was much better than he anticipated. She evaded his attacks expertly and started a momentum of energy that reminded him of… the Jedi Master assigned to Maris. For the life of him, Galen couldn't remember her name (whether due to his blurry memory of the Original, or just being focused on the fight) but the similarities were staggering. Ahsoka was the same species and looked like a smaller version of the woman, and was using much the same fighting style.

Very quickly, Galen had the impression his style that was comparable to lightning, moving in and out chaotically with enough power to stagger her as he caught her off guard, was being put against a style comparable to water. Ahsoka simply flowed. Offense and defense were reversed smoothly without a loss of momentum and she almost seemed to dance. Galen tried to press her, but she started to incorporate spinning into her movements. For a non-Force user, spinning was stupid, as it exposed you. But for a woman as agile as her, and being a Force-user, it was deceitfully poor, and like the Nameless woman's style had shown Galen in recollection, Ahsoka's momentum only gained more and more pace as the duel went on without Galen being able to interrupt her.

Never before had he had this much trouble with an evasive enemy, nor one that could suddenly turn a defensive movement into an offensive one. It wasn't just how agile she was, or graceful, but she seemed to predict him.

That shouldn't be possible.

Galen's style was one born of chaotic intent, pure instinct, movement so rapid that it was pointless to keep up. Yet as he moved, she reacted in turn perfectly to counter him…

His movements were not completely random, it was more of a form and series of movements set in a pattern to give the appearance of being random. Much like how droids have their blinking timer set to a mathematical algorythm to give the appearance of being random, his style was really a repeat of his own algoythm.

Ahsoka was used to fighting the Original…

Feeling himself begin to tire, Galen glanced her over. She was sweating and panting heavily as well, but he had the impression he was tiring out much faster. His movements and jerks were becoming wasted while her momentum only continued a bit more sluggishly.

She was striking much stronger than he expected as well, but judging from her expression, it was because of pent-up aggravation and emotion being let out. Almost a Dark Side thing if he didn't know better…

Whether they knew it or not, the Original had influenced her. Galen had no reservations or doubts that the Original was a Dark Side Sith. He would always be, but he was influenced by Ahsoka to take on a few Light Side aspects. But whether they knew it or not, Galen's fresh perspective told him that Ahsoka was being influenced just as much to take on some of the Original's aspects.

Damn the two of them were close. Galen wasn't sure how such a match was possible with the two of them being in such a complicated position.

Seeking an end to the fight before either would make a mistake and permanently injure the other, Galen dashed away, stopped, turned off his lightsabers, and fell to a knee. He sat there panting. His legs were thick, numb, jelly. Ahsoka looked like she was on the verge of collapsing and looked down at him through sweat that ran into her eyes. She dropped her lightsabers and they turned off on their own.

Galen glanced around and noted the observers. Seems their duel had drawn a crowd and the people were on the edge of their seats, so to speak.

"People are so far off the edge of their seats the seat is irrelevant at this point." Ahsoka panted with a content smile.

Galen chuckled. "You recognize my movements… predict it… get more aggravated than I remember you getting… and make cheesy jokes? I realize you two are a couple, but how much as the Original influenced you?"

Ahsoka blushed but didn't seem ashamed of it, nor hide it. "A lot."

"And that style of yours… I remember it… I don't remember her name, but Maris Brood's dead master used it… or at least its similar."

"Her name was Shaak Ti."

Shaak Ti. Yeah, Galen had no memory of that name.

"I don't recall you using it. If I recall you were more like Tree-Hugger."

"Yes, well. It's a style I developed myself, actually, with bits of help from my students, Anakin, and Varus. I wanted to develop a style more adaptable than what I had used. I decided to incorporate strength, with Varus' chaotic movements, with something a bit more graceful and fluid." She huffed. "Actually in trying it on him, I found myself doing the opposite of strength and making it more evasive to counter him, but eventually found it was just as adaptable as I wanted it to be."

Galen nodded. "Congratulations. You figured out Shaak Ti's old style, and evolved it a bit. I will tell you one thing to watch for though: Interruption."

"That's what Varus said. Shaak Ti's downfall was her momentum constantly being interrupted."

"Then I guess you know more than I can say from just one duel." Galen raised himself up and clipped hit lightsabers back on his belt.

Ahsoka picked up her lightsabers as well, and they bowed.

"Now… will you listen?" Galen probed.

"Yes, I'm sorry. I have acted shamefully. My troubles have… clouded me."

"Its fine." Galen motioned Satele over. "Ahsoka, this is my wife. Satele Shan."

Ahsoka's eyes widened. "M-married?"

"Yep."

"How. When. You." She looked between them. She was completely lost for words.

Satele smiled. "I'll be sure to tell you all about it, but only if you let me talk with Varus. He has the direct memories of my father, and I would like to know him."

Ahsoka was silent a long moment. "If its fine if I am there."

"By all means."

"Then, I guess that's fine."

Satele couldn't suppress the girly giggle and hugged the alien girl tightly. "Thank you!" Galen just watched with amusement.

* * *

The Dread Lords were annoyed.

For years, they had developed a simple enough chain of command. The six Dread Lords were united, mentally, into a union from a Force Bond so tightly woven that even the Miraluka would not dare attempt it. It gave them strength, unity, power, absolute surety, and allowed them to brainstorm plots and ideas instantly without bothering to waste time in actual discussion. They were separate enough to have different viewpoints and perspectives, but united enough to instantly know the viewpoint of their peers, and to communicate at the speed of thought.

This connection was one they had expanded to their Priors. All Priors were instantly taken over, beaten into submission, and joined the collective with the Dread Lords as head. Any Prior that stepped out of line, even if it was just a thought, was brought back to heel by the combined Dread Lords and all other Priors under them.

But there was one… One Prior that resisted all work against it. His thoughts were bordered on treason. He lacked the absolute surety of his peers, nor their discipline. His thoughts were not brought under heel despite the attempts of the Eternal Hand.

Even now, this one Prior found himself unsure, guilty, wondering whether he was right or wrong.

And the Dread Lords attempts to reach him were not working.

It was as if he couldn't hear them to begin with. They were being blocked… by something… hidden. They didn't know what was blocking them, only that they were. Probes into the Prior's mind showed that he was full of hatred and anger, that he was confused, that he was weak and vulnerable, yet even a focused attempt to break him was halted by an invisible shield.

The six considered their options, and while they agreed that it would not be… without its shame, it was the only method they knew that could bring this Prior under heel.

Because if this Prior could block them, what was to keep others from learning how?

The Dread Lords rose from their meditation and journeyed through the castle. They came to a portal, entered it, and landed in a new world. Around them, dark clouds filled the sky and purple lightning poured like rain. However, it was not dangerous, not to any that were loyal. The cloud's master never allowed the lightning to strike anyone who he didn't want.

The Dread Lords made a short journey to a temple in question and entered a throng of worshippers and acolytes. At the end of the throng, on a giant throne, was two people. The first was a man, or rather, the spirit of a man. The second was a child. The child had black hair and was sleeping in the spirit's lap. The spirit looked down on the child lovingly and stroked his hair gently, making sure the child's rest was undisturbed.

The Dread Lord's collectively gulped and approached. They lowered themselves to a knee at the bottom steps and waited notice.

After a prolong time, the child stirred. The spirit stopped stroking the child's hair and looked up to them.

The spirit narrowed his eyes on them angrily. "**You disturb my child's rest. Speak quickly, and if I find your reason to be worth more than your life, you can keep it.**" Purple lightning crashed down around them and even killed a few of the acolytes in worship, but none of them moved away or reacted. Thousands of spirits showed themselves around the room, wielding swords and spears and looked to the Dread Lords in wait.

The oldest of the Dread Lords spoke for the group, "My lord, there has been a disturbance in the Force. As work given by your merciful hand, we have lead the Eternal Hand to prosperity, birthed a hundred of the Sith clone youth's, and sown chaos across the galaxy. However, a complication has arisen that warrants your attention and guidance."

We came across a single Prior, a man of profound hatred and anger, full of the Dark Side, that yet remains uninfluenced by us. At first, we assumed it was a faulty Force gem in his possession, but further experimentation, and probing, has found that this man is being blocked and protected by someone of great power. Someone with power greater than your servants… Perhaps even the Jedi's Chosen One."

The spirit grit his teeth angrily, and the world shook around them. Many of the acolyte stumbled, stones fell loose from the ceiling, and dust stirred. The child stirred and pressed himself further into the spirit's embrace fearfully. The spirit comforted the child, for the child was afraid of the 'Chosen One' and the death it would bring.

After the shaking halted, the spirit demanded. "**Are you sure it is this 'Chosen One'?**"

"We are. We have felt the Chosen One's essence before, and it is deceivingly large. His power feels to be nothing, yet when you peer closely, it is so large you cannot see the scope of it. It is like looking at a wall in your way, only to realize, it is but the ankle of a giant. In the same way, this 'shield' over the Prior is deceivingly large and abrupt. The one wielding it is so powerful, we have yet to find the scope of it."

The spirit contemplated this and chewed it over, complete with jaw sawing action.

"**Very well. We have discussed the matter. Let us strike at the Chosen One directly.**" The spirit turned his attention to the child, and gently prompted the child to stand. The child yawned and stood on his two little feet, reached up, and took the spirit's hand.

The thousands of spirits in the room disappeared, the acolytes stood and widened the path leading out, and the Dread Lords scooted to the side as the spirit and the child walked down. The Sith spirit guided the child as he walked.

The Dread Lords looked to each other in amazement, but also knew not to say anything. They had seen the spirit have a loving relationship with the child, but could not grasp how something so sinister was also capable of love. It was… baffling to say the least.

They thought of why it was. The best thought was that the child was being raised to one day become the spirit's vessel as a living sacrifice. There were many other ideas as well, but this was the one to which made the most sense to them.

None of the less, they followed the spirit out of the temple. They kept a respectable distance behind it, and kept to the pace set by the child. The child was tired, but obedient to the spirit, and never let go of the spirit's hand. In the same way, the spirit never let go and kept to the child's pace.

Eventually they made it to the portal, and after the spirit warned the child that it would be uncomfortable, they stepped through. The world was hot.

"We don't like it… this world is hot…" The child complained.

"**It is alright. This need not take long.**" The spirit replied gently. It looked to the Dread Lords. "**I assume there is a room where we can be comfortable?**"

"**Yes.**" The Dread Lord's replied, uneasily.

"Good." The spirit turned its attention back to guiding the child as they walked.

They entered a room where a giant Force gem rested in the midst of a group of pillows. "This is where we meditate on our work." The Dread Lords explained. "And through this gem, we are connected to our followers. You can reach them through it."

The spirit did not reply to them, but brought the child to the gem, lowered itself down, and peered closely at the gem. "This is one we provided you."

"Yes, my lord."

"**You have kept it in good condition.**"

"Thank you, my lord. It honors us for one such as you to notice."

The spirit turned its head completely around on its shoulders to look at the child. The child was not fazed in the slightest. The spirit instead gently pulled on the child's wrist until the child was next to the gem as well.

"**Let us take hold of it.**" The spirit prompted gently. The spirit put his hands on both sides of the gem, and to their amazement, so did the child.

* * *

"Don't make me repeat myself young lady!" I exclaim to Squirt, who is ever so innocently cowering and smiling from under the hidden compartment in the mattress that she dug out like a little conniving little rat!

AND WHAT THE HELL IS SHE DOING HERE?!

My surprise and anger and worry is all equal and working together to make me appear incredibly pissed off and frantic.

Of all the places! Of ALL THE PLACES in the whole galaxy for her to be, this is the #1 LAST place I want her to be! #4 is in a black hole and #3 is in a star and #2 is in Nihilus' room. #1 is most certainly the same ship that I am on while holding her father hostage just in the next room because he went ape-shit PRIOR on us!

"Hi." She says with a smile and a weak wave.

I pick her up by her shirt and look her in the eye with our noses touching. She squeaks in surprise and squirms around. "Don't give me that, what are you doing here!?"

"Hiding."

"That I can see! What I don't see is you being on Forge where you belong!"

"If I was there you wouldn't see me being there to begin with…"

"Exactly!"

"… that makes no sense." She says flatly. "Are you stupid or something?"

"This coming from a girl who demands to know why a mute person won't tell her he's mute."

"Are you seriously arguing like a child with a child?"

"Yes, I am. Don't argue with my logic. You are not supposed to be here! You are supposed to be on Forge!" I drop her onto the mattress at my waist level.

She pouts. "It was boooring!"

I collapse back into a chair facing her and put my head in my hands.

She continues on, "I thought you would like to some company! You are completely ungrateful, you know that!? Here I am being thoughtful and you just piss on it!"

What am I going to do? Squirt is here, with me and HK, on a dangerous mission that very well might decide whether her father lives or dies. We're in the middle of a war zone with a planet under blockade.

In the distance I can hear the explosions of fighting and the boom of artillery, so it has picked back up.

If Koj learns Squirt is here… what will he do?

If Squirt learns Koj is here… what will she do?

This is so screwed up. I don't know what to do with Koj yet, and now I have to add the biggest variable of all into the mix. Squirt has always been the key to Koj and I bonding. Sure, we learned to respect each other as 'warrior-priests' of sorts, shared burdens as slaves, and both come from species that belong on the endangered list, so we have plenty to share and understand from each other. Even our personalities fit nicely. I'm sarcastic as hell and Koj is serious as hell, which turns into comedy gold! There is never a day where we can't get a good argument going. But even with all of this Squirt has been the catalyst.

Her existence was our light in the tunnel while we were slaves. Her innocence was our comfort and object to protect and to care for. Caring for her took us from being simple comrades and friends to actual brothers. There were some that even went so far as to think we were a homosexual couple. (I can imagine it looked like it, with two men raising a seven year old daughter. Still… no. I like Ahsoka like that, not Koj.)

"Uncy Varus?" She asked worriedly.

I look up to her. If her worry is any indication, I'm messed up. I thought I could hold it together, but I feel like I'm stuck between so many things.

If I spare Koj, so many will die.

If I kill Koj, what is the cost in myself?

A part of me says that cost doesn't matter.

But I also know it is that exact thought that brought about Starkiller.

"What's wrong?" She asks. "Did I do something that bad?"

"Everything's wrong, Squirt. I feel torn between two sides I have lived on my entire life. I have to make a decision… and both decisions have a cost in lives. You didn't do anything… you're just… I… I didn't plan on having to worry about you as well as all the mess I am juggling. How did you even get here?"

"I… snuck onto the Ravager… hid for hours until it stopped moving, then got out and hid here when I heard voices."

Despite it all, I chuckle. "Of course you did."

"You're not mad?"

I sigh. "Come here." She climbs onto my lap and I hold her. "Squirt, I'm not mad. Promise. But I need you to understand something. We are in the middle of a war zone. People are dying. And your father is involved."

She tenses. I continue, "You remember how your father left to find enlightenment? To find himself? He is a man who is tormented, Squirt. People like that are dangerous, and he left to protect you from himself until he was better."

"Is he?"

"No." I reply honestly. "I know this may be difficult for you to understand, but your people are one that was enslaved, beaten down, and forced to struggle for scraps to survive for a thousand years before finally destroyed."

"Why?"

"Some people… just end up with the worst luck imaginable." Because I don't see what's so worthwhile in Tatooine for so many big empires to beat down on it. "And… there is a weight and pressure that comes from a lineage like that. Sometimes, a person is born who is so full of empathy and understands the pain of his people so dearly, that he bears the weight of the dead and carries their pain as if it is his own."

"And father is one of them?"

I nod and rest my chin on her head. "Yes. It's like a debt that only builds with each generation until one day… it is too large to bear. And now to be the last of your kind is the worst kind of survivor's guilt there is. It tears you apart, and is only made worse when it's someone like what I mentioned. Koj is angry, Squirt. He is very angry, and when a man is filled with so much of a need for justice that has never been given, and he lets it fill him with anger and bears a grudge for so long… it can give way to… a demon."

"But don't my people deserve it?"

"They do deserve justice and that is what makes it so complicated. Your father is in the right, but I know that when he is done, this demon that has taken hold in him will only make him worse than the evil he is fighting. Right now, I am trying to fight that demon."

"…" She starts to shake gently.

"Squirt, something like this is too complicated even for adults, but it is what I have to deal with. Now with you here, I can't say what will happen. You're life, and the life of your father and my brother is at risk, and I am struggling to keep it intact. I just need you to do exactly what I say when I say it. "

She nods in my chest and I hear the beginnings of sobbing. I hold her tighter. "Why did you ever leave Forge, Squirt?"

"I was lonely… I wanted to be with father and you."

Of course… why am I not surprised. She feels abandoned.

Damnit, Koj…

"Squirt, I've fought in hundreds of battles and come back. I won't leave you alone. I will always come back, but next time, I need to know you will be there for me to come back to. You have never had a solid life. You lost your people, was moved around in slavery, and were thrown back again only to be tossed from one ship to the next. I realize you will have trouble understanding what a home is, but a home is where you choose to live, to rest, and there is no better home than with family and people who care about you. When we get back, you need to stay in school."

"Can I go with Luke and Leia? Their mother is going to be teaching them."

Uh… oh right, the Hugger twins. "Sure. She is someone I trust you with, and is one of the only good firstimpressions I've ever made. She will take good care of you, and she will make sure I always come back for you."

"Promise."

"Heh…" I chuckle. "Sorry. I don't make promises and neither should you. Ghorfa thing."

* * *

Koj cringed in pain as fire erupted through his veins.

He had always felt something on the other end of his staff, but now there was a voice.

**Rise.**

The voice pierced the boundaries of his mind and tore through his memories. Flashes of his life, good and bad, revealed themselves, but as if the presence in his mind was alive, it sifted through those memories. It tossed some aside, and intensified others.

Koj yelled and clenched his body tight against the chains and restrictions that enveloped him, both physically and mentally. He felt as though chains had erupted out of the darkness and taken hold of his arms and legs and were pulling him under. He fought at first, fighting for the sake of returning to a home, but then…

**Rise.**

No!

Koj yelled out in pain so violently he bit his tongue. Blood poured from his mouth and he felt his lungs protest the violent use, but he continued on. The fire in his veins only continued to burn until he felt his blood begin to boil.

The last thought he had was how real the phrase 'blood boil' was.

**Rise.**

What home? He had no home. It was taken away.

**Rise.**

What family? He had no family. It was taken away.

**Rise.**

Koj couldn't… he couldn't. He had to resist.

**Rise.**

Why? What reason did he have left to resist? Koj strained through his mind for a reason. Anything to just resist the chains and stay afloat. Anything to keep from drowning.

But as he struggled, he found no reason.

Nothing came to him.

**Rise.**

The more Koj resisted, the more painful the burning sensation became. Koj opened his eyes and what he saw made him marvel.

He saw with his own eyes darkness, and out of that darkness a massive demon presented itself over him. It had a thousand hands, a thousand weapons in its hands, a thousand heads, a thousand red piercing eyes looming over him. Steam and fire came from its mouth. The heat from its breathe burned his skin and in its eyes Koj saw the most pure form of hatred there was.

The sheer magnitude of its hatred, the intensity of an ancient grudge, the bloodlust and contempt for all things, made Koj shudder. There wasn't a speck of love or compassion anywhere in it. Compared to this… this… abomination Koj's hatred was nothing.

Koj looked into the eyes of hatred incarnate. Hatred that existed for…

Everything.

**Rise. **

He couldn't… he couldn't resist anymore… It was too much.

Koj was chained to the ground before it, powerless to do anything but be its prisoner.

The hands, a thousand fold, moved around Koj to envelop him from all sides, and then crushed him.

**Rise.**

The hatred and memories worth of a thousand men filled Koj until what few memories he had left were nothing in comparison. Too many for his little simple mind to know or understand, but his body understood.

His body understood hatred well, and it filled his veins.

It wasn't the demon that was evil… the abomination was nothing more than a production of an evil far greater…

There was a flaw in the universe…

The abomination refused to be an instrument of this flaw… instead the abomination, born of this flaw, chose to fix it the only way it can be fixed…

By destroying it.

Koj opened his black eyes.

**Rise.**

Koj rose.


	68. Ep14 - Price of Brotherhood Part 5

**Note: Sorry for the small hiatus. This has been a difficult series of chapters to write. Not because I didn't know what I wanted in the beginning, middle, and end, but because the individual steps to properly reach that ending, the way every part is written… the events that lead to the proper resolution, the emotion, the feeling, the drama, the intensity, the action (next chapter is nonstop action) and everything involved is something I have wanted to be done properly. This is an episode that is so easy to screw up, but at the same time there is SO much potential to the episode because of how pent up everything has become. I have been told there is a lot of hype to this episode, and I want to give the hype what it deserves. I don't want to come out with something half-assed. I may make mistakes, naturally, but I don't want to shortcut this.**

**At the same time, I am finding myself having a difficult time planning the next episode. The reason for that:**

_**(Spoiler)**_

**Leland is on the Ravager with the galactic leaders practically next door. Nihilus is on the Ravager as well, with Leland, Anakin, galactic leaders all next door, and not to mention some promises Nihilus has made in the past that he hasn't forgotten, not to mention the fear of what the Eternal Hand, the Abomination/Aeterna have in mind for him.**

**All while Varus is missing.**

**Basically a recipe designed for total and utter CHAOS is on the verge of boiling. I have a method of writing where I actually commune with my characters and see the world from their perspective, and the perspective of Leland and Nihilus is "stuff is happening. Act now!"**

**But the problem with that perspective, that need, is that I don't have their moments planned until after the next episode! I have to take their energy and put it on hold for a whole episode for the sake of plot, but at the same time this makes me feel like I'm killing their plot. Because it makes no sense that they would bide their time this ridiculously long!**

_**(End spoiler)**_

**Pieces are moving! I am struggling to hold them back!**

**So once I am done with this episode (which is soon) we have Ancients and then Marek Unleashed to do, then I can relax and get my characters off my back!**

* * *

**Episode 14 – Price of Brotherhood Part 5**

* * *

HK wasn't sure what to make of it.

The undesirable had started thrashing about and screaming madly. He rambled wordlessly and begged and pleaded to an unknown person. HK scanned the room, but found no one was there. There was no audio or visible variable HK could account for. It even scanned the prisoner's eyes in case there was an implant, or an earpiece, but found nothing.

The undesirable thrashed around harder and harder, banging his head into the back of his seat so hard he left blood. He bit his tongue and struggled against his bindings. Blood poured from his mouth, he nearly ripped his hands apart from pulling so hard, and after a while blood poured from his white eyes as well and he closed them painfully.

HK was amused. The undesirable was not going to convince HK to free him because of insanity, but nor could HK just kill him without a reason. Unfortunately that was how its current master worked.

The undesirable went completely still. His face fell forward so HK could not see his face. Blood dripped from his eyes down onto his lap.

The undesirable lifted its head slowly, calm, and opened whi- black eyes.

Update that. His eyes are no longer white. Did the Ghorfa species have the ability to change eye-color? Or was it a trait of this Prior occupation?

Then the bindings on the prisoner's wrists… vanished. The two metal straps turned black and disappeared into the air.

Did he have permission?

No.

HK needed no further prompting.

HK raised its gun and fired a point blank shot between the meatbag's eyes.

The instant the laser bolt met his skin, or rather, a centimeter away, a miniature black disk appeared in its way, absorbed the bolt, and disappeared just as fast as it appeared. If HK wasn't able to see and analyze information at a fraction of a second, it wouldn't have caught it.

HK adapted by firing a barrage as fast as the gun could handle. The first few were absorbed by black discs, but then Koj lifted his hand, and the bullets came to a halt before him before firing back at HK.

HK was pummeled, unable to keep up with the speed of light.

HK analyzed its hardware for damage. It wasn't good. Its capabilities were lowered by forty-three percent. It lost an eye.

HK analyzed.

Koj moved his hand to the side, and his staff flew into his hand.

At the speed of trillions of calculations it analyzed thousands of facts around the room. Every angle, every weight, every material everything was made of, the performance limitations of HK's hardware, the performance limitation of Koj's body. Every possible object with its thousands of facts, how each fact worked together, and ultimately, produced an end result of inserting an object of lethal capabilities into the frontal lobe of the target.

Hundreds of scenarios, plans, methods, and variances sped through HK's processor.

There was a desk behind it, and from its memory the desk had the lid of a crate. The lid was thin. On another part of the room a panel was open, exposing wires and tubes. Tubes containing hazardous chemicals.

At an exact angle…

The instant Koj's staff landed in his palm, HK was done.

Mortal eyes saw thirty-two images per second, approximately, so in theory, moving fast enough made you invisible. HK could not meet that speed, but it could come close.

Moving like a blur, HK rolled backwards onto the desk, spun around, kicked the crate lid with both feet (one pushing and one aiming) aside into the wall panel. The lid imbedded itself into the piping, and immediately it burst. The lid exploded at Koj's left, the explosion of gas was capable of freezing his body instantly, and in the midst of all this HK aimed its rifle at…

Koj was gone.

HK's laser bolt hit the backdoor of the ship, the massive lid impaled itself in the opposite side of the room, and the gas burst across the room into nothing.

HK heard a faint breathe behind it and spun around only to be face to face with the Ghorfa.

HK had lost sight of Koj for only a thousandth of a second, even with its one remaining eye. Koj could not have moved across the room to behind HK that fast. It was physically impossible. To move at that speed would have destroyed Koj's body.

He used an abnormal method of movement to ignore the normal limitation of his body. Even faster than the speed of light.

By definition: instantaneously.

"Not bad for a wounded droid."

"A wound that would kill an ordinary droid, I refuse to lose to it!" HK rebutted. "To face that which is extraordinary, I can't allow myself to be ordinary!"

With its limited distance from the target, HK engaged in hand to hand combat.

The fight however proved to be short lived, as immediately the door was opened by a worried Varus-Master. Behind him, tugging on his leg worriedly, was the smaller Squirt-VIP.

The Koj-Undesirable, Varus-Master, and Squirt-VIP exchanged a glance, and the shock on their faces gave even HK pause, as it might mean a change in the situation and it couldn't say what.

Koj-Undesirable's shock changed to annoyance, and he kicked HK back into the wall before aiming his staff back at the backend of the ship. The Squirt-VIP screamed father, Varus-Master grabbed her, and Koj-Undesirable blasted out a massive hole in the ship.

The blast shook the ship, sending everyone to their knees, but HK and Varus-Master expected it. They both took hold of something as the air created a vacuum and tried to suck them out.

Koj-Undesirable, however, did not take hold of anything, and was carried out in the blast. This was most likely intentional.

The ship shook a second time, and with the addition of fire erupting from a panel, it wasn't a good sign. "HK! If they weren't firing at us before, they will be now! Who the hell burst the fuel line?!"

Oh, was that the piping HK cut?

Whoops.

Ah, well. Worth it.

* * *

SHIT!

I have no other words for this. SHIT! Shit shit shit shit shit!

The ship shakes a third time, and this time I see giant laser bolts from other ships firing at us out the whole the stupid idiot Koj made. We had been able to stay mostly out of the way by being inconspicuous, moving neither slow nor fast, and staying out of the way and making no sudden movements even when other ships took a look at us.

But then having our backend BLOWN off and a guy jumping out, and our engines blowing… yeah. We look suddenly fishy.

Did I mention our engines blowing?

"The ship isn't going to make it! HK!"

"Yes, master."

"Jump. Stop Koj." By any means necessary.

"Yes, master. With pleasure!" It runs out the hole and jumps.

Squirt is in hysterics and partially struggling against my hold because of the sight of her father… with black eyes…

The aura he gave off was darker than anything I have ever felt. It compares to Nihilus. Nihilus's aura has always been empty and void, but this was just benevolent, vile…

Hate.

And she is also partially holding on to my leg for dear life because the air is trying to suck us out. I hold her against the wall even as objects fly past us.

Forget making an emergency landing. Hell, I would forget making a crash landing at this point!

"Squirt, I need you to trust me!"

"What about father!"

"…"

Damnit Koj! Our life is in the balance and her first thoughts are for you! I'M GOING TO KICK YOUR ASS!

I'm done playing nice.

I grab Squirt, pick her up in my arms, and jump out the back of the ship. She screams, holds onto me tightly, and we fall for what looks like a thousand meters.

I know what to do. Only problem is doing it. If I use it a second too soon, it might kill us. If I use it a second too late… it WILL kill us.

The ground looms closer and closer, and the instant we pass the top of the tree line I surround us both in the Void.

I hold it for barely a second before releasing and for an instant my world is full of apprehension.

Did I do it too soon? Did I hold it long enough? Did I hold it too short?

If I held it too short, we would still be falling and go splat.

Thankfully what the darkness disappears to is a bright day, birds singing, us laying on the ground, Squirt shaking like a leaf in my arms, and a bunch of fighters zooming by firing.

I release my breath in relief.

"We're alive?" Squirt whispers. Her worry of her father is temporarily gone by the sheer terror of having fallen a thousand meters and landed on the ground. And most likely the disbelief that we survived it.

"Yep."

I stand up and look around. I don't sense anybody. I don't see HK.

Oh… can HK survive jumping out the back of a ship a thousand meters high?

Bah, it's fine. For all I know it figured out how to spontaneously grow wings.

There are explosions in the far distance over a small mountain. If memory serves, the capital is several miles beyond the mountain and is engaged with the Rebel Alliance. Koj is most likely heading there.

I drop down in front of Squirt she's struggling to hold it together, but is managing. It's been a crazy couple of minutes. "Squirt, you know you wanted to see what my life is like right?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, this is it. Welcome to Varus one-oh-one. This is a normal day in my life. So I know it seems freaky, and trust me, it will only get more and more out of control before it gets better, but I need you to focus alright? Focus on me." She nods. "We need to get to the capital. Your father is here for a purpose, and we need to beat him to it."

"And then what? Why were his eyes black?" Her big eyes water.

"Then… we get rid of the demon."

"But what if this demon has taken hold of him? What if you can't get rid of it?"

I close my eyes. "Then… if there is no more of your father in him… then he is already dead and I'll get rid of the demon that killed him."

Squirt pales. Rather than run or scream or beat on me, she just goes silent and tense. It's all too much for her…

"Squirt, just focus on me okay? Here is what we are going to do. You see this mountain? Yes? Good. We're going to get across it and to a city on the other side. They are at war with Koj, and Koj is here for something. I need to get to whatever it is before he does. You with me on this?"

She doesn't respond.

"Okay. That's fine. Come on." I get her on my back and she clenches down hard enough to draw blood with her little claws. She is probably in more pain than I am. I make sure to tie her to my back with my jacket. "Hold on tight."

I run.

Running cross country isn't new to me. I've done it in all kinds of weather, climate, and terrain. People tend to notice something as large as a leviathan-class ship, so Nihilus will 'park' it countries away. Other times I have had to land a smaller shuttle outside of a bases radar, which unfortunately tends to span many miles. I've even done it with weights.

Doing it with a crying girl on my back is a bit different. She doesn't weigh much, but every little jostle matters more. Every second I use my lightning claws to climb up the side of a cliff I worry I will electrocute her. Every shift in weight, hers or mine, makes me worry I will drop her, especially when I have both my hands busy.

Going back down the mountain is no easier. It involves a lot of jumping. Being a Sith, I still climb and descend quickly, barely breaking out of my sprint. Being able to jump high and land without being injured has its perks. Along the way we come across a few animals and Squirt stops crying long enough to stare in awe for the few seconds we pass by. Even giggles when they run in terror from me suddenly landing in their midst.

The trees and mountain gives way to a brown plains with a giant city in the distance. It is built in a circle with walls on all ends. Turrets and giant cannons sit on various towers and skyscrapers, while an army lays siege to the city. Fires erupt on the far right portion of the city and I see the makings of an army of… I would guess five-hundred thousand. A city this large would need a hundred-thousand on five sides to properly siege it.

Unfortunately we need to break through the siege and get in.

That's the easy part. Just by running in the same direction as the army is pushing, we will look like allies. Simple group-mob logic. However, we also look like bad guys to the defenders and cannon's won't stop firing just for us.

"Okay, Squirt, things are going to get very loud, very rushed, and you might see a fair bit of blood and death okay? Keep your eyes closed, ignore everything you hear, and hold on as tight as you can."

Squirt nods into my neck.

I'm okay with being in the middle of a war zone. I'm not okay with her being in the middle of one.

My sprint steadily transitions into a full run. I lower my body lower and lower to the ground. The Force pulses through my veins. Before long, my Sith training takes over, and I am back in the zone I was in during my apprentice years.

I break into the midst of the invading army as fast as a bullet and as subtle as an eel. I skim through their ranks like a fish through water, clamber over bodies, blood, and guts like an ice skater (actually that makes no sense, forget I thought that), and before long burst out the front. I half expected a ladder, only to find the wall had been broken down here. That's convenient.

The hair on the back of my neck stands on end.

I see a deep shadow ahead inside a building with its window open, and I shadow-step from the shadow of the wall to it.

The area I was just in explodes from cannon fire.

Squirt squeals, and clutches my neck tighter.

"It's okay, Squirt. Keep your eyes closed. Don't open them until I say."

"What's that smell?"

"Fire. Ashes. Chemicals and gases from explosives and weapon fire. Dead people."

"I shouldn't have asked…"

I laugh and look out the window. Vast portions of the city is in flames. People are fleeing in every direction and but there is a prevailing theme in the distance. The defenders set up barricades and lines of defense, and the attackers peel them away layers at a time. From the miniscule defenses, it seems they were not expecting to be penetrated so suddenly.

Whatever happened to Koj gave him enough power to suddenly get through where he couldn't before.

I can't see him, but I can follow with my eyes where they are going. The palace is massive and in the center of the city.

"Hold on." I adjust Squirt on my back and run out. I hop onto the top of buildings, run down the length of beams and walls, and evade blaster fire as best I can. I keep exposure to a minimum and Shadow step where it looks safe. I stop only long enough to see the front-line battle.

Koj is not among them.

A part of me hoped Koj would be there, on the front lines, because a part of me still wants to know my brother is safe just as much as I want to punch his face in.

A part of me doesn't want him here, just because I don't want Squirt to see him like he is now.

And where's HK? Oh, wait. I duck into a corner and speak into my data pad. "HK? HK, can you read me?"

"Affirmative." HK responds.

"Are you okay?"

"My condition is no worse than it was before."

"Great, beautiful. Are you on Koj's scent?"

"Negative. I am not following the target's scent. I am however following his encampment."

"That's what I meant by scent you… never mind. Where are they?"

"I am unable to provide coordinates at this time. The target is leaving the city. There are mountains. We are heading in the general direction the sun is setting."

I look up at the sun. I can't tell where it is moving, but even then, just saying a general direction like that is still open-ended. I need to know specifics.

"Okay, I'll see what more I can find here." I cut off my data pad.

I cut it off and adjust Squirt. She is deathly silent. Oh no… "Are you hurt?" I ask worriedly.

"No." regardless of her words I check her over myself. Oh, thank the Force… She's okay.

"Alright. Good. Um." I look up at the palace. "There is one place we need to go. Once I have information, we can figure out where Koj is going and confront him."

"Then?"

"Then… like we agreed, try to save Koj, but destroy the demon no matter what."

I lower myself for her to get on my back, but she doesn't move at first. She hesitates and climbs on me. "You know I love you, right?" She asks quietly.

…

"I know. I love you too, Squirt."

Damnit Koj… She's afraid I'll abandon her too.

With her on my back, I sneak through the front lines and get to the walls of the palace itself. This particular corner is unguarded, but also has a very thick wall that leads straight up to the main building. No entrance for at least a quarter-mile, so no, it's not an entrance.

Unless you are good at climbing walls.

I pool lightning around my fingers and extend lightning claws. I'm careful to control it and keep it low enough to not hurt Squirt, and slowly, gingerly, I stab the wall, and start to climb up.

Once we are a foot off the ground, "Squirt, are you holding tight?"

"Yes."

"Okay, well make it tighter. Don't be afraid to choke me." With both of my hands occupied with climbing, I can't hold her on my back. She is already hanging off my neck.

She adjusts herself to have a tighter hold that almost literally chokes me, and wraps her legs around my waist. After a moment, she nods, and I start the climb.

Climbing up a wall with lightning claws is second nature to me. I've been scaling walls and gates and defenses for as long as I can remember. I also adjust the claws to be more like a knife, where I stab my entire hand in and create a gap wide enough to put my foot in.

But it is the most difficult climb I have ever had purely from the worry of Squirt's hold on me. If I lose too much air, I fall. If her hold isn't tight enough, she falls. If a gust of air hits us too hard, she falls. If I go too slowly, her grip lessens and then she falls. If I go too fast, I shake her grip and then it lessens and then it falls.

Too many scenarios here involve my adopted niece falling!

I trust in my ability to adapt to a dangerous situation. If she falls, I'll catch her with the Force. If a sniper sees us, I'll figure something out.

But I shouldn't have to adapt to this. Squirt shouldn't be here, in this situation, with fire and explosions and the screams of death (people are loud when they die!) all around us. I am thankful there is smoke to cover us, but it makes her cough.

I halt just below the edge and listen. I hear people above us. I hear them firing. Most likely snipers.

I jump up, land on the edge of the wall, and weak burst of lightning in every direction. Five soldiers with very long rifles fall to the ground.

Content we aren't going to be in immediate danger, I drop down and check over Squirt for the five-millionth time.

"You killed them!" She panics.

"No. I knocked them unconscious. What I did was too weak to kill them. They should wake up in a few minutes."

"Oh…"

"Alright. You look okay." I look around. There is one building with three glass doors on three sides. The building itself is just an upper area for stairs leading down. "Come. Stay behind me."

I ignite my lightsabers and with the skill and prowess of a Sith assassin, slinker into the building. Squirt stays a few steps behind me and I slow my pace enough for her to keep up. We descend the stairs.

We enter the first floor we come to and immediately I'm under fire. Squirt screams, and I physically shove her back behind cover. "Stay." I Shadow step behind the group of three that had been firing at us. I electrocute one in the back of the head, knock a second unconscious with the back end of my lightsaber, and then have to grapple with the third. I pop his arms out of place and knock him unconscious by shoving his face down into my knee.

I grab Squirt and we continue.

I need to get information. Koj is here for a purpose. He purposefully used his power to break the outer defense of this city and allow his invasion to take root, but then didn't care about the invasion itself. He left for another reason, another target.

There is only one thing that could attract him like that, if he is still anything like the Koj I know. And if I am right about this, that means that, at least, there is a small piece of him still in there enough for this to be priority.

Despite how random my path is, I do know my way around this place, and this both scares and reassures me.

It reassures me that the reality I know is real. It is right for Mandalore to call me memory into question if I was abducted by the Dread Lords for any period of time. So for me to know my way around this place, and for it to be proven true, proves that my memories are not falsified.

On the other hand it means I actually was a slave, that I was raped by my master, and that I was kept by her side like a pet or trophy while guests attended to her.

Not sure if reality is all that much better than the fantasy…

And knowing the heir, my former master's son, he would know of her hidden bunker inside the palace.

We enter the one room I would never want to return to, just short of Nihilus's room. The room of the former queen.

Seeing the bed sends shivers down my spine and I struggle not to vomit. She was a feline woman… I wasn't even raped by a woman in the same species…

The room is also interestingly devoid of guards. I look around. It is odd.

Normally you would have guards in places of importance, like the entrance to your little bunker.

Unless it means also showing that it is a room of importance, like the defenders are playing some kind of psychological game or some bull.

Regardless, I kick over the bed and stab my lightsabers into the floor. Squirt hides herself behind a dresser while I work. The room is massive and the dresser is full of clothes. "Good spot. Stay there. Do not come out until I get back, 'kay?"

"Yes, Uncle Varus." She burrows herself further into the clothes.

"Alright." I return to my work. Before long, I have a hole cut and drop down and land in a dark tunnel.

I allow my composure to darken fiercely in the darkness.

Truth be told, I know what to do about Koj, but I dread it. I can sense him, his lack of inner conflict, and what is raging inside him. It's darker than Starkiller. It's as dark as Nihilus, but rather than calm and empty and devoid of empathy, it's hot and burning and hateful.

Nihilus left me without ignorance on what he had done with me. He had beaten his lessons, his teachings, his very essence, into me body and mind and soul. Even after I forgot, my body did not, and nor did my soul.

I just need to remind Koj. Just as I had a conversation with Ash once…

_"Try looking at your niece sometime. She is completely isolated from her peers, has mental traumas that she is hiding amazingly well, and I doubt has any education at all. You and her father are everything to her… if you throw your life away over something as useless as sentiment, I will spit on your grave. You know nothing about what she has suffered. You know nothing of death."_

_"I know exactly what death is. Next time you want to figure out if I know what death is or not, try asking Victoria who the survivors of the initial genocide was."_

_"You were…"_

_"I appreciate your concern for Squirt. I love Squirt. She's the daughter I've never had, but reality is, I am not her father. She needs her father more than me, even if she personifies me as her guardian angel right now. The reason I am willing to push myself to offer Koj even the slightest support, even if it comes down to being nothing, in the end, is because I know myself of how easily people can die… And even me pushing myself a tiny bit can help that, then I'll sleep happy."_

_"… just don't kill yourself and leave your niece behind. Please."_

_"I don't plan to."_

How true it was. Insightful woman. It applies to not just me, but Koj as well. She could have said it all to him just as easily as me.

Koj knows his daughters pain more than anyone. He may have adopted her shortly after she was born, but he raised her to be a faithful, humble servant of the Spirit like him as if she was his own. She is not his physical child, and I am not his physical brother, but we are family.

He just needs to be reminded that the only way he can hear it. I don't look forward to what I have to do.

"HK." I whisper into my comm. "I have a plan."

As I finish relaying my plan, I come to the door to the bunker.

This isn't the conventional entrance, but then the entrance is most likely password coded, DNA coded, fingerprint coded, or something. Hell, for all I know, it could be nose-hair or tongue coded. Lightsabers and lightning claws work wonders at ignoring all that crap and just because I feel nice, I knock.

No answer? Fair enough.

I stab both lightsabers into it and cut a hole. As soon as a gap appears, blaster fire pops out and I move to the side. There is so much laser fire that the room fills with smoke. He must have twenty guards in there!

I generate lightning between my fingers and pool it all into a ball in the palm of my hand. Little trick Ahsoka suggested. Why generate a rod of lightning by pooling lightning between both palms when I can generate it between my five fingers just as well?

Before long I have a congested ball of lightning and I shove it around the corner of the door into the room. Sparks fly in every direction and the laser fire halts.

I enter in lightsabers drawn. Everyone is knocked to the floor. The room is massive, with water and food for a year, a bed, a toilet, and even has a window. Isn't the point of a bunker to not have a window? Stupid.

The young king is easy enough to spot from his position as far away from danger as possible, and the flamboyant clothes, and the four slaves chained to him. (All female and might as well be naked.)

He cowers from me on sight and the few guards still able to move come at me, but after I remove one hand, they get the point. I walk up to the king and say, "You and I need to have a little talk. Here is how this will work. I will ask questions, and you will answer. My brother has lost his mind, my niece thinks she is abandoned by everyone and everyone else dies on her and is in the middle of a warzone, and last I checked, my girlfriend was upset, so I am not in a good mood and am not up for any attempt to bullshit me right now. Got it? Oh? And, by the way," I add off the top of my head as an afterthought, "I'm a Sith, in case you haven't figured that out already."


	69. Ep14 - Price of Brotherhood Part 6

**Note: I decided to release this chapter early just to wrap up this episode early. Have fun!**

**For the following sections, I have songs to add to it. Look up:**

**#1. Any Other Way by Nightcore**

**#2. Black Blade by Two Steps from Hell**

**#3. My Demons by Nightcore**

* * *

**Episode 14 - Price of Brotherhood Part 6**

* * *

After obliterating the greatest line of defense for the defenders, he left his army to its work in liberating the capital. He had other matters to attend to. There was a… sentiment he couldn't let go of. With that in mind he gathered a group of ten thousand from his assembled army of two-hundred thousand, with a set of artillery and tanks, and set off.

In the distance over the hills was the top of a large building that functioned as a bunker or fortress of some kind. It acted more as a prison or symbol of fear for the slaves more than anything.

Others would think that Koj gazing on it symbolized him being thoughtful, thinking on how to remove it, but in reality, he felt nothing and thought even less. The towering fortress did not bring fear to him nor impress him. It was simply in his way. He motioned to his artillery and within minutes the rebels were laying waste to it. The fire it returned back was minimal and easily stopped by Koj with his newfound power.

The fortresses defenders rushed out to meet his army. Koj simply lowered his staff and unleashed a wave of power and energy that shook the world. The ground lifted like a wiper had scraped its surface and in its wake nothing remained standing. He hadn't lost a single man.

"Impressive, my lord." Jered whistled by his side.

"Hmm."

"Shall we round up the survivors and finish them?"

"No. I have a better idea." Koj turned on him and stabbed the man in the chest with an arm shrouded in darkness. The men gasped around him, but Jered didn't respond at first. The man didn't even notice. Then he looked down and saw the arm.

"Ah, woops. Should have responded to that."

Koj withdrew his arm and the 'hole' in the man's chest disappeared. The man was healed anew. But the process caused him to flicker in the light. He was just an illusion. "What gave me away?" Fake-Jered asked.

"The man you pretended to be was under different orders."

"Ah." The illusion nodded. "Was not aware. Thank you for the input. Well, that just means I have to push things a bit faster."

Without warning fights erupted all up and down Koj's army. Men suddenly turned their blades on each other and Jered came at Koj with a knife. One of Koj's bodyguards leaped in the way and was stabbed for his trouble. Koj blasted the illusion away, and noted how it disappeared. Others in his army disappeared in the same way, while being able to produce damage to their brethren.

Interesting, so an illusionist of some kind had infiltrated his army and sowed seeds of chaos. Koj had not seen this coming, and neither did anyone else. While the illusion itself was easily destroyed, the damage it caused was successful. The army turned on itself, no one truly knowing who to suddenly trust. The Priors and officers among them worked to restore some semblance of order, but with some of the illusions having taken the appearance of officers and Priors themselves, it made it far too difficult for Koj's liking.

There was only one creature, one being of illusion and infiltration and assassination that he respected enough to have accomplished this, among those he knew was near.

"I should have destroyed you when I had the chance, HK." Koj murmured.

(N/A: Song 1)

The droid walked out into the open from behind a tree next to him and took on the illusion of a smirking red-skinned horned man with a lightsaber. "Appreciative remark: I aim to please."

A dozen Jedi and Sith among whom Koj recognized none appeared out of thin air and lit their weapons.

Without further prompting they rushed him from all sides.

Koj slammed his staff down into the ground. The ripple of power erupting from him knocked them all away and HK came at him personally. HK jumped into the air and brought a lightsaber down on Koj's head. Koj shrouded his arm in the Void and blocked the lightsaber.

HK pushed off him and landed several feet behind Koj. It spun around and rushed Koj. Koj formed a Void spear around his staff and pierced HK. HK blocked it with its lightsaber, but the spear penetrated the lightsaber just as much and came out HK's other side.

HK's illusion smirked and grabbed hold of Koj's staff-spear. A second illusion, identical to the first, appeared out of thin air just behind Koj already in midswing to behead the Prior. Koj kicked back squarely into the illusion's chest, knocking it into a tree, then he took his spear, still imbedded in HK, and swung it around, sending HK flying away.

HK disappeared, revealing it was nothing more than another illusion.

HK appeared again, as a droid this time, crouching just in front of Koj, aiming up at his face with a blaster. Koj would not have seen it at all from that angle if he hadn't become so much more powerful than he was yesterday. The power wasn't just in his raw energy, but in his senses, in his ability to use more of his brain, to analyze faster, to think faster, to know and see more.

In slow motion, he saw the droid pull the trigger, the gun light up, and the cylinder of hardened light travel up towards his eyes.

Koj leaned back, narrowly avoiding a blaster bolt to the face that would have killed him, and attacked back. In a fluid motion he turned his staff into a Void-axe and cleaved HK in half straight down the middle.

At the exact same time he had his axe-staff imbedded in HK, he felt a shimmer in the Force, and turning around with his hand raised, created a brief Void shield. It was none too soon as a massive laser bolt hit the shield and disappeared into its depths. The laser was of such size, impact, and intensity that the ground under its path melted to glass and left fires all around it. Men were thrown to the ground as if a pulse grenade had gone off, in addition to leaving them momentarily deaf and blinded.

Judging from the trajectory and size, it was a one-man tank-buster laser cannon being fired from incredibly long range (1500 meters) with pin-point accuracy straight to the back of his head.

That was where HK really was hidden.

The final HK illusion lay broken behind him, and said, "Most impressive."

HK had used everything, from the chaos, the fake-Jered, the numerous illusions and little battles all as a layered distraction for it to use that laser bazooka. As a result it had used nearly ninety-nine percent of its available power in addition to a lot of hardware allowing it to create illusions in another location.

Naturally it would have been nice if one of its illusions would have killed Koj, but HK had figured the odds lay more in the laser than in the illusions.

"Admittance of defeat: I look forward to next time." The illusion disappeared.

Koj looked to where he knew HK was hidden, and turned away. It was too far away for him to go. HK would disappear. Better to move on with what remained of his army. Their morale had been damaged greatly, but the Priors and officers had managed to return order to it.

He stepped over the next hill and looked down from its peak.

Thousands of slaves toiled in the mines. The mine itself was built in fashion of a quarry. A number of holes lined it as workers entered to go deeper like good little ants.

Thousands of Ghorfa.

A distant whisper of a voice in his mind was joyous, and wanted to weep for sheer joy. But he didn't. He was... disappointed.

There were naught but fifty slavers here, and yet the thousands of Ghorfa bowed their backs in slavery and submission. Where was their spirit? Their resolve?

Koj frowned sharply. Beside him, a Prior stood a few paces behind in submission.

While the Prior's were touched by the Dread Lords, Koj was touched by the Aeterna himself, the Eternal. This made him special. He wasn't 'one' like them, he was a champion.

"Stay." Koj commanded.

Without waiting for a response he descended the hill toward the mine. His staff tapped gently and his white robes skirted across the dust and rocky ground. His black eyes bore into the slavers even before the slavers noticed him and took cover. Shots narrowly missed him, and Koj continued walking without resistance.

Shots from his own army atop the hill, hidden in the trees, knocked the slavers to the ground with the impact and the quarry's defenders entered a state of chaos, fleeing every which way and sometimes offering a random shot back.

Koj ignored them. He walked by them even as they died all around him and tried to halt him. His attention was on the slaves.

They could have attacked their guards. The slaves knew what was going on, and they did nothing. They simply... continued working.

His disappointment deepened, even as a small corner of his mind felt something was deeply wrong.

He stepped before the first slave and said in his native language, "Who speaks for you?" Even among the slaves, there had to be someone they all looked up to.

The Ghorfa, with a naked head, looked up at Koj in amazement, but said nothing. The Ghorfa clearly recognized Koj as kin, but didn't seem to understand the question.

"Who speaks for you?" Koj repeated.

Again, nothing.

"He doesn't understand you." A voice said from the slaves midst.

A female stopped her work to walk over. She said, "Go on, and continue your work. I will talk to the stranger." The first slave nodded and returned to his task.

Koj took up his attention with the woman. Something about her voice was familiar, but he had more pressing thoughts. "Why did he not understand me?"

"The younger generations don't know our tongue. Our tongue is banned. They are taught Basic."

"You could have still taught him."

She shook her head. A very Outsider-ish gesture. "No, we could not have. Anyone caught teaching our tongue has their family punished severely and all involved are starved. And what about you, stranger?" She looked to him curiously.

"My name is Koj'Ineh, Prior of the Eternal Hand. Like you, I was a slave, but I was freed and have since come to know of the Aeterna. I am now freeing other slaves and bringing justice on the Hutts."

She nodded. "I know you well, Koj'Ineh. I was Vide'Ineh."

That was why he recognized her. She was once his leader, the leader of the Ineh. He did not recognize her face having never seen it before.

"However, Koj, you should know the Ineh are no more."

"Hmmm." Koj let his eyes move over the slaves. A gathering had started to appear behind her. The people were curious about him. "But the Ghorfa still are?"

She said nothing.

Koj took up the opportunity to call out, "Hear me! Brothers and sisters! I know not of what tribe you were on our home, but that does not matter! You may not know me, but I was like you! I struggled in the desert and may have fought your family in the wars our kin fought with each other! But now I am FREE! Like you, I was uprooted from our home and enslaved by those that would claim our legacy, our heritage, our birthright! But now I am FREE! In turn, I have come to free you!"

Koj entered their midst and looked each one in the face, but he didn't see the spark of life and a will to fight. He saw something else entirely and it disappointed him greatly.

"The Hutts have enslaved and trodden on the bones and ashes of hundreds of worlds! But now, with the resolve of our ancestors, and the strength of the Aeterna, I am showing them what it is like to be trodden on and beaten into the dirt! But I am just one Ghorfa! Join me!" He looked from the left to the right. "Join me! Be free! Join the fight! Let not the pain and suffering you have endured be unheard!"

Koj returned to where he started before Vide. She hadn't moved, but watched him passively. Koj slammed his staff down into the ground with a loud boom and yelled, "Who is with me? Who will rise from the dirt and bring our people from the brink!?"

No one moved.

No one made a sound.

Koj narrowed his eyes and frowned deeply. No one? Not even one person of hundreds who heard him? Were they not even going to spread the word amongst themselves?

The slaves dispersed and returned to their work.

"Even with a master... their back is bowed to the ground and they break their shoulders on burdens?" Koj questioned.

Vide said nothing at first, and Koj looked to her. She was almost... disappointed in him. She sighed, "Don't bother."

"But the Ghorfa-"

"Have lost." She said. There was a weariness in her that went to her bones. "They didn't just take our world from us, Koj. They didn't just kill our family and children, they broke our spirit."

Koj said nothing, simply listening. She continued, "Koj... do you not think I am 'shamed to have my head shown to the sun? Do you not think I am forced to speak the words of our slavers? I am, but I cannot bring myself to care. The Hutts did more than enslave us, Koj. They neutered us. None of us can produce offspring... and we are addicted to a liquid of theirs they put in our drink. We would die within days of resisting without the blue drink. At first, we did resist, but we quickly came to realize… it was pointless. We had lost."

"Does the work of our ancestors mean nothing to you? Do you not hear the dead demand that their deaths mean something? Does the blood of our people not call out to you?"

"You speak of the resolve of our ancestors? Well, what you see is the exhaustion from thousands of years of resolve. Our people have fought and bled and given ourselves to resisting day after day, generation after generation, and with each fight we give a bit of ourselves here, a bit of ourselves there, until now... there is nothing left to give."

Vide sighed in weariness and defeat. "Go home, Koj. Wherever you call it, and die in your own way. Leave us to die here."

Koj studied her. A corner of his mind was hurt, even shattered, by the news that his people had been neutered and addicted to a drink. Unable to produce offspring meant the possibility of reviving his people in any way was close to impossible. Without children, his race would end with this generation.

(N/A: Song 2)

But Koj didn't care. What he saw was weakness. He expected warriors, he expected rebels. What he found was cattle.

"That is disappointing." He admitted.

He extended his hand, took her by the throat, and held her off the ground. "You have failed. Not only yourselves, but all that have come before you. They are disappointed. The punishment for that is death."

The void extended from his hand and smothered her head. The void swallowed her screams, her pain, and her life.

He dropped her bones on the dirt and stepped over them. The slaves who witnessed his punishment panicked and yelled and fled, and their fear spread like a flame. The slaves all fled towards their holes in the quarry. Koj looked on them as the vermin they had lowered themselves into, fleeing into holes and cowering in the dirt.

Pathetic.

He raised his staff and the Void covered it like a shroud. The Void extended out for a hundred feet, and bent itself into a scythe.

"You have all failed."

Koj swiped the scythe across them.

Before the scythe reached even the first slave, a beam of crackling light hit the ground to his left, skidded across the ground, and clashed with his Void Scythe, cutting it in half, and sending the head of it flying into the air where it dissipated.

Dirt kicked up and filled the air with smog from where the beam had cut the ground in its path. To Koj's right, machines and towers fell to the ground from where his Void Scythe had cut them.

Koj stood against the gust of wind and peered into the smog. His robes billowed back and he rested his staff against the ground.

Out of the smog a pair of lightsabers flashed into life, spun upside down, and stabbed into the ground where the line had been drawn by the beam.

The smog dissipated enough to show Varus standing there against him with his lightsabers in the ground, as per the gesture of a Ghorfa.

The line had been drawn.

Koj knew what Varus was doing. He was doing a gesture that Koj would know. It was a slap in the face that their roles were reversed, as Koj had done it to him last.

He had to praise his consistency and stubbornness, but Koj was not going to relent or be manipulated.

He took his first steps forward, and saw the pain in Varus' eyes just from that. Koj continued to walk forward, tapping his staff on the ground as he kept going.

At the point at which they were ten meters apart, Koj knew that Varus saw that he had no intention of cooperating. Varus was simply another obstacle and was in his way.

(N/A: Song 3)

Koj raised his staff to blast Varus away. Varus threw his lightsabers to the side and leaped into the air.

The two lightsabers spun in the air and arced to Koj from both sides. Koj leaped backwards, barely escaping the wide arc they had. Suddenly the lightsabers flew up into Varus' hands as gravity took over and he came down on Koj.

Koj shrouded his staff in the Void and blocked Varus's attack. Varus pointed his lightsabers both down on him and their weapons met. Sparks ignited and Koj strained against the strength of the opening blow. He dug his heels in, but found himself being pushed back through the dirt.

The attack was far stronger than he expected. Varus had grown stronger in the last few months. Much stronger.

Koj yelled in aggravation and let his hatred fuel him. How dare he! How dare this man… how dare this OUTSIDER who considered himself equal to himself stand in his way!

The Aeterna fueled him and answered his angry heart's call. He found otherworldly strength in his limbs, and he halted. The attack, at once like being hit by a great beast, was nothing more than a nudge.

Koj pushed Varus away. Varus leaped backwards, kicking off Koj's chest at the same time, and back flipping onto the ground and skidded a few feet away.

Koj growled, "You think you understand me? Brother? You cannot."

Koj blinked. Varus disappeared in a flash.

It was brief, if he had blinked too soon he would have missed it, but a spark of light moved between Koj's feet at the same time that Varus disappeared.

Koj saw a shadow and Shadow-stepped to it. From his new vantage he found Varus had reappeared behind where he had just left. Varus narrowed his eyes at him and again disappeared in a spark of lightning.

Koj brought his Void staff down on Varus when he reappeared and the lightsabers met his attack.

So began a series of exchanged attacks and maneuvering. The two disappeared and reappeared in shadows, in sparks of lightning, and out of thin air. The bond they shared allowed the two to feel each other out without needing to look, and the Force allowed them to predict each other.

Koj shadow-stepped behind a crate and attacked Varus, only for Varus to lightning-step two feet backwards behind where Koj was.

To onlookers sparks flew and darkness shredded metal at random locations around them as the two exchanged maneuvers and blows. Lightning flickered across the ground and shadows deepened. At one point, lacking a shadow in sight, Koj had to create a pair of Void-gates and jump through as it acted as a portal.

Varus was too fast and sparked into position in front of where he stepped out of the portal. "Too slow." His hand was already covered in lightning and he shoved it in Koj's gut. Koj put up a void-disc in front of his stomach to absorb the blow. The lightning disappeared and Varus leaped away to keep from losing his arm. The void-disc changed color and became purple and looked like there was a kind of… mist inside it.

Odd. Koj made it disappear and focused on his adversary.

"I do understand you." Varus said from where he stood. He stood in the sun. The only shadow was his own shadow. "We are both survivors of genocide. We both fell to darkness. I know what you are feeling right now. The pain, the anger, the hatred. I've felt it. I've lived it."

Koj chuckled at first, then his chuckling turned to laughter. The laughter threw Varus. Koj knew he wasn't prone to outward emotion, and to Varus, he most likely appeared drunken with it.

If it was possible to be drunken with emotion then Koj no doubt qualified.

"So you hear the dead demanding justice! You see them in your dreams and every waking hour wondering why you live and they died!? Huh?"

"I do."

"Then how can you tell me I am wrong! The dead give me strength! The dead, and the wrongs done to them, give me purpose! What is your purpose, oh brother mine!"

Varus's eyes softened. "Koj, the dead are dead. Even if there is an afterlife, they won't care about our justice. They would have their own concerns. My purpose… is to the living."

"To the living…" Koj whispered. He looked down and pondered that. "To the living… the living…"

He considered it, and found it wanting. "You say to the living… but the living have their own concerns as well. If the dead in the afterlife and the living here do not seek justice of what has been done, then who will? Do they care about the tombs and trenches I dug for mass graves! The starved masses and those of us standing knee deep in the blood of our loved!? These empires and nations are built on mansions of skulls! The skulls of my people! My people, Varus, **trodden under and bled and gassed and starved and beaten and murdered and enslaved!** The galaxy is a machine! A machine to churn our bones and sinew into meat to be grinded between the teeth of cretins! The living clearly don't care! Otherwise they wouldn't have given up!" Koj glared his black eyes on Varus. "And that is why you cannot understand me! **YOU GAVE UP!**"

In the distance, Koj saw a small person running to them, but ignored it.

Koj shadow-stepped out of Varus' own shadow and grabbed him by the throat. Varus kicked him in the groin. Koj yelled in pain and dropped him, but the pain, the anger it ignited, the fury and hatred, it all sharpened him. He gave himself up further to it and reacted quickly. He shrouded his staff in the Void.

They exchanged blows where they stood. Varus had grown much stronger and his style was influenced by this, creating stronger blows and relying less on pure speed. Varus continued to dart around randomly, turning openings into traps, spinning his lightsabers in his fingers to turn attacks from the left become from the right or above. He was like lightning, appearing and disappearing and swerving in and out attacking specific points suddenly, without warning, and with lethal precision. Koj found himself forced on the defensive, barely able to keep up even with the power he was given and the strength his fury gave him.

Koj blocked a blow with his Void-staff and Varus swiped so widely, strong and fast, with so much weight behind it, and covered in lightning, that his staff broke. Energy exploded in his face and like that… Koj felt isolated. The Aeterna's voice no longer entered his ear and he was alone. Power was still his, but it felt… foreign.

Koj found himself pushed back. Dust filled the air. Koj peered through it for Varus, and felt Varus was in front of him, but he couldn't-

Two hands reached out of the dust-cloud and grabbed onto Koj's arms.

Koj and Varus wrestled on their feet. Koj struggled for the grip on him to be released, but Varus would not. His grip had grown much stronger.

Why? What did Varus hope to get out of…

Varus starting sparking with electricity until his eyes glowed. Koj growled in pain. He was resistant to pain and was resistant to Force attacks, but the intensity of it was growing rapidly. Dark clouds appeared above them. Koj looked up at the sound of thunder.

His eyes widened.

Lightning came down on them from the sky. Again and again lightning from the heavens exploded on their position. Not the thin strands used by Sith, but the thick rods that existed solely in nature that could split a fortress wall in two.

Varus leaped out of the cloud of smoke and dust and ash from where the lightning had pounded the ground. His hands burned and he looked to them to find the skin had been ripped off.

But he had bigger problems to worry about. A monstrous roar came from the dust cloud and inside was a massive figure. A hand, a skeletonized hand and arm made entirely of void, reached out and swiped away the cloud.

Koj stood inside of a figure, a skeleton of void energy. It surrounded him and shielded him from the attack. Much of it was discolored and purple where the attack was absorbed, but Varus's eyes were on Koj's own eyes. Red and black blood poured from his eyes and from them he saw nothing but hatred. Koj didn't even seem to recognize him anymore.

Koj did recognize him. But the power flowed through him like nothing he had ever felt before, and around him was the energy of a true monster. He had a massive void arm. The 'void monster' around him had only one arm, but it was enough.

He felt like a monster. He felt like death.

A small figure ran from the side of Koj's vision, but he ignored it. The void-arm aimed at Varus and out of its palm shot a black thorn.

The small figure stood in front of him and took the thorn in the chest.

Koj didn't see the person clearly through the dark veil, but Varus' look of surprise was evident. Koj looked more closely, curious and-

Cahjinawl lay on the ground between them.

Somewhere deep inside, Koj knew he was still holding back. He recognized Varus and just wanted him to move on, to give up on trying to stop him, to get out of the way. But now… Seeing Cahjinawl lying dead before him, with a thorn from him…

A part of him shattered. He didn't know what part of himself it was. It might have been his perception of his old life, it might have been his new one. All he knew was the feeling of cold water pouring over him, his blood boiling within his veins, and unbridled hatred. Hatred for Varus, hatred for everything around him, for the burden the ancestors had placed on his shoulders, and…

Hatred for himself.

Koj's sheer hatred pushed him past the point of caring or holding back. He could no longer think. All he could see was her corpse. He didn't feel in control in any way of his own actions even as much as he actually was and just threw everything he had.

All he knew was that he wanted it all to burn.

With a monstrous roar, the Void-monster reached for Varus.

Varus, fueled by emotion just as much as Koj, covered his arm in lightning so thick and dense it grew and became a smaller arm of its own, which he met Koj's with as a beam. The two arms met and the ground shook.

The beam was much smaller and weaker and gave way to the void-arm. Seeing victory, Koj pressed everything he had into it, physical exertion, emotional outpouring, every thought and intent. Even as most of it was useless, such as physically walking forward and pushing with his actual arm, it did make the reality of him gaining an advantage on Varus all the more real. And that was what was important.

The monsters void-arm slowly turned purple, starting from the palm and reaching back to the shoulder. It was a slow progression like a liquid-gas was being poured into its veins. Like… a poison.

Koj ignored it all and pressed forward, yelling angrily as he did so. He pushed everything he had into it. His pain, his fury, his anger, his self-loathing, his guilt.

Varus yelled over the sounds of their power clashing, "Time for a little science lesson, Koj!" Koj ignored him. "Here's a little something Tree-Hugger taught me. There are four states of matter! Solid, liquid, gas, and PLASMA! Lightning, sun, and nebulas are made of plasma, not gas! Ninety-nine percent of the known universe is made of plasma and exists within the void because of it!"

Koj pressed forward, nearly able to tear his void-arm through Varus's chest now, but the purple liquid continued to pour into the void-monster surrounding him. Koj's vision turned purple as well from it and he could no longer ignore it. Like a poison it seeped through the blackness around him and as it inched closer to Koj, it burned.

"You know what the means?" Varus asked angrily. "LIGHTNING THRIVES WITHIN THE VOID!"

With a final thrust, Varus inserted his hand into the void-arm's palm. Lightning, like a spear, shot out the shoulder of the monster and ripped the whole arm off, taking Koj's arm with it. The void-arm disappeared, but not before digging its claws into Varus' chest.

Plasma filled Koj's void surroundings and smothered him. The void-monster, as well as Koj, yelled out in pain and agony. Whatever it was keeping the void-monster around ended, whether it was Koj or the Void itself, and the monster disappeared and taking the plasma with it.

Koj, covered in deep burns, took slow, difficult steps forward. Blood poured down his side from his shoulder stump. Varus could barely breathe. The void arm had ripped into his chest, and if he took the time to look into it, it might even have Void poisoning his veins around his chest cavity. Either way, it was not the kind of injury you walked away from. Even being hospitalized now would only do so much. The world dimmed around him. If Koj raised his hand to kill him… One arm or not, he was defenseless against Koj.

Varus could not expand his lungs properly to breathe enough to exert himself. Just staying awake was a struggle.

Koj stopped before Cahjinawl and passed out. He fell forwards with his face in the dirt.

The image of Cahjinawl promptly disappeared.


	70. Ep14 - Price of Brotherhood Part 7

**Note: I had started episode 15 and I realized something.**

**I had basically screwed up. I knew Koj would be turned back from the beginning, all the way back when he had left the Ravager. I knew his "bond" with the Abomination would be the key to the next step, and him being cut off from the Abomination, having his lights knocked out, and a direct intervention from the Spirit would be the key to him being turned back.**

**But I had gone and left them unconscious there with a Prior right around the corner. whoops.**

**I considered the characters. Cahj wouldn't be freaking out, Varus would fight to his dieing breathe, Koj would be in the middle of his visions, and the Prior would screw everything up. But I also considered The Force, and I realized that while the Force was intervening on Koj, he would also not allow a small snag (like that Prior) to get in the way. The Force would intervene directly into the situation to make sure everything went smoothly.**

**Its not me making a direct intervention into my own story like some kind of god and saying "this fixes itself BECAUSE PLOT!" but knowing that the Force is not going to let all the steps made go to waste.**

**I also know people expected last chapter to be the final chapter of the episode, but due to me screwing up NOPE! Now it is!**

* * *

**Episode 14 - Price of Brotherhood Part 7**

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Cahjinawl watched the battle from where she was hidden.

Silently, she prayed that the demon in her father would be purged, and that her uncle would come out okay. Every blow between them, she could almost feel. Every word struck her and she realized just how much pain her father had been in, and the legacy of suffering she had been born into.

But at the same time it was too much for her young mind to take. She couldn't fully comprehend it, and rather than drown in it, she ignored it. She could discuss it with the adults later.

Will they be okay?

"I am sorry you must see this." A voice said by her. She glanced over to see Larry watching the battle. The blond kid had a tendency to show up at random times in all kinds of places! How does he do it? "But please understand, it is not each other they are fighting, it is the demon."

"Even father?"

He nodded. "Your father knew what he was getting into when he started down this road. He is close to drowning and succumbing, but everything will be all right. I'll make sure of it. Just listen to what your uncle said and stay here."

She had no intention of disobeying anyway. She didn't know what to do or how to help even if she could.

She watched herself run out and blinked in surprise. She was here? Yet She was there? Did she have a twin?

Then watching herself be killed was part freaky and part terrifying. She didn't stop to consider how there was no gore, but only saw herself die and turned to throw up.

"You might not want to watch this next part." Larry remarked gently. Cahjinawl just shook her head and finished throwing up.

Lightning like a spear impaled itself into a side of the quarry and there was a monstrous roar.

"Wait…" The older boy cautioned her. "Okay, it's safe for the moment. Follow and do as I say."

Cahjinawl raised her head over the bush to see her father lying on the ground and Varus also on the ground, wounded but conscious. Larry ran down the hill and Cahj followed. "Father!" She yelled when she saw him in a pool of his own blood.

* * *

Koj opened his eyes.

He saw the desert. He saw home.

"Am I dead?" He wondered.

"Close, but no." A voice said and he turned to see the Spirit in the form of the child he was accustomed to appearing as. "You remember this place?"

Koj looked around more closely. In the distance was a giant skeleton of a beast, and a city in the distance. It looked vaguely familiar.

A roar came to his attention and he saw a speeder coming in his direction. Ah yes, that was a sport of the Outsiders. 'Podracing.'

Three pod-vehicles collided and erupted in a ball of flame and fire that came at him like a meteor. Unable to get out of the way in time, he dropped to the ground. By some miracle the shrapnel missed him, but he was badly burned.

"I remember." Koj replied. He lay on the ground covered in burns. He coughed in pain.

"Lost, hurt, dying, you called out for help. Not with your voice, but with your heart, through your spirit, and I answered." The Spirit said.

"You did." Koj remarked. His wounds disappeared and he rose to his feet. He remembered everything. The battle, killing Cahj, killing Varus… He felt like a monster. "What have I done…"

"What you have done is the actions of a monster. It is what true hatred brings out of us."

"Why?" Koj asked. "Why did you bring me to do this?"

"I have not brought you to do anything… I have protected you all this time and even now hold your life in my hand. All that has been done is by your own hand, because it is what hatred brings us to do. Hatred is the opposite of love and compassion, and only seeks to hurt and reject."

The Spirit showed Koj the dead of his people. Millions of dead Ghorfa stood before him as spirits. "It is right to have righteous fury, and there is a righteous hatred toward evil. But the judgement is not for you to decide. Judgement is for the Maker. It is when the living decide to take on the Maker's role that they become monsters, because it is a role they cannot take on."

"Then… the Abomination. Why have you not taken care of it? Why must we suffer?"

"I could." The Spirit agreed. "Right this moment I could kill the Abomination, but then what would that accomplish? The Abomination is born of an imbalance that exists. Born of sins and hatred and death and fear. I can kill the Abomination, but another will only be born to replace him, and the galaxy would learn nothing. This war is not just a war against the Abomination, but a war against the imbalance of my people that made him."

* * *

Cahjinawl and Larry made it to her father, and Larry put his hands on him. The blood stopped flowing from his shoulder, but the amount that was already pooled under him was still a lot. Cahj struggled not to panic.

Varus sat up. He looked out of breathe and his jacket was torn in the front and blood was seeping down his chest. "I thought… I told you… to stay."

"Larry said it was fine." Cahj responded meekly.

"Larry?"

"Me." Larry said.

Varus looked between them confused. "They call you… 'Larry'?... Seriously? And what are… you doing here?"

"Stepping in to make sure the next step in your fight against the Abomination doesn't halt by something as unfortunate as him bleeding out."

"Fair enough… When you're done… can you look at… me? I can… barely breathe."

Cahj ran from her father to get to her uncle. Varus collapsed backwards, having exhausted himself just from sitting up. "Don't worry… about me. I'll be… okay." Varus comforted her.

It was hardly comforting considering her two guardians had just been trying to kill each other in a titanic clash that literally shook the world beneath them.

Varus's eyes snapped dangerously to something behind her and she turned to see her father's rebel army was coming down to them with one of the white-eyed men leading the way.

"Shit." Varus hissed. "I can't… fight. Not in this… condition."

* * *

"Then what is the point?" Koj asked.

"To teach." The Spirit replied. "From my perspective I am dealing with children who do not grasp the consequences of their actions. Like a parent, I know they have to see what the result of their actions are at times, rather than shield them. As a father, you understand this."

Koj nodded. "I do."

"When you eat too much when you are told to ration, then there is less food."

Koj nodded again. A memory came to him where he had that lesson hammered into him when he was younger.

"The galaxy will not burn, Koj. The Maker will not allow it. But people will suffer. And they will suffer more and more the longer it takes for them to learn."

"Learn what?"

"That is what you are there to teach them." The Spirit explained. "That is why you have gone through all of this. I can sit down and tell them, in fact, I have tried for a millennia and they have yet to hear. Even now, with all the wars and suffering, they still do not listen. But soon, they will. Soon, they will begin to hear, and they will begin to understand. Then, and only then, can they defeat the Abomination. They must defeat themselves."

You have seen how far hatred, pain, suffering, anger, and even fear can take someone. You have seen into the Abomination, and now you must bring what you have seen up for others to hear."

Koj shuddered. The feeling of what he had felt for so long still remained on his tongue. The hateful words he had spoken still rested within him. He could not remove the taste, and he considered the possibility that he never could.

"But what will I say? What words would I use? What can I teach? I see now what I became, but there are no words to describe it. And what I felt does not seem relevant to the war."

"You will know what to say when the times comes, my servant. But for now, look closely at those around you."

Koj looked to the spirits around him. They were many, millions upon millions.

But as he looked closer, only a few were Ghorfa. A great many were of different species, but the ones that were the most prominent, and stood out as having the greatest presence and dominance over the group, were Sith.

The spirit said, "You are cut off from the Abomination, but it left an impression on you. Look into them. See the source of their hatred, their anger, and most of all, their fear. Do not see them for what they look like or what they are doing or how they appear and feel to you, but see what birthed them. See what created them. See what transformed them into what they are."

"What if…" Koj gulped. "What if I am consumed again? The Abomination was overpowering. If I expose myself to even the impression of him, I fear I will be overwhelmed by what I see."

Seeing the giant demon with a thousand hands crushing him in its palms and shaping him was not a sight he wanted to see, or feel, again.

"Don't be. Don't be afraid. Look."

* * *

"Squirt, run." Varus whispered. He struggled to stand as the Prior approached closer and closer, but stumbled and collapsed.

"No! I am not leaving you."

"Cahjinawl!" He barked painfully. She flinched, he never used her full name. Ever.

But she didn't move. She couldn't. She refused to leave her guardians again. Childish and selfish as she felt, she didn't want them to die alone.

The Prior approached while Larry tended to Koj. Larry didn't look up at the Prior's approach. The Prior opened his mouth, but Larry said, "Be quiet." Immediately the Prior shut it. "Turn around, and walk away."

Just like that, the Prior turned around and so did every soldier behind him. Even the ones that Cahj was sure did not hear the child speak so quietly.

"That works." Varus remarked.

Larry nodded towards his own work and moved to Varus. He put a hand on Varus' chest and the Sith breathed in deeply. After a moment, Larry removed his hand. He stood up and pointed to someone in the slave crowd. "Come."

* * *

Koj saw many things. He saw the lives of many people, but among them was a connection of fear, pain, and hatred. In life they had been afraid, nay, terrified. They were a people being systematically wiped out by a relentless enemy without mercy. They felt great pain, not only from their dread, but from the loss of family in war. They felt hatred, because they had been promised mercy and were betrayed.

Many of the lives and memories he saw were from ignorant people. People who lived incredibly normal lives right up to a specific moment when their life suddenly ended without warning. In fact, that was something they all shared in common. The mass of spirits had died in mass groups, where each group had died at the exact same moment within each group. Then he saw that he wasn't just dealing with millions of people, but billions and trillions. Such an overwhelming number that he couldn't count them all, but they shared a few things. Beyond the emotions of their lives before they died, as explained already, they lived on a few specific number of worlds. They were not a mass group spread across the entire galaxy at random.

It was like something was consuming the population of entire worlds in the blink of an eye.

Among them he found beings who were more intelligent and knowledgeable and aware than your average citizen. Men of power, of nobility within their culture, of awareness and intelligence. They knew the full implications of what was happening around them before they died. They had the greatest fear and hatred.

From these leaders, Koj found their fear had a name.

Jedi.

* * *

From the crowd of slaves, a male Ghorfa stepped forward and bowed his knee before Larry, aka the Spirit or the Force (depending on who you ask). Varus raised an eyebrow. He had not expected the Force to show this 'form' to more than a select few. How did the Ghorfa man recognize him?

Larry said, "Bring out those of you hidden who are capable of bearing children, and those of you who I have touched. We are leaving."

"You mean not everyone is sterile?" Varus asked in surprise.

Cahjinawl asked, "What's going on?"

"Not all, no." Larry explained. "And Koj is not the only one who I have touched, though he was the first of his species who have known me in a very long time."

Larry turned to Varus, "You will find a squadron of fighters to the north that have hidden themselves in the forest. Go. You will find your droid along the way. Kill them and return."

Varus nodded and followed along. He stretched his legs and found he was healed. He ran into the forest. Cahjinawl stood where she was and felt she was just going along with the flow at this point. Usually her uncle was in charge, but Larry had seemed to taken that role.

Before long, a small group of people separated from the mass of slaves. Larry looked between them. "Good. Produce a stretcher and carry him." He pointed to Koj. "He is my champion."

The Ghorfa from before, that had bowed, said, "But, my lord. He is of 'them'. He will kill us when he awakens!"

But the Spirit/Force replied, "It is well. You are not in danger. He has been restored and shall lead you when he awakens."

The Ghorfa nodded and the group pulled Koj's body onto a quickly made sheet between two rods. Cahjinawl asked, "Father is well?"

Larry smiled, "Don't worry, young one. He will be well. The difficult part is over. Everyone will leave safely. Varus' little plan didn't include a proper exit plan. What little he did have was messed up and didn't figure a Prior to step in. He should be thankful I'm stepping in. Otherwise you would all be dead now."

* * *

Why the Jedi? Koj looked closer and gasped from what he saw.

Worlds, hundreds of worlds brought to ruin. Entire populations decimated.

Korriban, a world once lush (the color of their plants was red, which was unusual to him) and beautiful turned into a graveyard from radioactive bombardment from orbit.

The Jedi and Republic had been wiping out the very existence of these people in the end of a war. They were not leaving any survivors. Not the soldiers that surrendered, not the elderly or weak or woman or children… Not even the slaves and prisoners the Sith had taken From the Republic.

But… why? Koj understood the Jedi were as self-righteous as they came, probably because they were an existence that was supposed to be righteous to begin with, but this? This was beyond anything he recognized as them capable of doing. (And this coming from a Ghorfa who's people had been handed over by Jedi.)

Among the group he looked for answers. Someone had to know. One of the spirits had to know, had to have more knowledge as to what was really going on.

He found it. A Sith known in life as Marco Ragnos.

* * *

The small group of Ghorfa and a seemingly humanoid child journeyed through the forest. Some of them carried their fellow Ghorfa on a stretcher while Cahjinawl held her father's hand and struggled to keep up with their pace.

Before long, they entered a clearing where Varus and HK had killed a group of native men that looked like… cat-men. A very interesting sight for Cahj.

Varus looked over their group while the Ghorfa entered the fighters. "Five men, and judging from the breasts those are women? Haven't seen a Ghorfa woman before… So yeah, five men and eighteen woman. Not sure what to say about that… Are you sure they are the only ones still fertile?"

"Six males and nineteen females if we include Koj and Cahjinawl." Larry replied.

"Right…" Varus nodded with a hint of disgust. "That's a creepy thought, thinking of Squirt as 'fertile'. Though technically she is… Or will be…" He shuddered and coughed into his hand. "Is it possible to revive a people from just this many?"

"With enough care, yes." Larry replied. "But that is their concern. Ours is leaving."

"Right. HK, can you fly that fighter?"

"Disclaimer: This unit lacks the power to be functional for the necessary time to-"

"The droid will be fine." Larry said.

"This unit will be fine." HK decided.

Varus ushered Cahjinawl into the fighter ahead of him and strapped her down. He looked to Koj strapped down on the floor. All kinds of emotions went through his brothers face, and Varus wasn't sure what to feel about what was going on yet.

Would Koj awaken as the monster he had become? Or the man he was before?

He just hoped it would work out. He had done his part and felt utterly lost with the Force giving so many orders all of a sudden, but knew only to trust and have faith.

The Force said everything would be fine, and he just needed to see it through. Larry had disappeared the moment he stepped onboard the fighter.

Was that a good or bad sign?

Varus jumped into the pilot seat. "HK, you hearing me?"

"Affirmative."

"Okay, let's get out of here. I hope the Force will be with us and keep us from being blown out of orbit as we enter the blockade, but for extra measure, no trying to draw extra attention to us. That means no shooting-"

"Aww…"

"No bombing-"

"Seriously?"

"And no kamikaze bullshit."

HK yelled. "Outraged argument: What?! Damnit, master! I am an assassination droid! Not a freighter pilot!"

"You will be what I tell you, even if it to be a dictionary!"

"Plea: May I at least cackle evilly and taunt these undesirables?"

* * *

Marko Ragnos knew everything. He knew why everything had happened, and what Koj saw chilled him to the bone.

Marko Ragnos was the pinnacle of the Sith. Ambitious, powerful, striving. But he also believed himself to be a hero while being the most twisted man Koj had ever seen. He had turned the Sith into an Empire that challenged the Republic, and by his own actions, tricked both sides into war by killing his own ambassador and blaming it on the Jedi.

He was more than just ambitious… he actually set a goal for himself. Godhood.

He wanted to become a god and ordered a ritual that would allow it, a ritual that killed him just as much as it killed many of the others here.

But along with this ambition… this need for power and greed, Koj saw something. Something that he hadn't taken notice with up till now.

There was an individual. A person that every one of the spirits recognized… The man who had orchestrated the very ritual that Marko Ragnos demanded, a ritual which killed an entire planet and gave birth to the Abomination…

The Abomination was afraid of exactly three people.

The Chosen One, for he knew of the prophecy and was wary.

Revan, for he was the first Jedi to look into the Void and actively find the Abomination.

And 'The One', a man the Abomination saw as a friend, a brother, and a father. For just as a father can bring people into the world, so they can remove them.

And Koj knew where 'The One' was, just as the Abomination did. Or rather… not where he was specifically, but how they could find him.

Koj opened his eyes and raised himself up. Urgency fueled him and he didn't pay mind to the fact that he was on a ship that was flying frantically and he was surrounded by Ghorfa and he was suddenly holding his crying daughter that had jumped into his chest.

He knew what the Abomination was. It was the combined consciousness of millions and millions of Sith given birth in a ritual conducted by this 'One'. It was the combined power, the combined hatred and fear and anger, and to a degree… the combined brilliance.

The Abomination would quickly know that Koj was missing or compromised or… turned.

"Brother?" Koj asked.

"EGADS!" Varus yelled. The whole ship hurtled. Varus looked back frantically. "You're awake? You not going to go ape-shit on me are you!?"

"No, I am… better. My mind is my own…"

"Good. Because this is a really bad time for me to kick your ass."

"…" Koj kissed his daughters head and took note of his surroundings. He was surrounded by Ghorfa and they were terrified of him. Even Varus was edgy and looked ready to jump up and fight at a moment's notice and his daughter was clutching him so tightly…

Koj looked into a reflection and looked at himself. He was missing an arm and his eyes were pale-white. They were not pitch-black like before, but he was still not restored to how he once was. Was this the Spirit's way of showing him he would never be the same.

"I do not have time to explain, but I have to know: Did you find the Star Forge? You disappeared from my sight for months." Koj asked.

"Yeah, found it. Colonized it. Why?"

"Tell your Jedi master and female friend to meet us there. There is little time. I will explain later."

Varus eyeballed him while also trying to fly the ship. "We are not finished here… We have a lot to discuss and I'm going to still kick your ass anyway if you don't suddenly become the galaxies number-one father."

"I understand."

"Good."


	71. Interlude - Handprint

**Note: This has been a long time coming: A look back in time to when Cahjinawl met Varus Wynn.**

**As explained, Varus was recently raped, snapped and murdered his slave masters, and fell into a very dark mentality. He had already been falling backwards mentally, but it was this dark mentality that carried over to the Starkiller Legion. What separated him from the Starkiller Legion was in meeting Cahjinawl and Koj again. This moment was the dividing line.**

**Correction. The moment, the dividing line, was not in meeting her, even though it could be considered the beginning of it. The dividing line was in making a choice. A single choice that would leave a handprint on time and cement in stone where his life would go and who he would become. A single choice that would decide whether he would fall back into being Starkiller or take on the lessons he had learned as a Jedi.**

**Originally when I sat down and invented Cahjinawl, she was, at her core, his niece. His responsbility. She was an object to which he could practice what he had learned as a Jedi and grow as a person, as being a guardian or parent forces you to do. I decided her being a Ghorfa would make the most sense, and I knew from the get-go she would be Koj's daughter. Her existance strengthened the friendship of Koj and Varus that had before been only a respectful acquaintance, and before I knew it… she gave a life of her own.**

**She picked up her fiery attitude naturally and developed it further by immitating Varus to a degree. Also makes her kind of a prankster.**

**She is also serious and has a silent strength that is comparable to wisdom when necessary like Koj.**

**The trauma she has endured has both strengthened and given her problems to deal with in life.**

**She has become, as a character, not only the representation of Varus' responsibility and the link between Koj/Varus' brotherhood, but also exists as a hope for her people by being one of the last and is yet untouched by forced-addiction and is capable of having children (when she is a LOT older). Naturally being Koj's kid, she will either pick up priest/leadership qualities or outright reject them and become as care-free as Varus. Yet, seeing as how Varus is caring more and more for his people and taking an active role in helping them, she will see that and feel it is her due to take on some kind of role. Whether that is leadership or being a champion of the remaining Ghorfa (in one way or another), I do not know yet. It isn't a question I care to look at either, as she is just too young. But all the same, this is the kind of character she has developed into.**

* * *

**Interlude - Handprint**

* * *

The ship rumbled in the Warp in its travels. Its cargo were slaves destined to live the rest of their life mining ship graveyards. It was largely a quiet journey, if you ignored the despit moaning of the slaves, the crying of the ones that were children, and the angry yells coming from a black box.

The yells from the black box were practically feral with the cursing and threats of a madman. The black box shook on its corners.

No one knew what was inside. Some said it was a monster. Some said it was a man taken from an insane asylum. Regardless, no one went near it. Even the mercs specifically hired to watch over the box kept their distance.

Among the assembly of scum, gathered from a large variety of races and species that had been overtaken by greater powers, was a little Ghorfa girl.

The Ghorfa were the native people of Tatooine, a world the Hutts had conquered for the minerals and artifacts buried beneath the sands. Not only did the Hutts conquer them, but reduced their number to a few thousand at most, and uprooted them from their home and sent them as slaves. The Zygerrians had first dibs on the slaves. This particular Ghorfa, by the name of Cahjinawl'Ineh, was found to be too weak for the labor due to of hypoglycemia. (A form of diabetes where rather than the problem being too much sugar, it is too little. Means work, hunger, and getting hot is dangerous.)

Due to how weak the girl was, she was sold for a low price and the latest slave owner was one with a business in recycling dead ships from old battles. The slave owner was also a general cheapskate and only bought slaves that were cheap.

Cahj sniffed and cried where she sat. She pushed herself as far in the corner as possible to be away from everyone else. "Father…" She cried softly.

She had seen her people, friends, and adoptive mother die in the final battles on Tatooine, her people put on a leash and die from exhaustion as slaves, and now was alone. The other slaves sneered and growled when she strayed too close. Many of this batch were former criminals and trouble makers, hense the low price.

As a result, she was traumatized. Life had never been easy to begin with. She knew something was wrong with her and felt guilty for needing more food rations than most other children, and she suffered more under the sun than her peers and got sick often, but now it was like she had been swallowed up by the sky and dumped in an endless abyss. She had no foundation and nothing to save her from the demons in her mind.

She saw so much blood over and over and over and over and over and over, telling her to kill herself, until she clenched her head between her hands and wanted to scream. She didn't actually scream, last time she did, she had been beaten.

The shuttle landed in the hanger bay. The guards ordered them to move out, and the slaves assembled. Cahj found herself being pushed around by the much larger people. She stumbled and struggled to keep up. The people lined up. Like a drone, she did as she saw.

**_It's all your fault…_**

Workers entered the shuttle and pulled out the large black box. Being a box that was four by four by six feet, and shaking with the burden of an occupant that was raging, it was a heavy burden. It took a whole team to pull it out on a wheely and into the open.

A team of twenty soldiers stood around and aimed at it as a man clambered ontop. A feral roar and sudden shaking, as if the occupant had ran into the side of it, shook the man, but he managed to climb ontop. He reached down and pulled up a rod that also raised the door.

The soldiers kept their guns aimed, and the moment extended. Nothing happened at first. The inside of the box was pitch black and nothing left it. Then a bare foot presented itself, followed by a second, and finally a dirty, filthy, man walked out with wild hair, madness in his eyes, and blood dripping from his fingers where he had torn his fingernails. His every breathe was rough and deep, and he looked up at everyone through his thick eyelashes. His eyes were red and he snarled.

**_Look at him. He is no better than you…_**

The wild man yelled and charged at them. He was unnaturally fast, the soldier's shots went wide, and he tackled one of them. He grabbed the man by the throat and slammed his head into the ground again and again and again trying to snap his neck.

**_He's going to kill you next…_**

The soldiers fired their guns. They were set to stun. The wild man froze, but wasn't dropped. His growl picked up pitch and anger. Driven by anger and feral instinct, he jumped off the first man and ran at the rest. The stun pellets continued to bombard him.

First he grunted, then slowed, and then after they had all nearly used an entire clip-worth on him, he fell to his knees.

A woman stepped forward. She had a face that was half-damaged, causing her eye to be white and blind. There was a military tone in her step that frightened Cahj.

**_Damn, she is as ugly as you are._**

**_She's going to toss you out in space…_**

**_Because you are worthless…_**

The woman said. "You are a lot of trouble to contain it seems. Are you as wild and feral as you appear, or are you able to talk like a reasonable person?"

"Join me in a black box for five minutes and see how reasonable I can be!" He sneers.

"So you CAN talk. Good. Then perhaps you will understand what I say next." She motioned out beyond the hanger to space. "We are in space. There are no ships that come or go unless we are secure and if there is the slightest sign of a problem, they don't go near us. So if you want to be a stupid badass and kill everything, you will find yourself stuck here and waiting to die a very painful death by starvation."

She continued, "I know you are a Sith. I also know you do not have access to your magic. So let this be clear: If you step out of line, the next laser pulse will not be a stun. Am I clear, Varus Wynn?"

Varus Wynn? Cahjinawl blinked in surprise. She had heard that name. Father had spoken… differently about him.

Every Outsider was evil, butchers, deal-breakers, thieves, murderers, bandits.

But Varus… understood them.

**_It takes a monster to understand a monster…_**

Before Varus had time to respond, the squad of soldiers pumped a new clip worth of stun bolts into him and he fell on his face.

"LISTEN UP!" The woman barked. She turned her attention away from Varus and walked down the line of slaves. "You will be given a quota and work. Do the quota, you can eat. Don't bring in the quota, you don't eat. Cause problems, and you will find yourself starved for days. It's that simple."

**_You have no chance of meeting your quota…_**

**_You are weak…_**

**_Pathetic…_**

**_Useless…_**

The slaves were dismissed and Cahjinawl found herself thrown, literally, into a dark, dank room. Oil and water dripped from the ceiling and the bed was little more than a couple of sheets tossed on the floor in a puddle.

Being thrown in had bruised her arm, so she crawled her way onto it. Seconds later, another slave was thrown in. The door shut and locked behind it.

He/she was an alien that Cahj couldn't make heads or tails of, but it grabbed her and threw her across the room and claimed the sheets for itself. If it had asked she would have been fine sharing or… just moving.

**_You are going to rot, die, and go to hell… Like everyone else in your family._**

Scared of the other one in the room, she huddled herself as far into the corner as she could, cradling her injured arm and being easy on her newly bruised back, and tried to sleep. She vaguely was aware of crying all night.

The next morning the quota and work was distributed among them. Cahj found herself put on a the task of using some kind of light-saw thing to cut ships and push them. It was all very confusing and the instructor didn't bother spending more than five minutes explaining it.

**_Not like you are worth the time…_**

Cahj watched the others and imitated them. There was a small space-suit she could fit into, though it still looked to be a couple sizes too big. It was meant for another species with four arms, four legs, a much larger head, and puny torso. It was awkward to be in and had dangling limbs all over the place. She dragged herself over to where they picked up their tools and had the saw handed to her. She nearly dropped it the moment she got it. It was so heavy! She strained to pick it up and run her little feet to the others.

A group of them were put on a little group hoverbike of sorts and pushed off.

The lack of gravity made the tool in her hands light, but herself as well. The sudden lack of gravity and sensation of being lifted terrified her. Naturally she shrieked and struggled to stay. She was strapped down, but to her little mind she might as well be being launched from a cannon. Every sway of the hoverbike made her think she was going to be thrown and drift for eternity inside the cramped confines of a space suit, only able to hear her own breathing, her heartbeat, and the voices in the built-in mic.

"SOMEONE SHUT THE BRAT UP!"

She quieted herself as best she could, lowered herself into as tight of a ball as possible, and closed her eyes. Eventually the bike stopped when she felt herself being tugged backwards (inertia being reversed).

She followed the others as they assembled on a giant ship. It was massive! To others, it was a simple assault ship. To her, it was like standing on an island of metal. Her feet clamped down on the metal surface and for a brief moment she wasn't afraid as the amazement of this spot overtook her terror.

The others ignited their saws and started cutting a slice off the nose of the ship. They were watched by a supervisor (with a gun) and Cahj scrambled over to assist. She saw someone was trying to cut a very wide slice, so she aimed the massive tool (that took both hands) down at the other end and pressed the big button.

The massive laser freaked her out and she squealed, but she managed to not lose hold of it and cut herself. If anything, her hold only tightened in fear thereby saving her life by keeping it perfectly still.

After a long moment of pushing her terror down, she did as she observed. She starting moving the laser down. Due to her size, she had to aim between her feet and move over a bit at a time as she held the device to her chest with both hands wrapped around it.

After a few hours she reached the half-way point where the other slave met.

She smiled and thought she did a good job. It had taken a long time moving a tiny step at a time at a snails pace, but seeing the massive chunk of a ship drift off, picked up by other slave on a hoverbike, and pushed back to the primary carrier… she thought she did well.

Lo and behold, the slave she had tried to help took all the credit and she was left without breakfast because she didn't fill the quota for it.

Hungry, she returned to the ship again with her 'team' and realized something. The part she had cut had amount to about an inch of length, though the length was a thousand feet or so. For a ship of several thousand meters, it would take nothing short of forever to slice up!

**_You will die out here… in space… in the middle of nowhere… alone…_**

Foolishly she tried to the same thing again, only this time not helping anyone else. She didn't consider cutting smaller portions, but only did as she knew and observed. By the end of the day she had yet to finish the slice, and she was thrown back into her cell without lunch or dinner. A slice of bread was thrown in, and that was about it. The slice of bread was soaked in oil and water from where it landed, but she ate it anyway.

Sometime in the middle of the night another slave was thrown in. The previous one from before had died by trying to attack the guards it seemed. Like the lady said, they weren't going to use stun if you stepped too far out of line. Although it seemed that fighting amongst each other was more acceptable, as she had seen slaves doing it already.

The raggedy figure of Varus looked up at her from where he landed, and Cahj stared back in fear. She expected him to attack her and try to kill her. Instead… nothing. Varus didn't beat her up or throw her off the blanket to take it from her. He sat down against the wall, closed his eyes, and fell asleep.

She cried that night, as always, and this woke him up. "Shut up." He hissed. "Frickin' squirt." He turned over and went to sleep.

Cold, exhausted, starving, weak, wet, and most likely half out of her mind she crawled next to him for warmth and he pushed her away in aggravation. "Go away!" It wasn't rough nor hurt her physically, but she got the message.

**_Nobody wants you… You are alone…_**

"By the Force, do you EVER STOP CRYING!" He yelled.

**_You are pathetic…_**

**_You are a failure… _**

**_An accident…_**

She forced herself to stop crying and went to sleep. It was faint, but Varus gave off warmth even from a distance.

**_Your parents died…_**

**_Your new father never wanted you…_**

Days passed. Cahj eventually grew better, by a tiny margin, and was able to get about one full ration a day on her own. But in terms of a group effort she only held them back and became a kind of black sheep.

Varus was in fights with anyone that so much as looked at him wrong almost on a daily basis and so…

They wound up in the same group.

Unlike the other slaves that beat her and hurt her or pushed her into things for getting in the way, he ignored her. He didn't help her and she didn't help him. So long as she was quiet, he was quiet, otherwise he was yelling. He didn't take anything from her, tell her how she was holding him up, or throw her around.

**_Cut yourself with the laser… it won't hurt._**

She continued to try to contain her tears and mourning at night, but when the work was done and all she could do was think… her mind drifted to listen to the voices or see the images imprinted on her of light-sword wielding and magic using warriors that destroyed her home. So naturally she failed to contain it, and as per the pattern, Varus had a very short temper. He yelled and pushed her away, not wanting her close, and she was force to be content with the distant warmth he gave off. He didn't even need a blanket.

One night, he asked, "Why do you cry so much? Not like our situation can get any worse… Just shut up and get over it."

"We could be dead…" She replied.

"There is that."

**_Just a small nudge to the left or right onto your boot. _**

"So simple… to just die." She said to herself. Entire villages died like they were nothing. Life was so fragile. Like a flower petal. Even a desert had a few flowers. Necessary with what plants there would be.

"It is. People who are going to die should just get it over with. Not like anyone is worth anything."

Over the days she found she was getting weaker. She couldn't focus, her mind was becoming foggy, and she felt out of breathe a lot. She struggled more and more to keep up with her quota for even one ration a day. Her vision fogged and she nearly passed out from a hypoglycemia attack at least once a day. She had to save her food and eat one bite every hour or half-hour to keep it from happening. Even though the meat got cold and felt rotten in her teeth, and everything else felt mildewed or had something growing on it by the time she got to it.

Eventually she just got sick all-together. Not that Varus seemed to care, he continued to ensure there was distance. If anything, he found her unconscious need to be close to be increasingly aggravating. That day she failed to hit her quota entirely and was useless out there. That night, all she could do was lay in the puddles and cough her lungs out.

"What the hell are you supposed to be anyway?" Varus asked from where he sat. He bit into an apple he beat someone up over. His knuckles were still stained in blood.

Between his knuckles, his wild, unkempt hair, and red eyes. He looked like a madman and psychopathic murderer. She half wondered whether she was truly losing her mind. This man was supposed to be different? He looked even worse than the normal Outsiders she heard of.

"Ghorfa." She answered as best she could. If she was going to die, might as well by him. That was no better than the other ways.

However, Varus didn't lash out and yell when she spoke. Instead he momentarily froze. It was but a moment, but it was there. "… How old are you?"

"I don't know." She didn't know her age by any particular scale. The scale with her people was based on the number of times the two suns came the closest to each other to the point they overlapped. She was about fifty of those, last she heard. The scale of the Outsiders in terms of age was foreign to her.

"You look about five…" He bit into the apple. "Where are your parents, Squirt?"

"My name…" She coughed. "Isn't 'Squirt'…"

"Perhaps, but you're short."

"My name isn't Squirt!" She argued again.

"But you're so short!" He smiled.

"What does that have to do with it!?"

"It makes you a squirt!"

She, like a child, argued like a child, and he, like a child, did the same. She got angry and coughed her lungs out. "Don't talk to me!" She yelled as loudly as she could while sick (which amounts to a harsh whisper) and distanced herself away from him.

"Fine by me, brat." He rolled his eyes.

**_He's going to enjoy killing you…_**

"Bet you just love it if I died didn't you!"

"What do I care…" He layed down.

Angry, upset, cold, wet, sick, hungry, bruised, exhausted, and weak, all of the latter override the anger and she tried to see if she could get any warmth from his back again. This time, however, he didn't lash out. Was he asleep and was she here without him knowing?

"Where are your parents, Squirt?" He asked.

Nope, he knew.

"Dead."

He had nothing to say to that.

**_You will be joining them soon…_**

Over the course of the night, whenever she had any awareness, she only felt sicker and cold, so she moved another hair closer. By morning she found herself snuggled right up against his back and shivering, and amazingly he didn't shove her away. It might have been he was asleep, but she couldn't tell. He was stiff as a board and… it tingled where she touched him.

Sick as she was, she struggled to get any work done. It was even worse off than before to the point that was she all wobbly and could barely hold the machine in her arms.

Varus dropped his cutter by accident and the laser swiped up and nearly got someone.

The person looked at her. She tried explaining it wasn't her, but when she got back to the carrier, the person in question picked her up and slammed her into the wall.

A part of her wanted to cry, but she didn't. She just stared at him from where she was held up. Sick, exhausted, starving, alone, and now bloody… she didn't care anymore. It had been days. It wasn't going to get any better. Crying wouldn't get her out of this, pleading and asking for help or being nice and helping others wouldn't get her out of this. At this point, there was only one way out.

**_You are going to die here…_**

After being beaten (especially in the face, as if there was some kind of curiosity about how alien and ugly her face was) she just layed crumbled where she was, and Varus came across her. He looked beaten up as well in a brawl. He was covered in blood and judging from the prideful way he walked, it wasn't his own.

"What happened to you, Squirt?"

"…"

Not getting a rise out of her, he moved on. With her mind barely registering anymore, her body acted on its own and followed him. All that went through her mind was her father's words that he was different.

It was pure stupidity. Different didn't mean anything, but to her, it meant everything.

That night, they wound up in the cell again, and it seemed to be becoming a permanent arrangement. No one else dared go near the Sith save a few who apparently already knew him.

"You were beaten up because of me… weren't you?" He asked neutrally.

"…"

"Why didn't you just say the truth? I dropped it. I could have taken the asshole."

"Because… it doesn't matter."

"Doesn't matter?" He demanded. He grew angry. "People like that have no qualms with killing women and children! They won't think anything about killing you!"

She shrugged.

"That doesn't answer my question. Its instinct to blame others and avoid problems and you're just a stupid kid, so why didn't you!"

Why didn't she? He was right, it would have been easy. Even if it was a lie, just blaming someone else would have been easy.

She didn't want the only person that tolerated her to hate her…

"If I told him, you would hate me."

"That's better than dying isn't it?" He hissed. "Why do you want to be close to me so damn much?! I am no different from them! I yell and push you away, yet you keep following me around!"

"Because there is no one else…" She coughed. She laid down sick in the water that puddled on the floor in their prison room. The blanket did nothing about it, it was soaked. She didn't know why she answered. It didn't matter anymore. She felt almost robotic now, just going along with whatever. She would die soon anyway… and was already on the verge of passing out from her condition. what did it matter? It felt like a struggle just to lift her head off the floor. "If I hadn't followed you, I'd be all alone. And I don't want to be alone…" when she dies.

**_You are dying…_**

The Sith stared at her long and hard with a blank expression. He asked slowly, "So… it's not suffering to be with me…?"

"No."

"You… need… me?"

She nodded. She was weak and powerless. Already just by ignoring her, he was better than the others and was some kind of companionship. He at least tolerated her presence.

And while the voices were still there, they weren't as loud when she was near him.

"Do you… want me to live?" He asked suddenly. There was no expression on him at all. His face was devoid of expression.

"…" She nodded.

Why? Not like it mattered. Why care?

In a daze and sick, all she knew was her father's words back home on how he reflected that Varus was different and understood them.

She woke up realizing she had cuddled up to his back again without realizing it. She had been endured a restless night filled with nightmares and terrors and voices and couldn't wake up from it. Varus was gone and there was a half-eaten apple in the corner. She glanced around, which was pointless as nobody was there, and scuffled over and ate it.

Feeling slightly rejuvenated, and not about to pass out in the next few moments, she returned to work.

She was however, still sick, and only having a few bites of an apple didn't fix that. She was malnourished and rationing what few rations she had obtained had taken its toll.

She spontaneously blacked out (a real concern with Hypoglycemia) and the laser cut a small hole in her suit. She was already unconscious when she lost air.

Varus look over at the sight of her waving around. He thought at first glance she was dancing or swaying in the wind. It was… amusing. He smiled.

Smiling felt odd after so long. So did the concept of amusement.

"Yeah, yeah, Squirt. 'Be the wind.' That's cute." He said sarcastically.

But as there was no other movement from her, it didn't seem quite right.

"Hey!" He yelled to the supervisor. "Something is wrong with her."

The supervisor grumbled and walked over to the girl. He nudged her, then pushed her, but no response.

"Brat is probably trying to get out of doing her work…" Other slaves said, but Varus payed them no mind. Something was wrong. He kept to his work, but also kept an eye out.

The supervisor sighed and said, "Alright, everyone back on the hoverbike. She leaked and needs to be processed."

The others grumbled about her inconveniencing them, but Varus was frozen.

Leaked?

Processed?

Everyone assembled on the hoverbike, and Varus's eyes were locked on the immobile figure of the girl the supervisor had to carry. Over and over the words 'leaked' and 'processed' filtered through his mind.

They landed in the carrier and the supervisor slowly opened her suit. Clearly saving the suit was a bigger concern than seeing if she was still alive.

Her skin was frostbitten from exposure to absolute zero and she wasn't breathing.

Varus just stared at her.

"Well, looks like she died a minute ago." The supervisor said, he immediately examined the suit. "Ah well. That's nothing a bit of tape can't fix."

Varus could hear his heartbeat. He felt… odd. Like he was floating. He felt… something… Something he hadn't felt like a long time.

He looked down at his fingers. He ignited a brief spark between his thumb and index finger.

He had noticed a long time ago that he was building up resistance to the implant in his neck. He was gaining his power back. It was slow but he was planning to use his power to escape now that he had regained enough of it.

He remembered seeing a medic once save a life through electricity. He could replicate the process easily enough.

But doing so would expose the fact that he had built up resistance, and blow his one chance, and what did he really owe one random brat?

The supervisor pulled the Ghorfa child out of the suit and laid her out on the metal floor, then put the suit on a hanger like nothing unusual had happened.

Freedom…

Or slavery…

_"You… need… me?" Varus asked._

_The kid nodded._

That new feeling, foreign from not having been felt in so long, exploded. "Screw it…" He hissed.

He shoved everyone aside, reached down, and ripped open the child's shirt.

"Hey! What are you-" The supervisor barked.

"Everyone, step back!" Varus yelled. He lifted her up slightly and put a hand under her back, and put his other hand over her chest where he guessed her heart was.

He shot a burst of electricity from one hand to the other. He made it as weak as possible. The girl stiffened slightly.

Okay… a bit more. It wasn't enough. He strengthened the burst. She stiffened again, and more violently, but still nothing.

"Come on, brat!" He hissed through gritted teeth.

With each burst, he could feel his own heart pounding. His heart was always beating, but he felt almost like he was reviving his own heart in a sense as much as he was trying to revive hers.

He remember all the shit he gave her, and all the times she mentioned death in passing. It was casual for her… too casual. Especially for a child.

_"Bet you just love it if I died didn't you!" She had yelled._

_"What do I care…" He had said. _

_"People who are going to die should just get it over with. Not like anyone is worth anything." Varus said._

He felt rotten. He was such an ass! Now it was almost a mockery for her to actually die after that.

He put in another burst, stronger this time, and she went stiff as a board, only to seize up and cough violently. The lights flicked around them. He felt her heart pounding beneath his palm and sighed in relief. "Scared the living shit out of me…"

He lifted his hand and winced at the sight of a burn on her chest in the shape of his hand. He didn't think he made it that bad…

It shouldn't have taken so much energy to have that much effect. He didn't consider the possibility of her having latent Force resistance, and still wouldn't for many years later.

He barely had time to put his hands up before he was being shot by stun guns… again. He woke up later having gone through surgery to have the implant remodulated. He lost his power.

He may have lost his one chance at freedom, but it was his choice. And with that choice he gained a niece, who became like a daughter, and a brother.

It would unfortunately become routine to be shot by stun bolts.


	72. Ep15 - Ancients Part 1

**Note: Something I am thinking of doing is having a poll as to what chapter to release next. You see, I have a number of stories in my head and am working on all at once. But which chapter to work on next? Which chapter to release next? I think what I will be doing from now on is letting my reviewers decide. :) Naturally I will give it a bit of time after each release for people to decide and vote, and then I'll get started, so it will take a bit more time. But it will help me keep straight what I am working on and what people are interested in. I've been jumping from one story to another almost randomly.**

**#1. In the Path of the Ravager - Episode 15 Part 2**

**#2. Marek of the Rebellion - Chapter 10**

**#3. Diary of Nitheal - entry 2**

**#4. King under Heaven - Chapter 1 (Story I am working on and haven't released. A novelization/slight-AU of the Manga 'Kingdom'.)**

**#5. To the Top - Chapter 1 (Story I am working on and haven't released. A novelization/eventually-AU of Tales from the Borderlands.)**

**let me know via review which you want me to work on next and release. :)**

* * *

**Episode 15 - Ancients Part 1**

* * *

"So… where'd you find them?"

Padme roped her arms together and looked down on two smiling innocently children.

"Kitchen." Anakin answered, also looking down on them. "Better question is how you two got here." He looked up to his wife. "Didn't they have a babysitter?"

"They did. Found her tied to a chair the night I came back from visiting Mrs. Marek."

"Her idea." Luke instantly pointed to her sister.

"HEY!"

Knowing them, it took the combined ideas and work of Cahj and Leia to do it. Cahj was not a good influence on them. Still, they were good friends and a friendship like that could go a long way. Now if only they could get Cahj to be a more positive influence.

"Don't start." Anakin said sternly. He may be new to being a father, but it helped to have been a general. Means he knew how to order. "Padme, you do know this is a top-secret meeting, right? How did you find out where we are and get permission to be here?"

"Connections. Threw away a lots of favors. Well, most of them." She waved it off.

"You threw away political clout to get here on the small chance they are here?"

"Damn, right. That's what a parent does." She challenged.

"Right." He submitted. "Noted."

"WHERE IS SHE?!" A voice yelled from behind the door. He recognized the voice as Ashley Marr.

Anakin's eyes widened slightly. "How many people did you bring?"

"A few." She said with slight guilt.

Ashley Marr stormed in and looked around, so to speak. Without another word, she left. With the door still open Anakin saw Victoria Marek making pleasant conversation with Mrs. Shan. Judging from their interaction, they knew each other already.

Right. A few.

"Well, I would say you two are grounded, but I think your mother has something worse in mind." Anakin assured the kids. She nodded with a knowing smile and the kids paled. Ahsoka and Galen Marek entered and passed into the next room where the others were. He had a faint idea of what was about to happen. "But for the moment, I think this is something we will want to be there for."

"What?" Padme asked.

"You'll see. Come on."

Anakin lead them into the next room and followed the group. Galen Marek introduced himself to Victoria, and it was heartwarming, but also heartbreaking. Galen knew the reality that he was a clone, and he had his own life. Victoria was not his mother, at the same time he had bits and pieces so he didn't feel she was a complete stranger.

An awkward conversation of Anakin had ever seen one, but Galen took it factually and had his wife there to smoothen things out. It helped that said wife knew Mrs Marek already. (The Revanchist had helped the Miraluka pick themselves back up, so Bastilla's daughter would have met the Miraluka Mistress on multiple occassions.)

Galen asked for Mrs. Marek to close her eyes when they reached a door, and entered in first. Anakin gestured curiously to the door. "Is that where I think it is?"

"Yep." Ahsoka smiled widely. "Galen assembled all of his little brothers. The Revanchist and Miraluka are negotiating for them to be adopted."

Just like he thought. Padme squealed quietly in delight. "I won't want to miss this then! But it's so private too!"

"We can get a good view this way." Satele gestures to a side hall, and guides them to a higher balcony where they can look down into the expansive chamber in. From what Anakin could see the room was originally a sports room for basketball or wall tennis or duels or whatever they did. Now it was a room designed to hold nearly a hundred five year old clones of Varus. Or at the very least be a playroom for them. Toys, games, and etc were scattered all over.

Anakin leaned against the railing. The boys all looked up to the older Galen with wide-eyes and he instructed them to be quiet and stay while a guest enters. They agreed and the door was opened. Victoria had her good hand covering her eyes while an assistant pushed her hover-chair into the room. Visas Marr stood near in the corner out of the way with her arms looped together.

Galen instructed her to open her eyes, and Anakin smiled as he visibly saw the woman's breathe be taken away. She was freaked out for a moment, almost to the point of being frightened by how shocked she was, but it just as quickly turned around.

Galen said, "Guys, none of you may know, but this is your mother."

"We're clones." A few of the kids argued.

"Perhaps. But Victoria is the birthmother of the original, and the Miraluka Council as agreed for the Marek household to adopt you all. That makes her your mother."

Anakin blinked in surprise. He hadn't expected that. The Council agreed? Why would Rebhorn, who holds over half of the council in his pocket, agree to this? Taking on the clone children would only strengthen the Marek's position by ensuring the bloodline, while also jeopardizing the future Keeper role since there could be potentially hundreds of legitimist heirs… Unless Varus's children are considered the only proper heirs and the clone's future children won't be.

None of the less he smiled warmly. Padme started hopping up and down while covering her mouth trying to contain squeals of joy and was crying. Ahsoka sniffled quietly. The kids were bored. Victoria was weeping for joy and after Galen suggested his younger brothers get to know her, Anakin decided it was best to leave.

Ahsoka's datapad rang and she followed him out.

"I just realized something." Anakin said as they walked. Ahsoka didn't answer, and rather picked up the call. Anakin continued, "They aren't just orphans being adopted… Varus was taken from her at five, and now she has nearly a hundred clones of him that are almost five. The exact same age she lost her son."

Ahsoka still didn't answer him, and he didn't expect one. He was mostly thinking outloud. "Who are you talking to?" Ahsoka was blushing slightly.

"One sec, Master. That is great! I'll see what we can do, but I'm not sure if we can… Yeah, I realize its important. Although why, I can't tell. You aren't giving me specifics… Well if he isn't being specific then you're just stuck in the middle aren't you?" She giggled. "No, I'm not helping you out with this one. He's your problem. We'll make sure Ash knows. Oh, speaking of which, Ash came all the way here for her, and the Miraluka have adopted a hundred of your little clones into the Marek household as Victoria's children!... Okay don't panic… Varus… Varus? Damnit." Ahsoka hung up.

Anakin smirked. "He freaked out?"

"Pretty much."

"Well, telling him he suddenly has a hundred brothers could have waited till he returned. Then we could be doing damage control. Instead he is freaking out and panicking on a ship with HK. I can just imagine it suddenly veering off course into an asteroid."

"Please don't karma him… His karma is shit enough." Ahsoka grumbled. "Anyway, he says he beat the evil out of Koj and needs us. Oh, and he has Squirt."

"Better let Ash know before she rips up half the station." Anakin said offhandedly. He stepped in front of Ahsoka at the next door and smirked. "And you were worried Varus would fall back to the Dark Side by killing his brother. Looks like he didn't need us to hold his hand after all."

"As happy as I am about it, I would have preferred to be there… at least for moral support." She shoved past him and Anakin shook his head in exasperation.

"At least acknowledge it for the victory it is. We both feared what Varus would do. And in many ways he is the kind of person who can easily fall back to the Dark Side."

"He is a Sith and always uses the Dark Side." Ahsoka corrected him. "He just isn't a murderer and seeks to do good with it. You and I both know there is a difference when it comes to him."

"Right. My mistake. Missphrased that." He corrected himself. "Then in many ways he is the kind of person who can easily fall back to being an evil person. He is willing to go to darker extremes and hurt himself to reach what needs to be done."

"Yes…" Ahsoka said sadly.

Anakin sighed inside. He put a hand on her shoulder. "Just be proud and happy for him. He got his brother back."

"I am." She smiled, but it was also sad. "Just wish he doesn't have to be so… self-punishing."

"Hmm… So what was it that Varus needs our help with?"

"He didn't explain, but he said he is heading back to Forge and needs us to meet with him there immediately."

"All the way back there?" Anakin asked, bewildered. They had just left Forge a few days ago. Ahsoka shrugged. He sighed. "If he isn't going to bother meeting up with us here, but is heading straight there, then it must be urgent. Go grab Ash and I'll talk with Satele. Might as well bring Ash along."

"Padme and Victoria?"

"They can stay… they can only improve relations here anyway. Both of the woman are strong political figures in their own rights.

* * *

Leland was becoming annoyed.

Every time he turned a corner, Visas was near. At first he thought it was just the 'small world' phenomena, but lately he had the distinct impression she was watching him. If so, she was much better at keeping a distance than the other spies.

He was used to being watched by Rebhorn. The Admiral didn't trust him. Leland accepted years ago that he was a black sheep among his people. What he hadn't expected was his brother's pet tramp poking around.

This both annoyed and worried Leland. The thought worried him that his brother suspected him. He wouldn't put it past Rebhorn to come up with all kinds of nonsense to whisper in Varus' ear, but regardless… what had he done that caused his brother to suspect him? Nothing. Leland had purposefully, and annoyingly, done nothing in the last several months beyond be a pleasant and insightful conversationalist.

And then the way Varus was acting…

Leland was annoyed that Varus was so good at pretending to like him. He had deemed Varus to be politically and socially incompetent, and in some ways a despondent, but for Varus to suspect him, instruct his little hussy to spy on him, and then smile warmly and crack jokes and pranks and openly appear to be trying to bring Leland into his life…

Leland had to commend his acting.

Leland might have suspected it wasn't an act, but then Varus had all but admitted to being cautious around him at least once because he felt that he (Leland) had a dangerous air about him.

It wasn't that Varus was ignorant, it was just very good acting that made him appear that way.

Just how long would Varus spy on him? What was he looking for? How long before he took action?

Leland hadn't been totally idle. He had reached out time and time again to the DreadLords for instruction, and all he ever received was "Wait.".

Well, if they were so lazy and stupid as to ignore a golden opportunity like this, he might have to take matters into his own hands soon.

But he would bide his time a bit longer. All the better to hear through the rumormill as to how much everyone here knew about the Eternal Hand, DreadLords, and Abomination.

What he heard made him smile. They were good. They were professional. They had a lot of pieces because they were good.

They were wrong.

Like so many others before them. So close… yet so far. They would continue to point fingers and suspect, but they would never point those fingers at themselves… and so they would never figure it out.

The easiest enemy truly was the arrogant and self-righteous.

And for that… they would die.

"We must be patient. Just a bit longer." Leland reminded himself. It was difficult being patient, but then… he would enjoy it.

At length a messenger came to him and informed him that the two Jedi had taken a shuttle from the Ravager and a squad of Seekers. "Do they have permission?" Leland wondered. He slipped smoothly into the role of a prince.

The messenger nodded.

"Have they informed the Revanchist of who will speak on behalf of the Miraluka then? Varus is missing and Skywalker just left. Visas was only a stand-in for Varus."

"Skywalker left instruction for the Mareks to do it."

The Mareks. There were two of them here, unless you counted that clone. And he wasn't going to include the clone as it didn't want any relation to the Miraluka.

"Tell mother she is hardly in any condition to be stressed further." Leland ordered the messenger.

He smiled a truly sinister smile inside, but on the outside he was as composed as any prince could be expected to be. "I'll handle it."

* * *

Anakin entered Forge space and halted before the giant doors of the fortress-world. He already had permission to enter, but just needed to wait for the doors to open.

The Miraluka had taken the Forge, but there were still kinks and bugs in running it. Such as forcing Anakin to have a lengthy wait for the doors to open.

The doors opened.

An hour, that was a lot shorter than it used to be.

"My apologies for the wait, Master Jedi." Rebhorn said.

"Think nothing of it, Admiral. Has Varus come by?"

"No. Although he did send a message asking to be expected. I hear he has a prisoner."

"His brother. Koj'Ineh."

"Ah, yes. The Ghorfa."

"Yeah, Koj turned to the Eternal Hand briefly and so far as Varus claims, had it beaten out of him recently."

The Admiral sighed. "Why do I have the feeling Varus considered his knuckles to be the solution… and yet somehow it worked. Regardless, I will not allow Koj to go free until I am sure he is on our side. I will be meeting with him personally to be sure."

"Did he mention anything about Cahjinawl?" Ash spoke up from the back.

"Uh, no." The Admiral responded to the voice from the background. "Regardless, I will meet you all at the landing site… Two ships just popped up on long range radar with the signatures Varus said. He should be along shortly."

With that, the Admiral closed the channel.

Anakin landed the craft in the designated area. It was a grassy plain with the city of Haven in the distance. The Admiral was already waiting. Anakin turned off the engine, lowered the deck, and departed with Ahsoka, Ashley Marr, and four Seekers.

Already Anakin could feel Varus in the distance and waited patiently for the man to approach. Ahsoka was less patient, but contained it well.

Two Cartel-class shuttles entered sight and halted above them. One slowed to a halt smoothly while the other frantically spun and tried to angle itself properly and stop. Anakin smirked, he could immediately tell which one Varus was driving.

"At least they got here in one piece." Anakin admitted.

"That's about all they got here in." The Admiral muttered.

The doors lowered and immediately a horde of aliens ran out of Varus's ship. The Seekers snapped their guns and lightsabers out, unnerved by their sudden appearance, and the Admiral pulled out both a pistol and a lightsaber.

"Hold! They're Ghorfa!" Ahsoka put her hand out.

"They're harmless!" Ashley added.

On closer inspect, the aliens were indeed Ghorfa and were too busy throwing up and being sick to do anything.

The next ones to descend were HK, Koj carrying a sleeping Cahjinawl, and Varus.

"Come on! It wasn't that bad!" Varus exclaimed.

Koj said, "If I ever ride with you again, it will be too soon."

"Master, I must say, your driving skills is something to admire!" HK said.

"Thank you!... Wait…" Varus scrunched his face in thought. "What do you mean by that?"

Anakin chuckled. Odds are the droid was saying it admired how dangerous Varus was in the pilot seat.

Anakin barely had time to have that thought before Ahsoka was running and glomped Varus, knocking him off his feet. Koj side-stepped the running woman and walked towards the group without so much as a passing glance.

"You're not surprised?" Anakin wondered.

"I have the distinct impression I have known about his feelings for her longer than he has himself."

Koj stopped before them and looked up to see Ash standing there tapping her foot, as well as the Admiral and his guards, as well as the Seekers Anakin brought along.

And things grew tense.

To his credit, Koj did not hesitate or act ignorant. He gently woke his daughter and lowered her to the ground. Varus stood behind him and Ahsoka walked (with a slight skip in her step) to Anakin's side. Ash called Cahjinawl to her side, and Koj gently nudged his daughter to go ahead and do as she was told.

"Varus Wynn." Rebhorn said. The Admiral motioned to the group of Ghorfa and to Koj. "Would you care to explain?"

"It is a bit of a long story…" Varus rubbed the back of his head nervously.

"We have time. What I hear here will decide whether I allow these… Outsiders…" Koj flinched at the Admiral's choice of wording. "To be removed and sent elsewhere, or left to be your responsibility."

Varus looked earnestly to Anakin and Ahsoka, but Anakin put his hands up. "Sorry, my old Padawan. But this is purely an internal Miraluka matter. We have no right to interfere."

Varus nodded. "What do you know of the history of the Ghorfa?"

"Little. Does it matter?"

"It does. In fact, their history defines this group, as well as my brother." Varus nodded to Koj.

So… he still considered Koj his brother. That was a good sign.

"And who better than to explain their history, than one of them."

"And you think I trust a word he says?" Rebhorn argued. "Look at him. He even looks like an Eternal Hand. How do we know he won't kill us now?"

Koj closed his eyes in shame, but said nothing.

"Then if you won't trust him, trust me. The Ghorfa are like us. They have no home and had their home taken from them by invaders. You remember the deal we may when I gave the Star Forge's coordinates to the council?"

Rebhorn nodded. The deal was for Varus to have a district of his own. He more or less held the deed to the area.

"Well, if you look in the subnotes, you will find I have also sectioned off a sub-district and named Koj and Squirt as the landholder."

This drew Koj's instant, and gaping, attention. It was the first time Anakin has ever seen the man so shocked. Varus continued, "In the case that Koj was still my enemy, the land deed would pass to Squirt."

"What are you saying?" Rebhorn demanded.

"I'm saying I have split my land in two and given half of it to the Ghorfa."

If Rebhorn had eyes, they would be bulging. Ash already knew, but couldn't help smiling while Koj looked humbled and ashamed equally.

"you…" Rebhorn struggled to put this thoughts together. "You expect us to co-exist!? We have already spoken about this! It will not work!"

"Not indefinitely, but Admiral. What you are looking at are the last of a dying race. Do you really think they can hurt us? What's more, don't you think the future generations will feel indebted or thankful?"

"Only if they don't feel like a charity case…"

Anakin inserted himself, "Let us be realistic. Do you really think… twenty… twenty-four Ghorfa are a threat?"

The Admiral growled, but consented to the point. "I understand your point, Master Jedi. But he is." Namely Koj.

"Then let his case be separate from his people's."

The Admiral looked over the group of Ghorfa. "Varus. I hold them to be your responsbility. I will treat your district no differently from before, so they must be subject to our laws."

"Under-"

The Admiral cut Varus off. "That is what I will do regardless of whether you agree or not. So long as you are aware."

"…" Varus narrowed his eyes at him. "Understood."

"Is there anything else I need to know about them?"

"As they are an endangered species, they have certain… entitlements." Anakin said.

"Such as?"

"I can't say. You would have to ask someone who knows modern law. But I think job-priority, the people are allowed to have concubines and contribute to reproduction without necessarily being married, social programs, an allowance, a free moon or something…"

"We are not the Republic."

"Like I said, I don't know what the law is, but there is most likely one. I know there was in the Republic days."

"I'll have Cyborg-Hugger look into it." Varus explained, "She is my lawyer. But there is one thing that you need to know. The Ghorfa were enslaved by the Cartel and forcibly addicted to… this." He pulled out a blue vial of some kind of liquid. "If we can replicate it, we can keep them alive. Otherwise they will die."

Rebhorn said nothing for a moment, then took it from him. "Is this addiction hereditary?"

"Is heredation-what?"

"Does it pass down from parent to child."

"Oh. I have no idea."

Rebhorn sighed. "I'll have our doctors look into it. What kind of timetable are we looking at?"

"Uh…" Varus hesitated, clueless. He motioned to the group of Ghorfa and one of them said they needed a daily dose. They had enough on them for a week.

"Better rush it then." Rebhorn passed the vial to one of his guard and the Miraluka ran off. The Admiral sighed. "You certainly don't make my life easy, Varus."

The Admiral motioned to Koj. "Now, about you. What are you doing here?"

"Helping." Koj said simply.

"Uh-huh, and why shouldn't I throw you in the brig?"

"I'm vouching for him." Varus spoke up.

"You can't seriously expect that card to work everytime can you?" Rebhorn argued. "It will not work this time. Koj is an enemy. He has all the appearance of a Prior."

"You shouldn't judge a guy by his white eyes and-"

"I am not referring to his physical features. We are Miraluka… What I refer to is the sight of his Force-nature. It is corrupt, twisted."

Anakin didn't want to say anything, but Koj's force signature was of the Void and that put him on edge.

"But-"

"May I speak on my own behalf?" Koj asked humbly.

Varus looked worried, and the Admiral showed in his stance that he disliked the Ghorfa heavily. The man roped his arms together. "Go ahead."

Koj cleared his throat. "Do you understand… what you call… 'Suvivor's guilt', Admiral?"

"I do."

"Then allow me to say that my life has been in it. As I have seen, every culture has its tales. Tales of glory, of heroes, of victory, of suffering overcome and bright days. The tales of my people are not this way. Our history is one of being slaughtered and pushed to the edge with no hope time and time again, and our stories and tales reflect this. You see, we were enslaved by an Empire long ago, and our planet was turned to glass when we rebelled along with many others. Our home is now a desert. Nothing grows, and there is no hope. One generation to the next fights each other, fights the world, and fights invaders. Outsiders are nothing but liars, thieves, and murders in our history and tales, and slowly, in our tales and history, we have been pushed to becoming savages on our own world, and an endangered people as you say it."

Koj continued, "I remember the tales growing up… and I felt the burden of centuries. Centuries of a people slowly being pushed further and further into the very sands we called home, until we barely could keep our heads above the sands. In the ritual of adult-hood, I left home and saught answers. What I found was the Spirit, or the Force as you put it, and it brought me home in return for servitude. Years later, good friends of mine died, and I adopted Cahjinawl, their baby girl, as my own. I married, I had a Bantha… a fact I feel you cannot understand in its importance to us, so it is neglible."

Koj paused to breathe and continued, "Years later, I met Skywalker, the young Jedi woman he calls student, and Varus Wynn. Varus was everything you think of him, impulsive and obnoxious, but he had a base understanding of our suffering that amazed me. I helped him in his quest and acknowledged him as someone worthy of acknowledgement in our culture. It was not long after… The Cartel came in force."

Koj continued, "The Hutts had enough, and so brought an army to wipe my people off our own planet. The Jedi lead their armies… and slaughtered us. Even scattered and barbaric as we had become, we numbered in the millions. Now, we number only a few thousand, with a scant twenty-four here before you capable of reproduction and still having any hope. The rest… millions… were murdered. Elders, woman, men, children…"

He closed his eyes, and Anakin was amazed. The man was crying. He didn't strike the Jedi Master as someone who showed emotion much. "The Outsiders… invaders… call my people savage, uncivilized… they may be right. But I call the invaders hypocrites and psychopathic murderers, for not showing mercy even to babies or crippled. They killed on sight without discrimination, and enslaved the rest on a whim."

Koj looked to his daughter. "Cahjinawl and I were enslaved. We were separated, and by the Spirit's blessing, she was taken care of by Varus. I would follow soon after and vow Varus as my brother in a blood-bonding ritual. We lived in relative peace for years, but my people were not so blessed. They were… were…" He couldn't get the word out. He was visibly going into a panic attack.

Varus stepped forward, and even Ashley Marr, who was mad at him, was weeping for him. Koj put his hand up to stop Varus. "Do not interfere… Admiral… my people… were forced into an addiction stronger than any chain and neutered to be unable to reproduce… However, I would not come to learn of this detail for a few years. So let us take this in proper order. You freed us physically, but you did not free my soul. For as a slave we had an ignorance of the world, and a contentment of doing work and having the simple pleasure of being together. The oppression of a slave is not in the body, but in the mind, when they obtain the ignorant, content, unthinking mentality suited to a slave."

Koj continued, "With freedom, came thought. With thought, came pain… and hidden hatred. I hated the Hutts as a slave, but I had it contained. I hated the Jedi, but it was not until we met some, and added them to our crew, that I had to face it. I contained it, at first, but when I saw Varus had feelings for… one. My hatred was one for guilt and I struggled to contain it for his sake."

Koj continued, "As a servant of the Spirit, I have always been able to rely on the Spirit, but when Cahjinawl showed power in the Spirit… and a violent one at that… I found no guidance, and I was afraid. I believed I was a failure as a father, a failure as a servant of the Spirit, and was lost in myself. I was at war between my hatred, my love, my honor, and my feeling of failure."

Koj continued, "I would come to learn that the very invasion of Hutt and Jedi was an action that Skywalker, and to a degree, Varus, had been involved in planning."

The ones who didn't already know that looked at Varus in surprise. Varus said quickly. "I was just an observer."

"Yes," Koj continued. "I no longer blame Varus, and even then… I didn't. But all the pain of my people, of everything I had experienced… The survivor's guilt of centuries, the hatred my people carry towards our oppressors, the guilt of surviving the final war, of being the only free Ghorfa, and knowing that these Jedi… the very Jedi I had helped in their quest years before… had been instrumental in it. They had sold my people for medicine. In that moment, I decided, I knew, what I needed to do. I left. I wish I could say it was to free my people, or to create a future for my daughter, but deep down… it was about a vengeful justice."

Koj continued, "I was visited by the Spirit, and the Spirit told me that it would allow my heart's desire, my hatred, and it would protect me from ultimately dying to it, and in the process, I would come to know the Abomination we all fight. I wish I could say, even then, that my quest had become noble. That I had sought out the will of the Spirit, but I only took the encouragement as a sign to embrace my pain and hatred more. I found the Eternal Hand, and accepted their gifts."

Koj motioned to his face with his one hand. "I did not change much, at the time. I felt the voice and presence of powerful evil, but it was nothing I could not ignore. I assisted the Eternal Hand in creating a giant rebellion, and quickly became the leader of it. I created the rebel alliance you hear of that wages war with the Hutt Cartel. I capured the Hutts, and either killed or tortured them. I will not say my war was not totally for evil, as I waged the war to free slaves just as much as to destroy their oppressors… and my people's enemy."

Koj continued, "I tracked my people's slavery to a planet, and invaded it with my greatest army. I shattered them, and found myself captured by Varus. To be fair, I had expected him to try to come after me and take me back a long time ago. I'm surprised it took so long."

"He was busy helping the Miraluka rebuild from scratch." Rebhorn explained.

Koj nodded. "I see. None of the less, seeing him again reminded me of what I had left behind… and I was conflicted. I had missed my family. The evil behind the Eternal Hand must have sensed my conflict, because they took advantage of it. The evil changed and… the Abomination touched me."

Koj shivered. "I have felt hatred all my life… pain… fear. But let me say that what I felt from the Abomination made my own hatred to be childish in comparison. I can no longer, in good conscious, hate anyone. Not after seeing and feeling the depth of what true hatred is… The Abomination was powerful, and it consumed me. I was changed. And I remember everything."

Koj continued, "I… My change was not just physical, and it was mental in such a fashion in that… I wasn't 'mind controlled' as you would put it, but I was influenced into embracing it. Into embracing true hatred in such a depth that I no longer cared for anything. I tried to kill my own people because they had given up."

"You see… the Hutts hadn't just neutered and addicted my people… that was just an attack on our culture. The greatest victory for them was not even taking our home from us… it was in destroying our spirit. My people had given up and left themselves to die. For that, I considered my own people to be failures and tried to kill them."

Ash gasped. Koj hesitated and continued, "Varus stopped me, and between him and HK, they might have truly tried to kill me. Varus tried again and again to reach out to me, but I was no longer listening. I was overcome by my own pain and hatred and fought him. He broke my staff, cutting off my connection to the Abomination, but I was still twisted and changed. Over the course of the battle, I embraced my dark power more and more, until…"

Koj hesitated again and looked to his daughter. "I embraced it fully. No longer caring if I lived or died, I used all of my power to kill Varus, and he defeated me at the cost of my arm. In that moment, I had become a true monster of hatred and pain akin to the Abomination itself and lost. The Spirit came to me as I laid there dying, and saved me. I was changed from what I had become into what you see before you… and let me say what I had become was far more foul than this."

Koj continued, "As the Spirit healed my body and mind, and I realized all I had done, the Spirit required of me to seek out myself. As I had been touched by the Abomination, I could see the Abomination for what it was."

That brought Anakin's attention. "And what is it?"

"It… Abomination is a truly fitting word. It is not a beast, or a simple entity… it is the incarnation of hatred, pain, and fear given life. Details are… difficult."

"You said you could see it for what it is…" Rebhorn said.

"I can, but… it would take a lifetime to describe it properly. I am sorry. I am doing my best as it is. However, there are a few things I can say with ease."

Koj put up three fingers. "It hates everything. It hates the Jedi, it hates its own allies, it hates the galaxy… it even hates itself."

Koj lowered a finger. "It carries the painful memories of an entire civilization being annialated by its enemy… the Jedi."

Anakin gaped. "What?"

Koj lowered a second finger, leaving one. "And it has three fears. It fears Skywalker, because it is aware of the prophesy surrounding Skywalker. The prophesy is for Skywalker to restore balance to the Spirit, and it is this very imbalance that exists that is the Abomination's greatest weapon."

"The second fear is Revan, for he was a Jedi that would not settle for half-truths. Revan caught the Abomination's scent, and did not stop until he found it. He is also the only person in a thousand years to have been strong enough to wound the Abomination. Revan lost, but this fear reminds the Abomination to be cautious."

"The third fear… is why I asked for Varus to bring me here." Koj explained. "The Abomination fears its father. A person named 'The One' had created the Abomination, and so, it fears, can also destroy it."

"Destroy it?!" Anakin exclaimed.

Anakin couldn't believe his ears. This powerful being that existed in the dark background of the galaxy, twisting it as it pleased, had a weakness like this?! A single person that could simply destroy it?

So far as Anakin was concerned, he would sell entire systems for this person to do it. No price was too great in gaining this person's help.

"If you say this 'One' is the creatures maker, then he must also be a thousand years old." Rebhorn argued.

Koj nodded. "The Abomination's fear of its father was not past-tense, but current. It still fears him. It knew where he is, and therefore, so do I. We can reach him from here."

"Admiral," Anakin said earnestly. "We have to do this! If there is any chance of gaining such a powerful ally, we have to take it!"

"Hold on. I am still deciding whether I believe him or not, and what to do about him." Rebhorn rebuked him.

"I don't think you understand! The Abomination seeks to destroy or replace the Force! If it succeeds, the galaxy burns!"

"Which makes it all the more important that we decide whether this man is lieing or not." Rebhorn turned to the Ghorfa man. "I do not sense you lieing, but is there any proof you can give me?"

Koj bowed his head. "I have nothing. Only my word."

"That doesn't mean anything to me right now."

"Then do with me as you will. I have said my piece. I make no excuse for myself, but I do ask that regardless of your judgement, that I help Skywalker in his quest against the Abomination."

"Koj…" Ash murmured sadly.

Rebhorn said nothing for a solid minute, and the atmosphere grew tense. All awaited for him to decide.

So far as Varus was concerned, if Rebhorn made the wrong decision, he would be breaking his brother out, but he still hoped the Admiral would make the right decision.

To be realistic, Koj was an enemy for a time and for that should be treated as one. He did no specific crime against the Miraluka, nor other nations beyond the Cartel, and so that was perhaps his saving grace.

"Very well." Rebhorn decided. "This is not a real court, and so I will not say whether you are innocent or guilty of any war crime, but as we are involved in war, I am willing to make the decision to allow your help as a double-agent. Consider Varus your charge. You will be judged at the end of the war, and if you help us, it may contribute to the judgement. Varus, I expect you to keep him in line."

"I will."

"Koj, if you cause any trouble and if Varus fails to stop me… trust me when I say I will not hesitate in killing you."

"I understand." Koj breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you."

With that, the Admiral turned around and left.

Cahjinawl jumped into Koj's arm screaming happily and Ash hugged him briefly. "I'm not happy with you, but I'm sure that is something we can discuss later."

"We can?" Koj looked bewildered. "Okay…"

Anakin smirked. They looked like a married couple and Koj didn't even realize it. "Thank you."

"For?" Koj asked the Jedi.

"Forgiving me." Anakin put his hand out.

Koj looked at it a moment before grasping it. "Like I said… I cannot hate you. Not anymore. The hatred I felt was childish in comparison to what I have experienced."

"Not without reason. We shouldn't have sold your people like that. It was wrong, and if there is any way I can pay you back, I would."

"Kill the Abomination and I will call you brother too."

"Oh, if only mother could see me now…"

"I don't mean to butt in, but you said you knew how to find this 'One'?" Ahsoka stepped in.

Koj nodded. "Come. We must look for something." He turned and stepped onto the ship, but halted after a bit. "Daughter, will you come?"

Cahjinawl didn't even bother saying yes and just ran onto the ship past him. She actually looked excited and happy, like a kid at a fair, a rare sight with her. Koj smiled warmly and shook his head. Ash stepped on as well. They all entered in, save for the Seekers and Ghorfa. Varus instructed the Seekers to take the Ghorfa to his estate.

"So what we are looking for?" Anakin asked. He took his position at the pilot seat. He didn't trust anyone else there to fly.

"A building similar to a temple. It is somewhere in this world."

"I'll grab a map." Ahsoka pulled out her datapad.


	73. Ep15 - Ancients Part 2

**Note: The vote was a tie between MotR and PotR, and since I already wrote the next part of PotR, I decided to make that one first.**

**I will begin work next on MotR.**

**#1. In the Path of the Ravager - Episode 15 Part 3**

**#2. Marek of the Rebellion - Chapter 10**

**#3. Diary of Nitheal - entry 2**

**#4. King under Heaven - Chapter 1 (Story I am working on and haven't released. A novelization/slight-AU of the Manga 'Kingdom'.)**

**#5. To the Top - Chapter 1 (Story I am working on and haven't released. A novelization/eventually-AU of Tales from the Borderlands.)**

**let me know via review which you want me to work on next and release. :)**

**Looking over the previous chapter, I realized I have rushed everyone's response to Koj returning. Just as much as there needed to be time devoted to him being dramatic, there needs to be need to recovery and healing and discussion.**

**but at the same time, in my experience, there are times when just moving on is enough. When you sit and dwell on a problem, rather than acknowledge it as forgiven and a thing of the past, it can overboil. So that is the approach I'm having to take, because if I were to give proper time to every little thing this fic would end up another dozen chapters more than necessary. I might use an interlude, because now that Koj is back and we are looking for the Abomination's fears, we are sticking to the primary plot. Having people sit down and discuss the ramifications of the Ghorfa being taken in by the Miraluka and Koj still recovering emotionally, that's not main-plot material.**

**Despite how much time is usually devoted to finding the next objective, this one will be relatively easy. Koj knows how to generally find 'The One', so the difficult part will not be in finding the guy, but in dealing with him.**

**We are also dealing with Ahsoka's insecurities that popped up previously thanks to Satele/Varus moment. Even as great of a Jedi, and a growing person, as she and Varus are, people are still prone to flaws and insecurities and fears. People without flaws, like commander Shepard of Mass Effect, are very two dimensional and I generally don't like em.**

* * *

**Episode 15 - Ancients part 2**

* * *

"You know, are you sure you aren't confusing your 'The One' with the Jedi 'The Chosen One'? Because if you are, we won't have to look far to find him. " I look over at Tree-Hugger. "Found you! Wow, that was fast."

Tree-Hugger rolls his eyes.

Koj says, "They are two separate fears and presences to the Abomination. They are not the same."

"Okay, then how will we find this 'One'?"

Koj closed his eyes. "The Abomination knows of the Tho Yor… and feels the 'One' lives on one. Just as we followed Revan, through Varus, to this Forge, we must follow the Abomination, through me, to the next step."

Well now the shoe is on the other foot.

"Alright. We're trusting you on this. Lead us in." Tree-Hugger nods. The temple comes in sight from the window.

The Forge itself is a captured Tho Yor. I don't know what a Tho Yor is, but the amount of Force energy and the nature of it is to the extent that the pyramid-shaped ship is practically alive. It is both alive, but also seems to exist for the purpose of creating life. From what I have heard, sickness is down to a new low, and people who were ill before are lively as ever. My own mother, a cripple for the last twenty years, has gotten into a wheelchair after six months of just breathing the air here.

It's a ship with a miniature planet inside. We found old ruins and cities on the surface from the previous inhabitents, and scouts found a temple of sorts.

We land our ship by the temple camp and depart. The Miraluka stationed here for study, largely archeological in nature, stop to watch us as we enter.

The temple itself rests on a plains and it goes deep. Ahsoka pulled up a map of it. It includes a massive library and holocron room, has gardens and meditation chambers, statues, and other things. It more or less is identical in nature to the Jedi Temple in purpose. The first room is a long lobby with lined statues all facing the center alley and a single statue all the way in the far back.

"Cool!" Squirt exclaims.

Koj stops in front of the end statue and stares at it.

Okay… so we'll just stay in this room. Fair enough.

I wander around and look at the statues. At first they are just faceless statues in various postures, but I notice something.

The first statue on the left is of a man wearing a hooded robe. He reminds me of Nihilus in that he is featureless. If I look into the robe, I see nothing is there.

The second statue on the left is of a man with a bladed weapon. Lightning is represented to be flowing through the blade.

The third statue on the left is of a man in heavy armor bowing to the statue in the middle at the far end. He has his fist over his heart and a sheath on his belt.

I stand before the second statue. "That's not a lightsaber…" There's a sheath on the statue's belt and the blade is one-sided. A Katana?

"No, it's not." Ahsoka strolls over to my side.

"But why? Isn't lightsabers the 'thing' with Jedi and Sith?"

"Originally we didn't use lightsabers. That is a more modern technology. The old days used simple weapons and relied on the Force to make up the difference."

Like having lightning infused in your weapon like that. I've never seen a Sith do it. "Sounds like both sides have fallen out of touch in their own way. I've never seen Sith strong enough to do that." I point to the blade. "And I've only seen Jedi use lightning once."

"Perhaps because it's a Dark Side technique. Whoever used it might have been a Fallen Jedi."

"I wouldn't be so sure, Love. Just think about it. I'm sure you will remember." I turn away from the statues on the left and check out the statues on the right.

You got a woman who presents herself openly with wide-arms, then a guy in robes meditating with his legs crossed, then another guy in nice robes bowing at the hip to the statue in the middle.

Anakin says from a distance, "I know Mace could." His voice echoes.

"Really?" I ask. I hadn't expected that.

"Yeah, Windu had a run in with his Dark Side, and was lost to it for a while. It was before my time, but it's why he was so skeptical of Sith and the Dark Side as a whole. He knew personally how dangerous it was and how easy it was to fall. He described it once as an addiction you never quite forget, no matter how hard you try, meaning you have to be ever more vigilant."

"I've never saw him use lightning though." Ahsoka argued.

"He wouldn't touch the Dark Side with a ten-foot pole. Might be why. Truth be told, lightning in and of itself is neither Dark nor Light. It simply is. It's an element as much as earth and water and air. It's just the nature of the Dark Side to embrace more… volatile methods and lightning is very dangerous and difficult to control, making it VERY volatile."

"He isn't who I was thinking of." I say.

"Then who did you mean?" Ahsoka asks.

"Plo Koon."

Ahsoka gapes at me. I stop walking and looked back at her. "You didn't know?" I ask.

"Master did not use lightning!" She exclaims defensively.

Oh… shit. "Uh…" I don't know what to say. "I thought you knew that."

"He did NOT use lightning!" She repeats firmly.

Yeah, he did. None of the less, I put my hands up defensively, "Okay, okay. My bad! It was a long time ago." Who am I fooling? I know the guy did, and Ahsoka is just being in denial.

She continues looking at me heatedly, not believing my excuse, but apparently decides to move on anyway. "Are you sure Koj is okay?"

"What do you mean?"

She glances at Koj briefly. "Varus… you have Revan in you, and we both know you have gained some of Revan's traits."

"Like how he was man enough to be comfortable around woman… was a flirt…"

"For two examples, yes. What is to say Koj won't gain some of the Abomination's traits?" She sounds worried.

That's a good thought, but I don't think its well-founded in this case.

"Well, there are two reasons, Love. First: because it was the Force itself that intervened, and I doubt a deity would do a half-assed job. Second: because he knows I'll kick his ass if he goes ape-shit on us again."

I already took off one arm. A part of me is pained seeing my brother lose an arm, but I am not about to apologize. He had it coming, and he knows it. If anything, he is the one apologizing. He already has a dozen times to me anyway.

"So… will Koj be different? Definitely. From what I have seen, the experience has actually humbled him and given him a reflection."

"He is much nicer to me than he was. When we first met, after Tatooine, he was always growling…" She becomes sad. "I didn't realize it was because of outright hatred. I just kind of thought he was an ass."

I snort and grin like a kid. "You said 'ass'."

She swats me in the arm.

"Anyway, Love. How was everything while I was gone? Did everyone kill each other and HK missed it?"

She shook her head. "No, nothing like that. I got into a… bit of a spat with Galen."

I look at her. What? That's hard to picture. That's very unlike her. "You? About what?"

"Nothing. It was stupid."

Her obvious attempt at evasion is obvious. I smirk. "Come on, what was it? If you can't tell your boyfriend-slash-nemesis who can you tell?"

"Everyone else."

"Touché."

She sighs. "I guess I'm just having trouble separating the clones of you still. I mean… I know you are different. You're Varus. But up till now all clones to me have been much the same. I didn't see Galen as a Starkiller specifically, but I couldn't drop the animosity either."

"Well everyone has their flaws."

"And then I was still mad at you. And seeing your face on his made me mad."

"Okay… what I do?"

"Nothing, its stupid!"

Still evading. Wait… "Is this the thing you 'dropped' before when my nose exploded?"

A sheepish expression crosses her face. Got her. "Okay. Really. What is it? If it's bad enough for you to stay mad at me and take it out on other people, then you gotta stop being a good little Jedi and just let it out. Being a complete pacifistic monk-girl doesn't fix everything."

She looks away and whispers, "I didn't like how you looked at Satele… and how she looked at you…"

…

That honestly gives me almost nothing to go on, as I have no idea how I looked at her.

"Okay…" I say slowly, "Love… I have no idea what you are talking about. Was I blinking in Morse code or something? One eye saying 'make me a sandwich' while the other eye was saying 'and they're making a left turn!'?"

"No, there was an intensity in both of your eyes…" She looks at me earnestly. "And… I guess that has me feeling a bit… jealous."

Intensity…

Intensity…

Oh. "Are you referring to my state of being shell-shocked by seeing a woman I could claim as my daughter in another life being suddenly grown up to about the same age as me? And all very unexpectedly?"

"I told you it was stupid. You don't have to be rude about it." She turns to leave, but I grab her arm and gently tug her back.

"No, no. I'm sorry. I'm not trying to be rude. You know sarcasm is natural to me, especially when dealing with things I don't understand at all."

"…"

I sigh. Always the difficult one. And here I was thinking I would originally be the difficult one in the relationship. I pull her into an embrace and put my chin on her head. "Love. You have nothing to be jealous about. You know I love you."

I haven't even thought about Satele since I left. Almost forgot about her, but then that can be attributed to going from one panic to another.

Having a daughter… that is the same age as me…

That is just weird… I have no idea what to even begin thinking about it. Naturally having her father in my head would be a factor of us becoming friends… or something closer like actual father and daughter.

Would it be incest if she wants to date me or something? Technically we aren't related, but the Revan part of me would spend most of it throwing up. Oh wow that's twisted! I'm already in over my head being in love with a Jedi girl, and the only one I have ever been comfortable around.

How could Ahsoka even think I might have a thing for her? That's creepy on so many levels and entirely over my head.

I feel like Revan wants to kill me just for trying to figure out Ahsoka's perspective and he's inside my head!

"I know…" She whispers.

So far as the Skywalker's tell me, it is normal in our culture to return a 'I love you' with the same response in some way. So a part of me hoped Ahsoka would say it for once. Ever since I told her and starting saying things like I'm supposed to like a good little boyfriend thing, it hasn't been returned. Padme says it's because she's not comfortable with it yet and needs time.

Still hurts a bit though. A tiny bit.

None of the less, I kiss the top of her head and try to move on. Glad we wrapped that up. "Koj! Figure anything out yet! We've been here a while."

"I am thinking."

"Yeah, well. Think harder! Time is money."

"We do not care about money."

"Then we gotta make time anyway."

"We are also incapable of producing time."

"By the Force, the two of you argue like an old married couple…" Tree-Hugger rubs his forehead.

Koj rolls his eyes and I stand by his side to look. The middle statue is a figure with its arms outstretched and its palms wide open. On the right palm is a circle. Written on its chest are these words:

_There is no ignorance; there is knowledge._

_There is no fear; there is power._

_I am the heart of the Force._

_I am the revealing fire of light,_

_I am the mystery of darkness,_

_In balance with chaos and harmony,_

_Immortal in the Force._

Well, that's a creed if I've ever seen one. It is also very unusual. Power is not something I would ever have associated with Jedi as being part of their creed nor 'mystery of darkness' nor 'chaos'.

"What kind of Jedi were these people?" I wonder. "Are you sure you aren't seeing anything?"

"I am, but it is very odd."

"How so?"

"I see a man touching both of the statue's palms. The statue brings its hands together and a… doorway appears between them."

A doorway? "You mean like a portal?"

"I am unsure. All I can say is that the world shifts between the hands and I see another world as if through a doorway."

"Right. A portal. Great. So what's the hard part?"

"I have tried that. I have touched both palms and nothing happens."

Tree-Hugger looks around and reads the creed to himself. "I think there is a special trick to it."

"Of course, when has anything ever been easy…" I mutter.

"The code speaks of aspects of both the Light and Dark Side…" Tree-Hugger thinks outloud. "And the statues behind us are similar. Those there reflect the code's words. The woman is revealed openly while the hooded man is a mystery. The warrior stands without fear, but power. The person meditating reflects knowledge. And one both sides the final statue bows to this one."

"So this statue is the Force itself?" Ahsoka asks.

"Possibly. It could also symbolize balance. The sixth line mentions balance, so this statue could reflect a completed person. But whether it is what a worshiper drives to become, or is an accomplishment and rank like Master, I can't say."

"Is this statue the 'One'?" I ask.

Koj shakes his head.

Damn, that would have made this easy.

Tree-Hugger asks, "And you say that your vision has you seeing a man touch both palms?"

Koj nods.

Tree-Hugger steps up and does so. He puts his palms in the statue's palms.

Nothing.

"We already confirmed that." I remark.

"Just checking… Varus, didn't the Infinite Empire capture this place?"

"Yeah. The Empire was at war with all seven of these ships, and captured this one and put it in a cage called the Star Forge."

"How would you describe the Empire's Force alignment?"

Okay, what are you thinking? "Very Dark. Black."

He nods. "And if these ships had a portal network… then this must have been a defense mechanism. Something simple enough for them to use, but a safe-guard designed for their enemy."

"That's a wild theory."

"It's all we got. But… if this Empire was all dark, then it was out of alignment." Tree-Hugger looks at all the statues again. "They would have had the Dark Side, but not the Light. No balance like this code reflects." He looks back at the center statue with the open palms. "So the way to open it might be balance."

He steps up and puts his palms on the statue's palms again. This time I feel him pooling Force energy into both his palms.

Nothing.

It also doesn't feel balanced. "Sorry, but I doubt it will work. You are a lot more Light-Sided than Dark."

Tree-Hugger tries to change his energies, but despite his attempt, he is simply a Jedi. He is trained to use the Light. He may have Darkness in him, but he isn't trained to use it.

"No change." Ahsoka remarks.

"Sorry, but I think the only Jedi to have ever achieved proper balance is Revan, and that's because he was an actual Sith for a time." I say.

Tree-Hugger sighs, but gets an idea. "An Sith Lord… Let me try this…" Suddenly his left hand is shrouded in the Void while his right hand glows brightly.

Void? Is he stupid?!

"Are you seriously using Nihilus' power?!" Ahsoka exclaims.

"Stop before it kills you!" I yell.

"It can't kill me." He groans painfully. "The Void has no effect on me, remember?"

The statue shifts. Centuries of being immobile makes it a difficult process. Chunks of it break off and dust falls from its skin. Cracks rupture all over it, but whatever energy or mechanism or power that runs the machine, it is still intact.

Tree-Hugger stops what he is doing and steps back. The statue slowly brings its hands together.

A small ball of light appears between the hands, then the light begins to grow. Within it is another room, like looking through a window. The light slowly continues to expand until it reaches the floor and is contained with both hands.

"Oooohhhh." Squirt stares at the portal.

Yeah, it is neat.

The room on the other side of the portal looks like a perfect replica of this room, almost a complete mirror image. The difference being that we do not see ourselves in the reflection, instead, there is an old man sitting in meditation.

"So who wants to go through the creepy tunnel first?"

Koj does, then Tree-Hugger. Ahsoka and I step in. My skin tingles and my hair stands on end for a moment like I've been zapped. I take one look at Tree-Hugger with his hair everywhere and laugh.

"Shut up…" He straightens his hair down and waves for Squirt and Ashley that its safe.

Bit late to say it's safe after four of six go through isn't it?

Tree-Hugger walks around the man on the floor meditating. "Excuse me, Sir. We are looking for someone called 'The One'. Would you happen to know if he is here?"

The man is old and has a beard down to his waist. But he also seems to be in excellent health. He isn't covered in wrinkles or imperfections like most oldies, and his beard is trimmed, clean, and straight. I wish I will look that healthy when I get old.

The man opens his eyes to acknowledge Tree-Hugger, but otherwise says nothing. In his eyes is experience and understanding unlike any I have ever seen. He gazes at Tree-Hugger for a long moment before replying.

"You have found him."


	74. Ep15 - Ancients Part 3

**Note: You can't have One without Son and Daughter, and to be fair, I have had them in mind since the beginning. The reason is that there are a lot of comparisons in this fic. I don't want to spoil anything, but the Abomination, Anakin, Son, and Daughter are all linked in a subtle way just as much as 'The One' is. I have had them in mind since I first came up with the Abomination all the way back in Path of Revan when Nihilus was explaining why he was killing the Jedi.**

**The concept of balance is also one this episode tries to answer.**

**The Jedi think balance is wiping out the Sith.**

**The Sith want to kill them.**

**Nihilus thinks balance is wiping out both Sith and Jedi and starting over.**

**The canon-Darth Vader achieves balance by actually killing both the Sith and Jedi.**

**But this is wrong, and is something the One tried to explain in the Clone Wars series. When you look at what actually creates the Abomination (which you won't see yet), then you see that the Jedi's idea of balance is wrong just as much as Darth Vader.**

**Darth Vader didn't bring balance. He wiped out both sides, but the hatred, the symptom of imbalance, was still there. This is shown by the fact that we have more Sith rising and Jedi and they are once again at each other's throats. **

**True balance is what the One will need to explain in order for this war to be won at its core.**

**At the same time, the most difficult aspect of this was figuring out how to portray and characterize Son and Daughter.**

**Son in canon is murderous, hateful, scheming, and overall is on par with the Abomination in terms of bad-traits.**

**First, that doesn't make sense. The Celestials live with a tribe of Killik that they raise. If he was actually as murderous and full of hatred as he acts, he would have wiped them all out. I realize that Son is the most extreme depiction of the Dark Side, but there a few reasons I decided to tone his behavior down.**

**1\. I want the most extreme source of evil to be the Abomination.**

**2\. I want Son to be an ally, not an enemy.**

**If you put them on a visual graph, Nihilus would be the Extreme Evil Light Side person, Abomination would be the Extreme Evil Dark Side person, Daughter would be the Extreme Good Light Side person, and Son would be the Extreme Good Dark Side person.**

**So I tried to remake Son to still be very very much Dark Side, but without the mass-murdering and full on hatred.**

**#1. In the Path of the Ravager - Episode 15 Part 3**

**#2. Marek of the Rebellion - Chapter 10**

**#3. Diary of Nitheal - entry 2**

**#4. King under Heaven - Chapter 1 (Story I am working on and haven't released. A novelization/slight-AU of the Manga 'Kingdom'.)**

**#5. To the Top - Chapter 1 (Story I am working on and haven't released. A novelization/eventually-AU of Tales from the Borderlands.)**

**let me know via review which you want me to work on next and release. :)**

* * *

**Episode 15 - Ancients Part 2**

* * *

So, this is 'The One'.

We all stand around him surprised and uncertain. We hadn't expected to run into him this soon. Now I'm regretting allowing Koj to bring Squirt along.

Is 'The One' a friend? The Abomination fears him.

But at the same time, the Abomination fears 'The One' because he's his FATHER! So… that is almost a healthy kind of fear and isn't that kind of fear normal? So is 'The One' an enemy?

He is not a foe I would want. I've only been in his presence for a short while, and I can't get a proper feel for his power. He feels powerful, extremely powerful. Even stronger than Tree-Hugger. But it isn't just a contained power that I notice, its how that power feels.

His power feels absolute. In control. Dominating.

We are in his domain and he has absolute power and control over it. He doesn't need to flex his brain-muscles or face us in a test of strength, he simply has to say it and it will happen.

I'm Death's Apprentice, Tree-Hugger is the Chosen One, Ahsoka is worthy of being a Jedi Knight, Koj is the Abomination's former champion among the Eternal Hand and we are defenseless against him here.

Tree-Hugger clears his throat nervously. "So… uh…"

Very eloquent, dumbass.

"Are you a friend of the Abomination or an enemy of his?" I ask briskly. Tree-Hugger snaps his attention to me in reprisal, and I ignore it.

"Abomination." The One repeats. "I have known many abominations in my days. Some would even call me one, and that of my children."

The One raises himself to his feet. He is a good foot taller than the highest of us. He looks down on Tree-Hugger and smiles, "But I have been looking forward to meeting you for quite some time. Anakin Skywalker."

"You know of me." Tree-Hugger acknowledges.

"I do. I consider myself a hermit, but even here, in a node of the Force, I am more aware of the universe than many." He looks to Koj. "I feel the taint of hatred on you, Ghorfa. It feels familiar…"

Koj nods. "What you feel in me is but a taste of what I have felt from the one who made me as I am."

The One continues to look at Koj and studies him, but there is a hint of confusion in his eyes. "So familiar…" He murmurs.

"Perhaps you're awareness isn't as high as you thought." I joke.

Ahsoka smacks me upside the back of the head.

"No. The youngster is right. While I can observe freely and feel the ripples of the Force from here, even I, after a thousand years, am still limited. I have known Skywalker would come to me, and I know my role in his path. But this 'abomination' you speak of… I need something more than a generic word if you want me to say if I have known him or not."

"Then perhaps a name might help your memory," Koj suggested. "Marco Ragnos."

The One's eyes flash open widely and he stumbles backwards in shock and amazement and… a hint of fear. He takes a moment to compose himself and covers his eyes with a hand. "Marco Ragnos… yes, yes! I know the name! I know the name very well. It has not been a name I have heard in a long time… a very long time."

The One looks to Koj again and his eyes widen again ever so briefly. "That is why you feel tainted…" He looks away in thought. "Is now that time? After so long…" The man's thoughts drift away again.

Tree-Hugger clears his throat to get the old man's attention again. "Does this name mean something? Wasn't he just a Sith Lord that died a thousand years ago?"

"To answer your question… To answer all of your questions, it does mean something." The One says grimly. "I know the 'Abomination' of which you seek. I know now why you have come to me."

"That's good!"

"Yes." He raises an eyebrow in thought and looks down and his eyes bulge and for a moment… the man looks insane. "How very very awful."

…

I ask. "You don't spend much time around, you know… people… do you?" Once again, Ahsoka smacks me upside the head. This time she adds a 'stop it!' to the mix.

Whether the man ignores me or didn't hear me, he says, "To answer your first question, I am both friend and enemy to this 'Abomination' of yours. There is a respect and friendship shared, but we will not hesitate to kill each other if given the chance."

Thank you for the lack of answer… so he is both friend and enemy? They will kill each other at the drop of a hat but also do it out of friendship.

The Power of Friendship!: Old People Edition.

Tree-Hugger smiles, "You have no idea how relieving it is to hear that. It has been a losing war… The galaxy is in chaos and we have only figured out who our enemy is."

"Trust me, young one. If all you have to say is 'chaos', then you don't truly know who your enemy is. But, I will help and explain as best as I can. For now, I would like to welcome you all to dinner."

Tree-Hugger frowns. Ahsoka steps in, "Sir, every day that passes-"

"This enemy has existed a thousand years. Patience and time is his greatest weapon. A few days will not change that. For once, let that be to our advantage." The One argues. "Dinner will not be for another hour or so. Feel free to make yourself comfortable here, the temple is perfectly identical to the one you just left. Find some rooms to rest in for the night. I insist on having you as guests."

"But-" Tree-Hugger tries to say something against it, but the One slams his staff down, and suddenly the image of an insane old guy is replaced by a wise, powerful, experience ancient. He's seen ages and civilizations others dig up and put in books.

His power fills the room and everyone steps back instinctively. The body is designed to go into a defensive mechanism when it senses danger, and a higher trained mind and body will only make that detection stronger. So while he is not our enemy, the amount of danger we sense, the fear that follows, leaves us all shaking.

I look down at my shaking hands and see I was releasing a staggering amount of lightning and had my lightsabers ignited and everything. I'm shaking, I'm sweating.

The guy can go toe and toe with Nihilus, even while my old master is at his best.

The One says, and his voice echoes deeply around the room even though he doesn't raise his voice at all. "If you want my help, you must do things my way."

Well, that settles it. He walks away leaving us struggling just to breathe.

"O-one night might not hurt." Koj suggests.

"Aye." "Yeah." "Agreed." "Yep." "Okay, Papa."

We head off. Squirt leaves behind dark footprints. I share a knowing glance with Koj.

Her power ignited the ground under her feet when she became as terrified as the rest of us. The only reason the child hasn't wet herself or cried in fear is that fear is something she is used to.

"Well, like he said. This temple is identical. There's the library." Tree-Hugger says.

"Which means living quarters are in this direction." Ahsoka points down another passage leading up.

What we find is a couple rooms with a window each. The walls are of marble and the only things in them is a candle on an intable and a bed. There are also a limited number of rooms and two bathrooms for them all.

I go to the window and look out. The land outside reminds me of Forge. The Temple is on a mountain surrounded in grassy plains and a forest. There are mountains in the distance and it looks like thunderclouds over them.

"I'll be on the floor." Koj says.

"I'll take outside." I say.

"Are you serious?" Ahsoka asks me in disbelief.

I nod. "I like outside. I'm more at home outside than in some house. Besides, I want to keep an eye on those things." I point.

There are small mounds of dirt out there with giant insects. Thousands of them.

"Oh, that's lovely." Tree-Hugger sighs. "Killiks."

"What's a Killik?" Koj asks.

"Natives to Alderaan. Sentient insects with a hive mind. Can be anywhere from three centimeters to fifty meters in height and are very deadly. Not too different from Geonosians."

"Geonosians… that's lovely." Ahsoka doesn't sound happy to be here.

Can't say I've met any of those. Must be a charming insect race. About all I know about insects is that they are born female and change to male at some point to do reproduction, and that they are very squishy inside and hard on the outside. And they have a zillion legs.

Okay, I'm used to small insects, but not the sentient kind.

"More important than that I stay outside and keep an eye on them tonight." I add.

If they're deadly and exist in such large numbers, I don't trust them. But what are they doing here with The One? Is he raising them? Is this some kind of adult ant-farm?

The others set up sleeping arrangements and before long, there is a clicking sound behind us. I turn to see one of the insects in the hall.

I place my hand on a lightsaber, but Tree-Hugger puts his hand out to stop me.

_Dinner is ready. The One is waiting._

My eyes widen in surprise. The insect just spoke to me in the Force.

"We're on our way." Tree-Hugger tells it.

The insect doesn't speak with words again, but gives an impression of sorts as if to say 'acknowledged' or 'I heard you'. It walks away. Its pointed feet click on the floor.

_Follow._

"Damn, insect… as if I get enough things poking my brain." I mutter. "Why'd you stop me, Tree-Hugger? I wasn't going to cut it down just for looking at us."

"It was hard to believe, but that thing had a lightsaber."

…

"A lightsaber?" Ahsoka gasps.

"What's more, I felt the Force in it. It spoke through the Force. It wasn't Light or Dark… it was… almost natural."

"Does The One have his own sect?"

"We can ask him when we see him." Koj says.

"Agreed." Tree-Hugger nods. "Who's hungry."

"I am!" Squirt raises her hand. Koj chuckles.

We rush out to find the insect and follow it. Thankfully, the Killik had left at a slow enough pace for us to catch up. Before long we find ourselves before a very long table with all kinds of food on it. At the far end of the table is The One, and on both sides of him are two others.

One is a woman who glows in brightness. Her hair is green and long and her eyes are also green. Her dress robes are white. She looks almost… noble and proud, yet humble.

The other is a man who's skin is bleached white but seems to dim the world around him in darkness. His eyes are red and he's bald. His clothes are tight-fitting and black as night. His eyes and lanky figure remind me of a spider.

I take one look at the man with red eyes and identify him as a Sith. For some reason, my blood boils just by looking at him. I feel myself become angry and I growl in effort to restrain myself from beating his face in. The Dark Side coming from him is overwhelming, but perfectly counteracted by the woman.

Ashley says, "Squirt, stay by Koj. Don't let the one on the right near you."

"Aye."

All around the room are more of the Killik. They carry empty platters and stand at attention like waiters. The only thing missing is the tuxedo and towels on their arms and they would have the look down pat.

The One stands and motions to us like a gracious host. "Welcome, Anakin Skywalker to our home. May I introduce my children. Son."

The Sith man raises his hand, but otherwise doesn't make any gestures. I want to beat his smug face in and he smirks at me.

"And Daughter." The green-haired woman nods and smiles. She looks to Squirt and her smile becomes especially gentle.

Anakin Skywalker studies them closely, clearly noticing the importance of some of the details about them. Esspecially in the nature of the Force around them. He motions to us. "Ashley Marr, Cahjinawl, Cahjinawl's father Koj'Ineh-"

"Cahj and Koj. How DO you keep those two straight?" Son jokes snidely.

Tree-Hugger ignores the remark but I take a step forward. "Don't." Ahsoka whispers.

"Ahsoka Tano, and Varus Wynn." Tree-Hugger finishes.

"A couple Jedi, a Sith, a tainted Ghorfa, a youngster, and a Miraluka. Quite a group here." Son comments. "Aren't you all mortal enemies? Or are you just unsure what you are?"

"Son…" The One says warningly.

I step forward growling. "As if you have any right to speak, Sith!"

"Varus…" Ahsoka says tensely.

Son stands and smirks at me. "Sith? Hmmm…." He hums in thought. "Am I a Sith? Maybe… maybe not…"

"Does everyone in your family only give double answers?! Give proper answers!" I yell.

"Then perhaps you should open your ears and listen. As well as your eyes and see." he baits me.

"How about I show you what it looks like to go BLIND!" Lightning rolls down my body and claws come out of my fingers. It lights up the room.

"Cute lightshow. If your aim was to make me squint, its succeeding." Son's aura dims further until he is covered in rolling shadow.

Stand face to face, our auras clash visibly.

"Yeah, well. Your name is unimaginative and stupid!"

He looks at me like I'm stupid. "Of course, I wasn't born with this name. How unintelligent are you?"

I growl angrily. "Intelligent enough to kick your ass!"

"Enough!" Ahsoka steps in and pulls me back. At the same time, Daughter's arm changes into a giant wing and is placed in front of Son. Ahsoka whispers, "Control yourself! They're our hosts!"

"And he's pissing me off…" I growl.

"That's the Dark Side talking. His darkness rivals Nihilus in strength, but rather than being empty is about intensity. Focus."

Now that I notice, I really am not acting like myself. I close my eyes and struggle to restrain my emotions.

"My, my. Aren't you cute." Son eyes Ahsoka lustily.

My anger spikes and Ahsoka squeezes my arm to hold me still. At this point, that is the one thing keeping me from bashing his face in. She smiles at him. "Sorry, not interested."

"Oh, I wasn't asking. I'm not that mansperate for someone frigid."

Ahsoka goes rigid, her eyes widen amazingly large, and half the room gasps. Except Squirt and myself.

For once, it wasn't me who did it.

"What that mean?" Squirt asks innocently.

I have no idea, but it must not be good. Ahsoka is usually calm and releases her anger openly to let it out in a controlled way, but now she is deathly silent. She only gets like that when she is pushed over the top.

"Son, apologize NOW!" The One demands.

"Fine, fine. Sorry." The man waves it off and sits back down.

I pull Ahsoka' stiff body back to the group. I whisper to Koj, "What got everyone stiff as a board? What did skirt-boy say?"

Koj whispers back bluntly, "He just said he isn't that desperate to lower his standards for someone persistently unresponsive to sexual intercourse."

…

I'M GOING TO KILL THE EVER LIVING CRAP OUT OF HIM!

In half a second I run over the table knocking dishes aside and try to bury my lightning claws in his face. He smiles widely, pushes his seat back, and accepts the fight.

* * *

Just as Varus and Son collide, The One stands and with a wave of his hand, the two are gone from the room. The One sighs heavily and says, "My deepest apologies for his behavior. As much as I may wish to reverse it, that is his nature. No amount of discipline can change someone who has drunk from the Font of Power. The best I can do is contain him."

"Where did you send them?" Skywalker asked.

"I sent them both to the dark side of the planet, Son's home, for them to settle it. Son is many things, but he is not a murderer. Your friend will be okay. All the same, just to be sure… Daughter, would you mind making sure they don't go too far?"

"Yes, father." Daughter stands and leaves.

"I want to go too." Ahsoka tells her.

"You sure?" Skywalker asks.

Ahsoka nods. Her expression is still stiff. "You know how Varus is."

"Okay, watch yourself. I'm not your father or anything, but try to be back by tomorrow if you can." Skywalker lets her know.

"Gotcha."

Daughter and Ahsoka leave. Once outside on the balcony, Daughter transforms into a gryphon, much to Ahsoka's surprise, and tells her to climb on.

The One returns his attention to Skywalker and walks around the table while the Killik clean it. Varus had knocked over and spilled practically everything.

Skywalker said, "My apologies for Varus, as well. He was a former student of mine, and self-control is one of his weak points… as well as making bad impressions."

"Sounds like him and Son will get along well then." The One smiles sarcastically. "Son is much the same way."

"Oh, most definitely…"

"Dinner will, naturally, resume once the cooks get another serving out, but I am sure we have much to talk about." The One takes a seat much closer to the end where Skywalker stands. Skywalker nods to the others and they sit down.

"That is something I am curious about… your cooks. Are they Killik as well?" Skywalker eyes the waiters.

"Yes. Does that bother you?"

"I must admit… it is… unexpected. My impression of them is bad and yet I have seen them here having a home, having lightsabers, wielding the Force, and acting as civilized waiters and cooks to a master. I've never seen the like."

The One nods. "Well, perhaps it is unusual. Many races with animal appearance are considered lesser than humanoid types. To explain, long ago when started my hermit lifestyle, I encountered the Killik and found Force users among them. They didn't know anything of it, and it was actually kind of cute for them to worship me on sight. I've showed them repeatedly I am not a diety, but they are… persistent."

"And you took them along with you and started a sect?"

"Sect… no. I simply showed them the nature of the Force, and they run themselves. I hold them to no obligation but their own laws. I merely teach them of the Force when they come to me. If you delve deeper into my home, you will find a number of Killik students who stay and study freely."

Skywalker nodded and delved into thought. "I have never seen an insectoid Jedi before…"

"Hmm…"

"That sounds like a thoughtful 'hmm'."

"You will find, young Jedi. That for all the Jedi's belief in their holiness, that they are just as flawed as their counterpart when put to the test." The One stated. "That happens, because they are both equally mortal."

Killik brought some food and Skywalker was suddenly unnerved by them getting so close to him as to put something in front of him. Squirt didn't care and squealed in delight. Koj took their presence cautiously, but otherwise didn't mind.

Once the Killik moved to a safer distance, Skywalker returned his attention to the One, who studied him closely. Skywalker realized he had reacted racistly on a subconcious level and blushed in embarassment.

They ate. Meanwhile, The One said, "So, tell me. Skywalker, where did you grow up?"

"Tatooine."

"I see…" He said thoughtfully.

One question after another he asked of Skywalker. Eventually it reached the point that he might as well have asked for his life story. He seemed to want to know every detail of the man's life.

When they were finished eating, Koj said, "You said you would help us with the Abomination if we ate and stayed for the night. Perhaps we could discuss details."

"Such as?"

"From what the Spirit has told me, our true fight with the Abomination is not necessarily the Abomination himself, but what created him. Because even if we defeat the Abomination, another one might appear from the imbalance that made him."

"That is true, yes."

"Perhaps you could explain further? What imbalance made the Abomination?"

"I doubt another Abomination will appear." Skywalker replied. "Not like there are a lot of millennia old freaks kept in a freezer just waiting to be let out."

"Did you know the Force transcends time and space and dimensions?" The One asked suddenly.

"Yes." Skywalker replied.

"In the same way, so can visions. Through the Force, we might be able to see what might have happened if something had occurred differently. In this way, I can tell you that in another timeline, the failure to cure the imbalance created many many Abominations. In fact… you were one of them." The One turns his eyes on Skywalker.

"Excuse me?"

"Imagine, if you will. If you had never met your student, Varus Wynn. If his dark master had not killed Darth Sidius in revenge, and Sidius continued to worm his way into your heart. Imagine, if he confused you and put you in as difficult a position in the middle of a battle between your love, your friendship, and your beliefs? Then, imagine, if you believed yourself betrayed by your friends, your beliefs, and killed your love?"

Skywalker studied him closely. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying, there are some realities where your darkness and hatred rivals this 'Abomination' of yours. Where, even though you succeed in creating a temporary balance, it is only after killing every last Jedi and Sith in the galaxy… including trying to kill your children."

"I would never!" Skywalker exclaimed.

The One took his outburst calmly. "You know you are capable of hatred, Skywalker. Remember the Ghorfa and your mother?"

"…"

"I do not say this all to anger you, but for you to understand. If you are to defeat your enemy, you must defeat the source. Or you will find yourself with a never ending number of them. That is your destiny, Skywalker."

"Destiny…" Skywalker calmed down and sighed. "I sometimes wish I wasn't born to that prophecy…"

The One smiled, "Yes… tell me. What do you believe your prophecy means?"

"That I will destroy the Sith."

The One frowned sharply. "And who told you that?"

"My teachers."

"Jedi, you mean."

"Of course." Skywalker looked to him like he was insane.

The One stared at him blankly for a long moment. "That is troubling… Young Jedi, you mean to say you are taking lessons on balance from people who are imbalanced to begin with?"

"Hey now…" Skywalker grew aggravated.

The One shook his head. "If you truly believe finding balance means killing the Sith and destroying the Dark Side, then nothing will happen. It is that very thinking that made the imbalance to begin with and created the Abomination. So long as you think this way, I cannot help you."

Koj stood up. "But you said!"

"I want to, but it is impossible." The One continued to stare at Skywalker. "The Force has tried to help the Jedi for so long, and it has gotten nowhere because they cannot comprehend the lesson. In the same way, even if I were to help you, it would get nowhere if you do not take my help properly or take my words and assistance in the context of twisted beliefs."

Skywalker grew increasingly aggravated. "I'm not twisted."

"No? Very well then. Let us put this to the test." The One leaned back. "I will give you two riddles. When you solve them, I will help you. I will tell you everything and assist you."

"Why add more requirements! We've eaten your dinner! I've obliged you with every detail of my life as honestly and openly as I can! We'll be staying the night! How much more do you need to be satisfied?!" Skywalker demanded.

The One continued to stare at him, and did not respond to his question. "The first riddle is this: What does the word 'balance' mean? Give me the real definition."

"…" Skywalker glared at him. "Do I look like an idiot?"

"You gave me a wrong answer before." The One responded coolly. "And lose your tone. There is no need for it. It's not even a riddle. It is as simple as opening a dictionary. The second riddle is as follows: I am a father of four children. The first, born of death. The second, born of darkness. The third, born of light. The fourth, born of life. Who are we?"

The One rose from his chair. "I thank you for your honoring me with this fine evening, and I bid you goodnight. Consider my riddles, and when you answer, I will tell you all that very hour."

With that said, he left the room.

Skywalker followed him leave with his eyes and growled softely.

He had great respect for the man, but he didn't appreciate being treated like an idiot. He wasn't a fool. He wasn't evil or a second-Abomination! And his teachers were not wrong and evil! Jedi may be fallible, but they devoted their lives to the greater good! Skywalker didn't appreciate how the One made the Order look like fools.

Koj looked between them. "Perhaps it is best that we sleep. Tempers have flared a lot today. It feels like ages ago, but it was only this morning that I fought Varus."

"By the Force, that was today?" Skywalker murmured. He rubbed his temples. "Today has been tumultuous…"

"It has been." Koj agreed.

"Hey, today is almost over! Not like anymore can happen!" Cahjinawl said hopefully.

Koj looked to her and wondered whether or not to remind her that even as they spoke, Varus and Son were trying to kill each other.


	75. Ep15 - Ancients Part 4

**Note: This was a difficult chapter to write. I hit a minor writer's block here for a while. I knew what I generally wanted for this episode, but down to the individual scenes was giving me blanks. First two scenes were easy... the last one was hard. I actually didn't intend for it to end the way it did. I planned on it ending on a different note with a different result, but once I got started on the last scene here it just kind of... flowed. It came out naturally. And as much as I want to step in and say "no, this is not how it is going to go! you are going to do what I say!" that would only damage the characters themselves because what we have here is me writing with the characters being true to the story. I'm not going to change a single scene just because I don't like it personally. I will edit a scene if it doesn't flow properly, but I will not completely scrap a scene and start over unless it is untrue to the characters.**

**Honestly, I don't know how the next chapter will go now. I really don't. The subtle change from what I wanted into what HAPPENS NOW has me thrown for a loop and scrambling to figure out how it has changed things. **

**But thats writing for ya! :D**

**I know people voted for Marek of the Rebellion, and I am working on it. I almost have the next chapter done on it, but with us inching our way closer and closer towards the end of potr, I couldn't help just finishing this chapter. I already had 2 of 3 scenes done anyway. Might as well knock the third one out really fast, you know?**

**Expect Marek of the Rebellion next.**

* * *

**Episode 15 - Ancients Part 4**

* * *

I step over a root and nearly stumble.

Wherever the insane old man sent us it's very dark, the ground is dry and red, the plants are vine-y and covered in thorns, and there is a tower in the distance. Or there was anyway. We can't see the tower anymore.

After Son and I spent a good hour beating the snot out of each other, I managed to get most of it out of my system and we called a temporary truce. My clothes are in rags and bloody and he looks fresh as a freakin' daisy.

I would have kicked his ass if I hadn't used most of my power already today…

"We're lost." Son says neutrally.

"You said this was a shortcut!"

"This is a shortcut! Look how fast we got lost."

"That's great." I snarl sarcastically and turn around and walk back the other way. "Let's go back."

"Back where?"

"Back where we weren't lost!"

"Where's that?" He asks innocently, but with a smirk so it's obvious he is just screwing with me.

I growl to myself. "Listen, high-collar-skirt-boy!"

"Don't call me boy. I'm ahead of you by at least nine hundred years and just as many IQ points."

"Then you should at least know where we are! This is your family's backyard!"

"I know where we are." He says casually.

"Then how can you say are we lost?!" I yell.

"Because I'm following you." He responds. He is way too casual. It's like this is just another day for him and he's just walking down the street.

He can't be serious…

"I've been following you!" I exclaim. "You're the dumbass who said he knew a shortcut! This doesn't look like a SHORTCUT to me!"

"Of course it is, look how fast we got lost."

And we are back to that! I yell to the skies in aggravation before turning on him. "Do you WANT me to kill you!?" I demand.

I ignite a spark of lightning in my palm, but it burns out just as fast. I'm running on empty. I nearly died fighting Koj this morning, then fought Son earlier with what I had left. The state of dress shows how that went. My jacket is long gone and my shirt is barely hanging on by one shoulder and I'm bloody and bruised and scratched up. Son doesn't have a single hair out of place (so to speak).

Son watches me closely, looks me up and down, and says, "Have you always had this short of a temper?"

Enough!

I ignite a lightning blade and swing it at him. I cut down a tree behind him as he leaps into the way. Immediately I fall to the ground gasping in pain and a coldness comes over me. I'm going through major withdrawal from how much I've used today. The tree falls to the ground with a thundering boom.

I look up to see a giant bat flying around. It lands on a branch nearby and shapeshifts into Son. He sighs. "Apologies, it does seem you are easier to anger than I thought. Now that you are too exhausted to do anything but glare at me the appeal is gone. Fun's over unfortunately." He points in the distance. "My tower is just beyond the pass that lies between those two mountains. There are guest rooms if you want sleep. We can head back to the temple tomorrow."

I let my anger go and breathe in and out slowly. I close my eyes and will my anger away. "Thank you."

"Be careful not to lose yourself to the beasts that have become feral. This land is dangerous. Anything without strength will lose themselves to the Dark Side here."

Wait…

I snap my attention back up to him as he transitions back into a giant bat. "You're not guiding me? Hey! HEY! GET BACK HERE! JACKASS!" I try to shoot a lightning bolt at his departing form but all I can manage is a weak spark between my fingers no stronger than static electricity before I fall to my knees shaking and sweating.

* * *

Ahsoka rode on the back of Daughter threw the air. Daughter had taken the form of a grand, glowing gryphon. The distant mountains to which they flew had a reddish tint to them and the thunderclouds never ceased.

It was a wasteland full of the Dark Side.

It was not a wasteland in the sense that it was a desert or was incapable of growing anything. On the contrary, it grew a vast landscape of trees and thorns and thick vines that trapped anyone who dared enter. It was a natural labyrinth.

_Brother and your friend were teleported into the midst of this forest. You can see the devastation from their battle to our left. Keep a sharp lookout for them._

"Gotcha!" Ahsoka yelled against the wind. She held on tight to the shapeshifter's mane.

She still wasn't over the fact that this person could be an animal and be ridden. It was… very unusual. As a beast, she half wanted to treat her like one, but the look in Daughter's gryphon eye spoke of great intelligence and gentle wisdom even as a beast, so the woman was still in there. No, 'still in there' was a way to consider it. The beast simply was Daughter in a different form. So she technically wasn't a beast.

Ahsoka looked out over the forest, but didn't see anything. The forest was massive and encompassed a number of mountains across this vast mountain range. In the horizon was a tower, but just here there were many square miles of forest to look through, and the trees were too thick to peer into easily.

"The trees are too thick! I can't see well!" Ahsoka yelled.

Daughter didn't respond, but waved her great bird head back and forth looking as well.

After a while, Daughter said through the Force, _There is something I am curious about._

"Yeah?"

_Are you and the Sith boy lovers?_

Ahsoka felt her face blush in embarrassment until she was a dark purple. Her skin was already reddish to begin with, so it made her look like her body was a giant bruise. She was a grown woman and yet felt like an uncertain child before such a question.

It was… a very sudden question. "W-why do you ask?" She found herself asking in return. Whether to bide time or see why the choice in subject, she didn't know.

_I just find it odd. While brother and I are not allowed to leave the planet, we are still somewhat aware of the galaxy in the same way Father is. We sense great animosity between the Sith and Jedi going back centuries, yet a Jedi woman and Sith man appear before us and the interaction was odd. You tried restraining him and he managed to pull out of the Dark Side trance to listen._

"Oh, that was just him. He is a strong person."

_Do not kid yourself. Brother is far stronger than what the Sith man can ever hope to be. His mind was captured, but with your touch his body reacted instinctively as someone who listened. That was your power over him, not him pulling himself out. Then, when my brother stepped over the line and cut you deeply it was not you that responded, but the Sith man. He responded as a lover would._

"Or as a good friend." Ahsoka argued. She was dating Varus, but why didn't Daughter at least consider other possibilities? Was it that obvious?

_A good friend would have responded, yes, but not take it like an insult to themselves just as much as you. The Sith man considered it an insult on a personal level, that is symbolic of a relationship. Not to mention Brother's choice in insult._

Ahsoka didn't answer. She tried to focus again on looking, but found her thoughts were full of questions.

Lovers was… a border she was unsure about. Lover implied something more. They were dating, but there were things that held them back. They fought a lot and if she was to be honest with herself… she was harsh on him. Earlier that day came to mind. She knew Varus was being honest, open, and casual when he says that her former master had used Dark Side lightning, but she didn't take it that way. The thought infuriated her.

Plo Koon couldn't have used lightning… the thought alone made her angry. It was an insult on everything her former master, her idol, her savior was.

Yet Varus didn't say it to insult the man nor did he try to make a big deal out of it. It was just a random factoid to him that might have deserved nothing more than an 'okay'.

Just another example of how they fought on a long list that was growing… Another thing she wished was never said, only to be added to the list of things she wish she did say.

Like how Varus could easily tease her and say 'I love you' or made her new nickame 'Love' just to remind her and tease her both, while she couldn't even get the first syllable out herself. Of course, Varus was just casual about it because that was how he did things. He had trouble taking things seriously and brushed everything off before it went too close to the heart, but he still found a way to express his heart in a way that he could do comfortably.

Ahsoka was the opposite. She couldn't just… be casual. Everything was a big deal. She was drowning. She thought it was rough before being in a relationship with him because she was uncertain where they stood, now the uncertainty was twice as bad.

She knew where he stood. He loved her, listened, and was pushing himself daily to be better in every aspect of his life. He had very simple goals, surpass Starkiller, surpass Nihilus, and make Ahsoka happy. They were goals he could work toward and so it seemed easy for him to push himself and work toward improving day by day. He also rarely started a fight himself, because to a degree, he didn't let the little things bother him.

But at the same time he had lines he stood by. He was scared of sex as a whole. Slavery had set it in his mind as an evil. He also didn't like being told how he was a Sith in an insulting context. It was touchy for him.

Varus was an easy person for her to read, but she didn't find herself that easy. She didn't know what she wanted… All she knew was that she was struggling to do her best with everything she had on her mind.

She did her best with students, but couldn't balance being a teacher with deep uncertainty in herself and so Skywalker took them. She did her best with Varus, but kept being angry about little things and wanting more and wanting less and wanting more again as her uncertainty dictated. She did her best to be a model Jedi, but she found this war they were involved in had so many factors that were personal to her that she struggled to look at it in an unbiased manner. She didn't just have attachment to everything, she was head deep… she was drowning.

If she was to be honest with herself, she didn't want to be a lover. She just wanted to stop fighting. She wanted to take a step back and be able to breather to focus on the war before sitting down with him and deciding on how serious their relationship would be once there was peace again.

It had been six months… this wasn't just a casual thing anymore. Things she had never truly considered in her life, like marriage or children, would soon become a real consideration.

But at the same time, just as her Jedi mind told her to step back and consider and use patient wisdom, there was a new side to her that had been growing since that incident where she decided to kiss him and ask him to be her boyfriend six months ago.

She didn't know what to think of this new side of her, but it burned like a simmering ember. Energy and heat filled her and she found herself just wanting, needing, desiring. Wanting him, to touch him, feel him touch her and hold her, and other times just to look at her. For him to let her by his side and not push her away. To make her laugh and cry and fight and bicker and FEEL! To just… stop thinking! Stop holding back! Stop holding herself to a code that she felt rejected by!

_You are conflicted._

"I am…" Ahsoka admitted. It frustrated her to the point of tears.

_I will not inquire further than. My apologies for upsetting you._

"No, no. It's fine." She wiped her frustrated tears. "It's a valid question."

She turned her eyes out over the forest and looked. "But… if you want a change in subject, I do have a question."

_I will try to have an answer._ Daughter chuckled in Ahsoka's mind.

"Is it possible to use the Light to make lightning?" Ahsoka asked. If it was possible, then that would be something she could explain away her doubts of Master Plo Koon with, but if it wasn't…

_No._

Ahsoka closed her eyes and felt struck. Varus was honest… he had no reason to lie or spit on Plo Koon's honor. If anything, Varus honored her former master more than any Jedi besides Skywalker and Kota.

_There is no power that exists in the Light._

Ahsoka opened her eyes and digested that statement. She stared blankly at Daughter's gryphon eye. "What?"

_There is no power in the Light. You cannot use lightning without the Dark Side._

"Impossible." Ahsoka said. "That makes no sense. You have power! You turned into a gryphon. You have no Darkness in you."

_You are correct in saying I have no amount of Dark Side in me, but I also have no power. My ability to become a gryphon was given to me by Father, not by the Force… You don't believe me._

Ahsoka admitted openly, "No. It makes no sense."

_Ahsoka, whether you believe or not… there exists no power in the Force without the Dark Side. The only power the Light has is to banish the Dark Side, and that is all. The Force is two sides. Light and Dark. The Light side allows one to be open to the Force and receive the Force's whispers and visions and wisdom and courage, but opening up yourself means losing power to influence the world around you._

"There is no limit in the Force…" Ahsoka argued.

_There isn't, but what you are suggesting amounts to nothing more than asking. Sometimes when you ask, young one, the Force may say 'no'. Not because it is your 'Will of the Force' that you fail, but because sometimes the Force just wants you to work it out for it yourself and become less lazy. It's a relationship, Ahsoka. It requires give and take on bot_h sides.

Ahsoka looked away. The last part struck a chord in her. A relationship was give and take… and as a Jedi she was supposed to give and give and give to the Force and depend completely on it. This was something that applied to her as a Force user… but as she realized… it also applied between her and Varus. She did ask of him to become a better person, but that was purely for his sake. There was nothing in their relationship that was purely about her. She gave, she loved, but she never asked for anything in return. She never had a selfish moment. He did give back to her, but it was up to him guessing from day to day what she wanted from him.

The idea of giving and being selfless as a Jedi was ingrained so far into her it carried over into every aspect of her life.

Daughter continued, _And if you empty yourself, then you just become an empty person. Give everything to the Force, and it will take everything from you until you are an empty husk. The Force is that overwhelming. Father keeps me from that fate, but were it not for him, I would also be a person devoid of expression and care for anything._

"Such darkness is what exists in the Dark Side." Ahsoka argued. "The Dark Side turns its acolytes into shadows of themselves, into monsters."

_True, but that is for a different reason. Just as the Light exists without power and only wisdom, so the Dark is the opposite. It is all power and no wisdom. Just as emptying yourself into the Force is dangerous, so is taking the Force into you and trapping it. Because the Force is so powerful it will consume you if you let it. But at the same time, only by having the Force inside you, can you have access to its power. Only by taming it, understanding it, training with it, strengthening your use of it, can you ever use it as a tool and have power. Ahsoka, the Force gives itself freely for us to use as part of this relationship I mentioned. Take nothing, take too much, both are dangerous._

Ahsoka pondered her words. As much as she wanted to argue with it… she found she couldn't. Daughter was one of the three most powerful Force users she had never met in her life. They were en par with Skywalker, and Skywalker seemed like he was a pupil himself at times, uncertain and trying to figure things out as he went along. Daughter knew. Son knew. The One knew. They had no need to be uncertain. They just knew. True, she might be able to debate with them, but it would be pointless to argue with straight facts and try as she might, Ahsoka found she couldn't refute a single fact presented.

"But…" Ahsoka tried. "I have power."

_And there is some Darkness in you. Young one, there is some Dark Side in all of you, even those of you that struggle the hardest to be rid of it. It is born of your selfish thoughts and desires, even those as simple as the desire to eat and be appetized by something that tastes good. You cannot be rid of it entirely and claim to be sane. I alone can claim to be fully rid of the Dark Side, despite my selfish thoughts at times, because my birth was unnatural. I was born of the Light, just as my brother was born of the Dark._

Daughter continued, _All powers require the Dark Side, because that is what the Dark Side is. Even your simplest of tricks, levitation, for instance, is of the Dark Side. It is a very small amount, but it is required. I believe your Master's know this to a degree, and so demand discipline so strongly at the same time as power you claim is of the Light. Listen, Ahsoka. If power truly existed in the Light, you would have no need to focus so hard on discipline and being selfless, because you would be selfless just as you are powerful by the very nature of the power and you would find yourself faultless and complete with wisdom, selflessness, power, and understanding of the Force's Will. But the very fact you require discipline in your training to balance out the training of yours proves it must have something to balance it against._

Ahsoka said nothing. Merely listened and thought deeply. She felt… it was different. So very different, but it also made sense. It made sense with what she knew, what she experienced, what she saw and felt in the Force. It sounded slightly flawed, but that could be amounted to just hearing about it just now and requiring study in the idea of balance.

Ahsoka wasn't mad or hurt or sad by the words, but found herself strangely calm. It… simply made sense. She reasoned with it in her mind, and found herself drawn toward it. It didn't necessarily have the heroic appeal of the Light, nor the seductiveness of the Dark, but it sounded like a simple truth that was ingrained into the very nature of the galaxy. Truth that wasn't evil or good, it simply was.

Ahsoka remembered Daughter's words._ It's a relationship, Ahsoka. It requires give and take on both sides._

They returned to watching the forest in looking for the two men, but after what seemed like hours, they found nothing. Ahsoka sighed, "The canopy is blocking me and I can't sense anyone here. Having two Dark Side users in a place smothered in the Dark Side is perfect camouflage, and that's not counting the dense trees."

_What are you suggesting?_

Ahsoka looked to the tower in the distance. "The boys are probably headed for the tower since it is the only landmark here. Let's try that."

_Very well._

They flew to the tower, and Daughter landed on the front steps. To Ahsoka's surprise, there were Killik here attending to the tower. She had half expected them to avoid the place since it was overwhelmingly Dark Side.

Daughter talked with them in their own way, since the Killik communicated with them through the Force, before turning to Ahsoka. "Brother returned not long ago and departed to his room for the evening, but Varus has not shown up. He is still in the forest."

"Then we should go back and look for him!" Ahsoka exclaimed worriedly.

Daughter nodded in agreement. She looked to the Killik and seemed to be enlisting their help. After a bit a number of them flew into the forest. "It will be faster if we split up. Will you be able to handle being exposed to the Dark Side for long?"

"I should be fine, I live on the Ravager."

Daughter nodded again. "I know of it, we have sensed it. The ship is full of the Dark Side, but that Dark Side is of a different nature and feeling then what you will experience here…" She stopped herself when she saw Ahsoka was resolute in helping. "Just be careful. Don't lose yourself to it. If Varus is as strong as you believe, he should be himself still, but will be confused."

* * *

I stand on the ground on my hands and knees. Sweat rolls down my face and drips onto the ground. This place is hot. The ground itself feels like a burning ember. The Dark Side is so thick here… So strong it's almost suffocating. Considering how used to it I am, the fact that even I feel suffocated by it, a non-Sith would lose themselves here.

I really am not acting like myself here either… I'm too angry too easily. Just being in Son's presence pushes my buttons in the same way Nihilus' does, only for different reasons. Son is like a black sun. His aura of the Dark Side is so strong it warms everyone around him just as the sun does, and pushes them to hatred and anger and resentment and all manner of negative feelings.

The air is stuffy and my skin becomes sticky. Every breathe comes out as a growl and I see eyes all around me watching, studying, waiting for me to expose myself.

Well, I'm not going to let them.

A shadow flies by and I hide as it passes. It's the fifth time now I've seen Son's little army scouring the forest. Voices and ghosts fill the forest as night looms and I continue my hike toward the tower.

The voices turn to laughter. Mocking laughter. Laughter in the distance. Twisted laughter.

Maris Brood leans casually against a tree and looks on me with red eyes. "Look how far the murderer has fallen."

I ignore her and press on. But like the usual hallucination she tends to be, she only appears again wherever I look. "Did you really think you could be rid of me?"

"Unless you are strong enough to survive having a hundred-ton tree slammed on your face… yeah." I remark as I walk by.

"My body may be destroyed, but what I represent to you will never be gone. I will stalk you, chase you, and watch and then when you are old and tired, I will do exactly what you created me to do. I will kill you and drag your screaming soul down into the Hell you deserve."

"You're a lot more talkative then I remember you being. Been eating any good books lately?"

"Ha-ha." She mocks. "The usual sarcasm and scathing remarks. Really, end the charade. You know you just use it to avoid facing reality; and just because you ignore it doesn't mean it will change. If anything, it will only become worse."

"I know what reality is, thank you."

I brush past her yet again but she reappears on a branch dangling her legs playfully. To my mild surprise, Ahsoka is joining her and has red eyes as well.

"You don't deserve my best friend." Maris tells me.

"So we fight, a lot. The Huggers say it is natural, especially with how different we are. Eventually it will be better. Besides, I seem to recall you and her having a little spat too, the last time you two met. I at least haven't been trying to kill her the last few years!"

"Ow." The ghost of my past flinches. "That hurts. That really does. Tell you what, let's see how YOU like it!"

Ahsoka disappears and reappears in front of me with a red lightsaber. She is wearing the same armor suit as Starkiller did in my visions long ago… the armor Nihilus made for me to wear when I would ascend. Unlike my visions-self version, it's not in tattered rags around her and she doesn't have metal sticking out of her flesh.

The black tight under-armor, black plates, and torn short-skirt actually looks pretty good on her. Outside of the claws.

Ahsoka tries to kill me but I just walk through the mist and it dissipates. "I'm not up for your games, today."

"You may not be! But I am!" Maris reappears in my path, this time with Plo Koon standing behind her. "It's not every day your own self-doubts and guilt is able to influence the world around you so naturally!"

"You're just a figment of my imaginations in the mirror and a guilt-ridden nightmare the rest of the time; regardless of what the Dark Side energy here may be doing. If anything, you shouldn't feel so self-pitying. Your brand is suffering is no worse than what I put three dozen other Padawans through, including Ahsoka."

"Ah! And that makes her special!" Maris's eyes widen as if a lightbulb went off in her head. Only… I don't see why. She is from me and I already knew that… Damn, I must really be sarcastic if my own visions are doing it to me.

The Plo Koon image falls to his hands and knees and raises a hand covered in blood for me to see. "What makes you think she can ever forgive you for this?" I hear Ahsoka's scream and a small version of her runs into my vision and tries to help her dying master.

Something snaps in me and I stare at the dying Jedi Master and little Ahsoka. The blood just keeps pouring and pouring from his chest and gut like a waterfall until it floods the ground around us, yet it doesn't stop. It just keeps flowing. Little Ahsoka tries to stem the flow with her bare hands, but is only covered in his blood as well until she is practically bathing in it.

His words hit me square in the heart. Despite all the words, assurances, embraces, and understanding Ahsoka and I have had… this image is perhaps my greatest fear. To see Ahsoka covered in blood. To know I did this. I feel guilty for killing, sure, but none of them like Plo Koon. His death is the first I would take off my list if there was ever anything I could take back. Sure, Ahsoka and I would have less connection, but it wouldn't change too much. We would still both end up being Tree-Hugger's Padawan…

No… No we wouldn't.

She became Tree-Hugger's Padawan because of me. Otherwise she would still be Plo Koon's apprentice. The only reason we know each other is because of me.

Suddenly nauseous and terrified of my own realizations, I turn away from the image, but find my feet are stuck like glue. Hands reach out of the blood pool around me and grab my ankles. I pull back, but more and more voices grab my attention and I look up to see myself surrounded in Padawans. The ones I had left alive with survivor's guilt on purpose. The same guilt that turned me into an avenger, and Koj.

Maris Brood and a Wookie with a spear-lightsaber stand front and foremost among them.

"Be gone!" I yell. "Why can't you just leave me alone!"

"You know why…" Maris says.

"Because despite everything…" Plo Koon says.

"You haven't left your dark path…" The Wookie one says.

"You haven't moved on…"

"Shaddup! Yes I am! Ahsoka and Tree-Hugger are showing me how! I… I managed to use what they taught me to get Koj out of the same path I was on! I'm actively working against it!" I struggle against the bloody hands and manage to rip one of my ankles out. But then as I put my foot back down, more appear.

"Have you?" Ahsoka asks.

"You still have the death of Nihilus still first on your mind." The Wookie argues.

"He has more priority than my best friend." Maris argues.

"No!" I yell.

"Really? If she was priority, you would be more concerned with making her happy and fixing the problems between you and making her satisfied instead of thinking only of yourself! You refuse a physical relationship because it disgusts you! You corrupt her and twist her emotionally and leave her confused and putty in your hands."

"I do not!" I deny. "I love Ahsoka, and we did discuss a sexual relationship, but I shut it all down immediately. It's not that I don't love her, or have urges, but I hate it. I despise it. Every time I think about it or feel aroused I just remember being raped and…" I chuckle darkly. "Trust me, that's a mood killer."

"And you think shutting down the conversation before even hearing her opinion helps?" Maris argues. "She may want to wait till you are married or not wait and help you find it isn't all bad…"

"You say you care about others, but your actions show you only care about yourself." One of my visions say.

"You still want Nihilus dead at the cost of others."

"I do not!" I yell.

"Yet you have Nihilus on the Ravager." Plo Koon argues.

I stop as perception hits me. I knew that, but now that I am not being sarcastic and avoiding things, my own visions are hitting me where it hurts most. And like good little bastards of a vision they smell blood in the water and press in all around me.

"Nihilus on the Ravager…"

"Where he can break loose at any time…"

"Where everyone you care about lives…"

"Do they know?"

"Did the Miraluka know their GREATEST enemy is sitting in a dark dark room…"

"Stop it!" I yell.

"On their flag ship?"

"Did the Miraluka know their GREATEST enemy was sitting in a dark dark room…"

"On their new home world for six months?"

"Do your loved ones know…"

"How close to death and evil…"

"They truly are?"

"STOP IT!" I yell furiously. I put my hands against my ears to block out the voices, but their voices penetrate my hands.

"And all so that you can keep tabs on him…"

"Keep him in arms reach…"

"Make yourself feel satisfied…"

"That for once, you are his equal."

"His greater."

"His warden."

"His precious little PUPPET!"

I yell furiously with tears running down my face as it all hits me at once. They're right. They're right…

"ALRIGHT! Yes! Nihilus is on the Ravager! I have him there as insurance and to know where he is and to know he isn't off somewhere consuming entire worlds, yes! But also as a promise! For all of his evil, there is one thing you can always trust in, and that's honesty. The freakin' bastard is OBSESSED with honesty, and so I know down to my toes that he will not break his promise. In return for me not broadcasting his location across the galaxy for every enemy of his to come and get him, he won't touch my crew! Because guess what! I can't do anything about it! The guy is a phantom! A ghost! I couldn't hurt him if I tried! I have NOTHING that can truly hurt him beyond words! Now… did it feel good knowing that? Yes! It felt satisfying to have him by the leg after a lifetime of slavery… it felt AWESOME! But that is NOT why I keep him there! I keep him there because just as much as I have him by the leg, he has me by the neck!"

I pant and huff in exasperated emotion and stare down my ghosts. They finally are silent and gaze at my blankly. Then one by one they disappear until only Maris Brood and Ahsoka are left.

"Nihilus is on the what?" Ahsoka asks weakly. She stares at me in open horror and pain and betrayal.

I sigh in aggravation. "Enough! I've had enough of you! Just stop already!" The vision flinches with each word.

"Ugh… Varus." Maris says worriedly.

"What!?"

"That's not a vision. That one's real."


	76. Ep14 - Ancients Part 5

**Note: I am not happy. Nope. Not at all. I feel the first half of this entire chapter is unnecessary. Yes, couples fight frequently, and Varus/Ahsoka fight all the time. (its part of being naturally so different deep down.) But I make sure that the fights are not in the story, most of them, because it would just become a million extra unnecessary words to write. However, as is my policy, I'm just the journalist. I'm the guy who watches events, writes them down, and publishes them. I don't tell Varus or Ahsoka what to say. I may be writing from my head, but I have actual people in my head talking on their own and I just let them.**

**So, in the last chapter, when I stuck them in the forest, they decided on their own what they would do.**

**And for this chapter, they are telling me what they will do, and it was not a direction I originally intended. It also feels useless and like filler. I know people like drama/fluff/romance/emotionally-intense moments that pull at your heartstrings, but I am trying to at least reasonably keep it confined to the moments they have that are within the main plot.**

**I also make sure to focus the story on Varus. He is, after all, the main character. So when stuff happens to him, it is automatically more important than stuff that happens to other people unless the other scenes have a direct impact on the main plot... unfortunately. Sometimes I just want to not have a Varus scene because its not as important or epic as another scene, but then if i dont use a Varus scene people will be confused as if he went from Point A to Point G without going through the rest of the alphabet.**

**so yeah... Not happy, but I'm the hostage here forced to write what the characters want me to write. Ahsoka wants to have something to say, and is holding my hands behind my back making sure she gets her two-cents out.**

**Next chapter we can expect a tiny-bit of fluff and a huge focus on finally revealing the Abomination's name in that chapter. Yes, he has a name. Time it was revealed as well as his origin story and who he really is.**

**After which comes the final arc to this fiction. (okay, so a small arc and then a MASSIVE one.)**

* * *

**I will not have a vote this time. I will be wrapping up this episode before I let myself think of doing a chapter in other stories.**

* * *

**Episode 14 - Ancients Part 5**

* * *

I have had a lot of moments in my life.

Moments where I thought my life was going crazy, that I was in over my head, that I had maybe gone a bit far, that somewhere along the path of my life that I had made a mistake in my life-long dream of killing Nihilus. Moments where I was scared, terrified, or thought I was going to die. The third scariest moment of my life was seeing Nihilus holding my father's skull as a child. The second scariest was when I saw Nihilus in his full power on Coruscant about to wipe out the Jedi, my new friends and family, and beckoned to me; thereby revealing to all who I was.

Neither of those moments compare to this.

"What do you mean Nihilus is on the Ravager?!" Ahsoka yelled angrily. Her expression was one of shock, hurt, and betrayel. She blamed him, she couldn't believe what she had heard. She stepped forward to him, "What is that mass murdering psychopath doing on the Ravager!"

"Ahsoka. Wait, I can explain!" I put my hands up defensively and try to step back, but my feet are entangled in vines. I almost stumble.

"No! NO! Don't you dare! I want answers!"

"And I can give them!"

"I don't want to hear it!" Her eyes flash red briefly and she clenches her knuckles tightly.

Uh-oh.

And she hits me in the gut with a Force-powered punch that lifts me off the ground and into a tree behind me. I fall to the ground and smack my face on the roots. Pain shoots from my stomach and mouth. Think I broke a tooth, and as injured as I already was, she broke something. I cough up blood.

Damn, I am really having a bad day. I don't have the power to strengthen myself at all, neither to resist attacks nor give them. I'm vulnerable and weak as I am right now.

I stumble to my feet but I already hear Ahsoka's feet crunching on the wood in front of me. "How could you…" Ahsoka seethes. "How could you BETRAY us like this!?"

Let's add my heart to the list of things feeling broken now. Wish I could stop and reflect on how distraught I am, but I'm too busy trying not to die. I think this time my mistake went a step too far.

How could I do it…

How can I make it up to them?

Just as I couldn't keep Nihilus from anything he wants…

I can't make it up to them.

I roll out of the way just as Ahsoka's lightsaber stabs down into the ground where I was, and I roll onto my feet. I continue to stumble backwards. She grits her teeth angrily at me and glares angrily. And there it is. All of the anger, all of the hatred, the pain, the hurt, she has felt in years and held back is in her eyes. There's too much in her eyes for it to just be about this. Her eyes are red now.

She steps down from the roots to keep pace with me. "I don't know why I ever loved you. You. The apprentice to Death itself, the apprentice to the monster that wanted nothing better than to kill half the galaxy. I must have been STUPID to think I could help the man who killed Master Plo. To think I could actually love him despite it!"

It's the Dark Side. This place. Its twisting her thoughts and emotions. Its literally feeding on them, pulling them out. Its drawing out everything negative she has felt in a long time with me as catalyst.

I know she forgave me for it, but this place is drawing EVERYTHING out!

"Ahsoka, stop. It's the Dark Side!"

"YOU'RE THE DARK SIDE!" Ahsoka throws her lightsaber at me, and I duck out of the way and run into the trees. I ignite my lightsabers to fend off any attacks she may throw at me. I don't want to do is fight her. I don't want to hurt her.

Last thing I want either is for her to wake up from this nightmare with my blood on her hands. "Ahsoka!" I yell into the trees. "This place is full of the Dark Side! I can resist it! I am used to it! You aren't! It's using your hurt and pain to suck you in deeper!"

I hear rustling around me, but don't see anything.

Damn. Ahsoka's species is a natural stealth predator and she is skilled at invisibility techniques…

Thanks to exhaustion, my feet stumble again and I fall to the ground in a small clearing. My lightsabers clatter across the ground and turn off.

I also hear lightsabers igniting.

I turn around and kick upwards just as Ahsoka jumps down at me to stab me. I kick her square in the chest and knock her away. Her lightsabers fly from her grip into the trees. I turn back around and try to climb to my feet, but she has already crawled across and grabs my ankle.

She yanks me down and we wrestle. I'm more experienced, and normally faster and stronger, but as we all know, this just isn't my day.

She pins down one arm, and starts to twist it painfully. I see the tower in the distance.

We just need to get there. Can't trust Son for anything, but hopefully he has a room I can lock her in until she calms down and exhausts herself.

"Sorry, Love." I shove my palm into her chest. She flinches, expecting pain, and I release a wave of Force energy to knock her away.

Only… nothing happens. A wave of coldness overcomes me like ice water and somewhere in the universe I hear an engine failing to start. My Force addiction has reached the point I can't do even the smallest things.

…

She looks at me, then where my hand is located on her chest.

"Shit." Oh yeah, I'm screwed.

"So that's how you want it…" She suddenly purrs.

Ahsoka purring… that's new. Kinda like it.

"No, that's not-!" She kisses me. With very sharp teeth.

A part of me, the feral masculine part I've been suppressing, is fascinated and likes what I'm feeling in my palm and her weight on me. We're sweating, its hot, she's a lot sexier than she gives herself credit for, she's kissing me, and a part of me is turned on by the hint of pain from her sharp teeth biting me; and she is very much in a position to take advantage of the mood she is suddenly in. From the look in her red eyes, she is very interested.

The rest of me is just screaming 'WE ARE GOING TO **_DIE_** HERE!'

I growl with the effort to keep my head on straight and the rational side wins out. Scarily enough, she isn't thinking rationally and is too busy suddenly trying to tear my shirt the rest of the way off. Not gently either, she suddenly has claws cutting me and bites my shoulder as hard as she can.

"Aaggh!" I yell in pain. She has VERY sharp teeth and a strong jaw.

I pin her head and hands to the side, bend and reach up with my legs to grab her head, and throw her down off me. She grabs my leg with the objective to climb back ontop me, whether that's to kill or rape me I can't say anymore. I don't think she knows either. She is just a ball of suppressed emotions centered around me.

I spin across the ground while simultaneously kicking her in the face with the heel of my boot.

I manage to jump back to my feet and run backwards into a tree before falling down on my butt again. My heart beats a million miles per hour and I'm sweating and breathing like I've run a continental marathon. I'm covered in claw marks, she managed to tear my shirt and jacket the rest of the way off, and I have deep bite marks on my shoulder. I grimace in pain as I touch it.

Ahsoka doesn't move.

I give myself a moment to catch my breath before slowly crawling over and peeling one of her eyelids open. Her eyes aren't Sith red and yellow anymore. She's knocked out cold. Her pulse is also okay, albeit beating like a train.

An hour later I exit the tree line carrying her in my arms. Some gryphon lands next to me and turns into Daughter. She asks what happened.

"Don't want to talk about it." I ignore her and enter the tower.

"Here, put her on the table." Daughter motions to a table with dishes on it, but no food. She sweeps it all onto the floor and I lay Ahsoka on it. Daughter puts her hand over her. "The Dark Side is heavy on her. I told her she shouldn't have gone out alone… But she was convinced she could manage."

"She did, for a while. But something caught her off guard." I say neutrally. I can't get my eyes off her. I'm scared now. Scared of finding what she will do, say, and remember when she does wake up.

Normally I would be running off at the mouth or taking action of some kind, but I'm too scared to move.

"Here." Daughter pulls out a chair and my body decides to collapse on its own. "You look exhausted."

I can only nod. A Fillik brings me a glass of water and I chug it down in a few gulps.

"You are also thirsty." Daughter observes. She has the insect bring more until I stop.

"I forget the last time I had anything to eat or drink… and I feel like I've gone days without sleep." I say between glasses. Three glasses now and I think I've had enough for the moment. "I've overused my power excessively…"

"You are injured!" She realizes. She orders a Killik. "Go get brother!"

"No! I don't want him here!" I protest. "Not near me, and sure as hell not near her!"

"Varus." She puts a hand on me in a comforting gesture. "Do not fear. I can keep him from affecting her, and you if you let me."

I sigh wearingly. I didn't notice at first, but with her being here, I don't feel any of the Dark Side at all.

A few minutes later Son walks down looking like he had been rudely woken from a nap. He yawns. "What is it, sister? Oh." He looks at me. "You made it."

I growl, but otherwise don't move. Best manners, Varus. Don't kill him.

"May you heal them? It appears your scuffle has hurt Varus far more than Father thought it would." Daughter asks.

Son looks at me and smirks knowingly. "That was not me. It seems the two of them had a scuffle of their own."

"The details don't matter. Please."

He looks at her pleading, puppy-dog expression and sighs deeply. He rubs his face. "Fine." She smiles widely at his agreement. "You know I can't resist you…"

"Wait, HIM heal US!? What kind of bullshit is this?" I demand.

Son ignores me and walks over to Ahsoka. He puts a hand over her. "A cracked rib, and heavy bruising. Otherwise she is fine. I'll take care of the rib, but the bruising is her own problem. I can't be bothered."

"Hey!" I storm up and walk up to him. "Don't you DARE touch her!"

Daughter, however, gets in my way and stops me. "Let him. He is power. Healing is also a power."

"But-" I barely have time to argue before I see his hands shimmering above Ahsoka's chest. After a moment, her breathing becomes visibly easier. Before it was slightly hitched and sounded pained.

He… he actually healed her.

"Now for you." He reaches out to me, but I flinch and coil away from his hand. "I'm not biting, not right now. So stop being a baby." He grabs me by the hair, pulls me back to him, and puts a hand on my chest.

…

Yeah, not awkward at all.

He heals the cuts on my chest and moves to my shoulder. "Hm…" He hums. "This is deep. I can heal it, but there will be an imprint of the teeth marks. The flesh is gone entirely and I'm not in the re-growing limbs business."

I don't have time to argue before the pain is gone and he lets me go. I glare at him but wipe away the blood anyway to find the wound itself is gone.

On my shoulder is a scar like an animal had bitten me.

"Now, what do you say?" He asks expectantly.

"Thank you… For healing her."

"And you?"

"You're the reason I'm here to begin with, so you can kiss my ass."

He smirks and chuckles. "Fair enough." He nods to Daughter. "Good night, Sister." He tells the Killiks to show us to our rooms and he goes back up the stairs yawning again.

However, I turn back to Ahsoka and sit down.

"What are you doing?" Daughter asks.

"Staying here."

She shakes her head. "I'm sure she would appreciate it, but what you both need right now is sleep. You look like death rolled out of bed, and it is best that she awakens in a more fitting place than a dining room table like some kind of sacrifice."

A Killik tugs at my arm gently, and I start to snap it back, but then… I really am tired. Feels like I haven't slept in days.

"Alright… but I want to know the moment she is awake."

* * *

Ahsoka woke up to the sound of herself screaming.

She didn't need time to think, time to consider or reflect or ask what had happened or where she was. She knew. She had been drunk one time in her life, thanks to Fly-boy and her trying to figure out what her limit was. It was in a controlled fashion and while she was sure she didn't do anything bad, she also didn't remember clearly.

This was like being drunk and waking up with full memory of every detail.

"By the Force!" She yelled, nearly to the point of crying.

She needed to move. She needed to leave. She needed to be anywhere but here!

* * *

I wake up to the sound of scurrying insects and lots of clicking feet. That's an annoying sound…

One of them opens the door to where I was sleeping.

_The female Jedi has awakened and is missing._

I jump up and throw some clothes on. I grab my lightsabers and head out.

The search goes from the top of the tower to the bottom. Killik are at every exit and entrance and none reporting seeing her.

Sucks that she is good at stealth.

"She has not left the tower. I can sense her." Son reports, after Daughter had to practically force him to help.

"Then where is she?" I ask.

"Below."

"What's below the tower?"

"Magma."

Oh, that's lovely.

He points me to a hall and I run down the stairs. I come across steam as I run and turn into… a giant shallow lake.

"This does not look like magma." I reflect.

I enter the room and look around. The room is shaded blue by crystals, and there are steps down into the water. I jump back in surprise as the water is very hot. Almost burning. I can't see far into the mist.

"Ahsoka?" I call. Immediately there is splashing in the distance and then nothing. Okay, she's down here.

I step down into the hot lake and look around. My eyes catch onto something beneath me, and I look down into the water.

The water itself is crystal clear, and I am standing on glass or something similar. Below us, hundreds of meters down, is a pool of flowing magma and lava waterfalls.

"Okay, that is cool." I acknowledge. "Ahsoka, you down here?"

Nothing.

I sigh and summon up what little power I've recovered in the thirty minutes of sleep I've had and blow away the mist.

The mist from the hot water starts to fill the room again. I glance around quickly. I don't see Ahsoka, but there is something unusual in one spot worth investigating.

I head towards it. All of the water in this area is crystal clear, almost invisible, except in one location. In one spot, it looks distorted. Ahsoka is camouflaged in the water.

I walk up to Ahsoka. I stand here, just standing, and wait for a response of some kind. Will she yell at me? Say 'hi'? Be upset. I don't know what to make of this.

She continues to be invisible and I just watch her. She has her back to the side of the lake-bath and from what I can tell, even while she is invisible, that she is wearing a nightgown Daughter loaned her. It's now soaked.

She doesn't move, but from how still she is, I begin to notice faint ripples around her. She's shaking. She isn't even looking at me. I hear the faint sound of her sniffing. So she's crying as well.

Fear and horror and pain pour off of her to the point that she is involuntarily making herself invisible just to hide from everything.

Without a word, I stoop down next to her and hold her. The water is warm. She reacts to my presence and cries in my chest until she passes out and her body becomes visible again.

At some point a Killik comes down to look, and I wave it off. I found her.

Between the warmth of the water and exhaustion, I fall into a light sleep until I feel Ahsoka stirring.

"Varus?"

"Hm."

"I'm-"

"If you say you're sorry, I'm gonna hit you." I rebuke her without any bite.

"Did I hurt you?…"

"Love, you were drunk on the Dark Side. You were practically high. It would be stupid for me to think anything you said or did was what you actually wanted. You're strong, the sheer fact that you were able to be yourself up until you found me and got shocked like that was proof of it. I'm used to the Dark Side and was struggling out there too."

"Did I hurt you?" She asks more firmly and increasingly concerned and afraid.

I consider evading the question, but sigh and pull back on my shoulder to reveal her bite mark. "Yeah, might have bitten down into bone. Will need a checkup later."

She traces the bite mark with a finger while I continue explaining, "I also broke one of your ribs and gave you that black eye."

"How is it healed?"

"Son took care of it. Seems he has a soft spot for his sister. Not sure why she didn't take care of it herself, but… whatever."

We fall into silence for a moment before she says, "Varus, I meant everything… I wouldn't have said the things I did if they were not in me."

I roll my eyes. "So you have thoughts, big deal. Who doesn't?"

"Yeah, but I'm filled with doubts and unknowns… I have trouble keeping up with myself, and us, as it is. We're so complicated it makes my head spin. Feels like I am going crazy half the time…"

I chuckle. "Ahsoka, spend a day in my head and you WILL go crazy."

"Not like that… I don't hate you for what you have done, your past or anything. I don't blame you anymore since you have turned away from it, but I also can't forget. I get doubts sometimes…"

"…"

"Whether being with you is wise…"

I also have doubts on whether or not life is worth living. I'm not suicidal, but I also know that without the people in my life, I wouldn't have any reason to care.

"What would Plo Koon say…"

"He'd think you went off and lost your mind. Falling in love with the very Sith that killed him." I admit.

"Of all the times to finally say it outloud... it had to be yesterday." She groans.

Yeah... that was the first time she actually said she loved me despite visibly trying. that sucks.

"But I would also find it a challenge to accept. It may sound like some kind of twisted redemption story, but then that's kind of what it is for me. I'm not normal, Ahsoka. Not by a long shot. A normal person can be reached by normal means, but if you want to get to a person as twisted deep down as I am, you need to do it on my way. You need to speak my language. My redemption needs to be just as twisted as I am, but in reverse, so that it takes the twist out… And that sounds a lot more stupid than I thought it would be."

"I understand what you mean though."

"See? The fact you understood that bullshit is the scary part. I don't understand it and I'm the one who said it."

"It means that-"

"I actually don't care to know what I said when translated properly. Probably as confusing as it sounds…" I complain.

"But how is it a challenge to you?" She asks. She sounds better, more casual. Still emotionally exhausted but not about to break down on me.

I sigh and rub my face. "How do I put this… I just… feel challenged to change. Before it was about becoming a better person and doing whatever nonsense you and Tree-Hugger wanted me to do."

"That wasn't nonsense!" She swats my arm playfully.

"Then there was becoming the kind of person that can take care of Squirt and Koj. Then there was adapting to have responsibility not just for them, but for an entire people."

"I remember. The last six months were rough for you. You threw a lot of tantrums."

"Those weren't tantrums… I just hate dancing." I pout.

"You kept disappearing every time you were required to attend a ceremony. You never danced."

"Gee… and you wonder why?" I say sarcastically. She giggles slightly, but I continue. "I hate dancing. It's a sissy sport-thing, it's stupid, and-"

"You have no idea how." she interrupts.

I glare down at her while she smiles knowingly. "Okay… so it's embarrassing. I'd look like a buffoon. I would rather look crazy on my own terms than look like a complete and utter buffoon on theirs. But that's not the only reason. It's too… personal. It's too private. Um…"

"Intimate?" She asks.

"Yeah, that. It's not the kind of thing I would do in public even at gunpoint. But I would with you."

She lifts herself off my chest, looks me square in the face with an unreadable expression, and asks, "Really?"

I nod. "Like I said, I feel challenged. I want you to be happy, but I have no idea how. I have never had an example of it. I'm just going by what I'm told. Cyborg-Hugger tells me that I should push myself to be willing to do things that are private and embarrassing with you at times, so… I am. With the situation with us and Plo Koon, yeah, its twisted, but I feel challenged to overcome that. To prove that I can be the kind of person you can be proud to be with, and won't fill you with doubts."

She kisses me and it catches me off guard. "Ahsoka? Wha-"

"Shut up."

Shutting up.

* * *

Anakin sighed and shoved away another scroll.

Research was long and tedious, and not something he liked. What he liked was thinking, figuring things out, being logical. Anakin figured that mental ability came down to three factors: memory, observation, and logic. Naturally there were others, but he figured those were the primary ones on his own. He liked to be logical and observant, and he did try to have a good memory, but none of it included research.

Research was about reading, not about figuring it out on his own…

Of course he had to put together what he read, but it was still hours and hours and hours just pouring through documents and stuff hoping for a word to pop out at him.

"You appear to be having trouble." A voice said.

Anakin looked up from the books and scrolls on the desk to see Koj enter the room. Koj's steps were punctuated by the gentle tapping of the staff he used.

They had presented the staff of the Eternal Hand to The One, but Koj used a staff of his own. He had become accustomed to it. It also gave him something to do with his hand when he wasn't otherwise needing it.

"Not trouble, just finding it repetitive." Anakin replied. "How are the girls?"

"Cahjinawl is well. She enjoyed exploring and running around until she grew tired. Ashley Marr took her to bed. Ashley Marr is also well. Unhappy with me, and will be unhappy for some time, but wants to help repair… how you say… 'bridges'? With my daughter?"

"That's good."

Koj placed his staff on the table, pulled out the chair opposite the Jedi Master, and sat down. He had odd moments of pausing, then straining to use his one arm, as though he was unaccustomed to having lost an arm. "As much as I want this day to end, I also feel this final task is of great importance. I thought you could use the assistance."

"Thank you. You lose your good arm?" Anakin asked.

"I did have a preference for the arm I lost."

Koj looked over the scrolls and books scattering the table. "Have you found the answer to his riddles?"

"The first riddle was easy, if not a bit insulting. Balance's definition is:" Anakin pulled out his notes. "Keep or put something in a steady position so that it does not fall."

"That doesn't sound right." Koj reflected.

"What?"

"You say 'put' or 'keep', as in action. But your destiny is to create something, to create balance."

"And? You can produce action."

Koj scrunched his brow in thought. His dual-iris eyes squinted. "That doesn't feel right. Produce action? Let me see." He reached out and Anakin handed him the book.

"You can easily produce action. Just by sitting here, you are producing 'sitting'."

"Perhaps, but produce action towards what result? Action is about producing a result."

"Like the definition says: so it does not fall."

"Hmm…" Koj hummed. "Still, to say 'produce an action' can easily become an action to produce an action to produce an action… and so on endlessly. Surely there must be a final thing to be produced in order to achieve the result. Not just endlessly producing actions to produce more actions to produce the final thing."

"What?"

"It makes sense, but the One was hinting at something. That the Jedi are imbalanced and taught you that way. Tell me, does your interpretation of the definition come from the Jedi or from reality? Here." Koj tapped the book. "Here it says: balance is an even distribution of weight to remain steady. A condition in which different elements are equal. That makes more sense."

"How can that make more sense?"

"It would make more sense for you to produce a condition or 'distribution of weight', more than action."

Anakin grew aggravated and stood up to pace. "I know what you are implying, and I'm not buying it!"

"Jedi…" Koj closed the book and stood. He grabbed his staff and walked around the table to him. "Even with the definitions, you choose the one that fits what you want. One where you can continue to say that balance is achieved by destroying the enemy utterly."

"No!" Anakin denied. "I looked and-"

"Picked the one influenced to you by Jedi." Koj finished patiently. "If you took your definition to him, he wouldn't have accepted it because it didn't fit with what he wanted."

"So you want me to just go with what he wants?! To throw away everything I have been taught and believe?"

"Depends on what that is."

"That Sith are evil and the Dark Side is evil!" Anakin yelled. "The Dark Side is evil because it makes us do things! It makes us evil!" He pointed in Koj's face. "You know this better than any! Not because of what you did, yourself, but as to what I did! I was overcome in grief and butchered a tribe of your people! They may have had it coming, they may have been ritualistic sacrificing pagans, but I did it, not out of understanding or faith in what was good, but outright HATRED!"

"You make it sound as though only those of the Dark Side are capable of evil."

"No, but we all have the Dark Side in us, and it must be contained! I have it in me! I have to keep it under lock and keep constantly! I have a monster in my heart that was born that day."

"So everyone must be holy and upright… and perfect?"

"No…" Anakin deflated a bit. "Of course not. People should be able to be themselves. Not uniform."

"So being 'themselves' is part evil?"

"No. It's not black or white. Life is grey, Koj."

Koj stared at him a long moment.

"What?" Anakin asked.

"You know what happens if you mix the Light and Dark?"

Anakin felt his own words come back to bite him and he deflated. His aggravation went away in realization. "Grey. Balance. Black and white make grey… Light and Dark makes grey."

He really was influenced by the Jedi more than he thought. He was a Jedi, after all, and he believed in it. But The One was of a different nature, a different kind of Force. If they wanted The One to help, they needed to at least play it on his terms.

"Life is grey… balanced… both Light and Dark. Freedom and chaos balanced with order and law." Anakin sighed.

Koj nodded. "Sounds like what he would want to hear at the very least. What of the second riddle?"

Anakin said, "Much harder… You have a man with four sons born of different things, none of which are woman, and I need five names."

Koj nodded.

"Now, the clue is these things: A man with four children. One born of death, Dark, Light, and life. All opposites in their own way. Death vs life. Light vs Dark. Light and Dark both playing a role in life and considered to be an afterlife of their own ways, so death as well as life. All four are linked."

Koj nodded.

Anakin continued to explain, "Now, I thought at first it was some form of cloning with the Force. But cloning does not exactly have a father or mother. A father or mother comes from having a specific role in every birth, whether by seed or egg. Cloning does have both involved, but it's too cold and callous to be the same."

Koj nodded again. He thought to himself as Anakin continued, "So perhaps it's a natural birth… which means we need three ingredients. Seed, egg… and a Force nature of some kind. So you got a woman pregnant and a Force-sensitive influences the process."

Koj nodded.

"Now, I do have a few people in mind. The Father of all four children would need to be very powerful in the Force. I've looked through the paper records and have found no people born with the Force being an influence on their birth. Not in his records, which means he assumes I would know about it already. With there being four of them in such a rare sequence, it cannot be a coincidence and would be something you would think you would hear about in a Jedi society. Not many fathers have four children, and far less use the Force to influence it in any way. So it should have stood out."

"Should have?"

"Yeah, found nothing. No one mentioned here or that I remember born with the influence of the Force itself, except!" Anakin emphasized. "Except! Three people, but all are different and don't fit."

"Say them anyway."

"First was Nihilus. A man at one point, then reborn into a Force presence by consuming the life of millions on billions of people to keep his spirit intact in some way when he was caught in a planetary explosion."

"A man born of death or life." Koj acknowledged.

"Perhaps, but lacks a father. He killed his own father to not be kept out of the Order, and his lack of guilt kept them from noticing. So his father couldn't have had three others like him."

Anakin continued, "The second man born with the Force in some way, was Varus' brother."

Koj raised an eyebrow, "I was not."

"Not you, his flesh and blood brother."

"He has one?" Koj asked in surprise.

"Yeah, the guy was touched by Nihilus while in the womb. His entire left side is skeleton and Void energy. Has to bandage it all to interact with people without sucking their life away."

"Same as Nihilus, born of life and death."

"Right. The guy's father is the same father as Varus, and is also dead. Only two children. Doesn't count."

"And this third person?"

"Me." Anakin responded simply. "I was born to a mother, no father. She was not a virgin, but she also had not had sexual intercourse in years."

"Should not there have been a seed of some kind?"

Anakin nodded. "The Force."

"Born of life." Koj concluded.

"Exactly. Except, again, I have no father. Obi-Wan doesn't count."

"Then perhaps… these births are not natural."

"What do you mean?"

"You just said your own birth had no father, at the same time as you assuming that these births require a father."

"No, the riddle demands a father."

"Then explain your birth. Yes, someone had an input into the situation with your mother, but if it was not a man's seed, then… something played the part of the man. Perhaps that is the riddle. Whatever, or whoever, played that part did the same with three others."

"The Force was all that did."

"Hmm. Son and Daughter were also born of the Force, as the One said, and they are incredibly Light and Dark oriented."

Anakin leaned back in thought. Son and Daughter. Son, a man born of the Dark Side. Daughter, a woman born of the Light Side. Both with a father, The One, and neither with a mother, so far as he knew. Not to mention, Koj said the Abomination looked to 'The One' like he was a father.

Himself… Nihilus… Leland… The One… The Abomination…

Born of something abnormal. There was something missing. Something… tickling his brain.

Anakin knew the answer. He knew he knew it, it just wouldn't come to him.

Koj mused, "With no mother, The One must have used unnatural means. Then again, the way of the Spirit allows many abilities some consider unnatural."

Anakin looked blankly at the Ghorfa as pieces fell into place. He wasn't there yet, but something Koj said hit him.

_The Dark Side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider unnatural…_

Where had he heard that?

Where did…

Born of Life.

Anakin shot up so fast he accidentally knocked the chair back. Koj leaned back in surprise. Anakin's eyes were wide open and distant.

"That son of a…" Anakin hissed mundane words and cursed every word he knew. He returned to pacing around, this time in a violently worded uproar.

"What has come over you?" Koj yelled.

"There's a…" Anakin struggled to calm down, but he couldn't. He looked like he wanted to strangle something. "There's a story… a tragedy, that an old friend told me once. It mentions a man… a powerful man capable of producing life through the Force!"

"Sounds like he could be our man?"

"Could be… could very well be."

"Does this man have a name."

"Sure does! Darth Plageuis the Wise. Dark Lord of the Sith. The former second in command of the extinct Sith Empire beside Marco Ragnos."

Koj's eyes slowly grew wide in shock. "You mean…"

"A man then capable of influencing death and darkness, and now seemingly light… and life."

"Then doesn't that make you the fourth son!? As the only person in existence born of life?"

"It does."

Koj stared at Anakin long and hard. Anakin stared back. So many emotions passed through the Jedi, but Koj couldn't say on which to focus on.

Skywalker actually might have had a father… if the tale and riddle mean anything. And his father was a Sith Lord, second to one of the most powerful in history. And if that was true… than his oldest brother was the Abomination. Followed by Son, and Daughter.

Anakin didn't know what to feel. There was too much. Too much information, too much to feel. He was… Numb. He needed time to process this. Anakin fell to his seat in emotional exhaustion. "And here I was thinking Varus' family is crazy…"


	77. Ep15 - Ancients Part 6

**Note: Here we go. Final part of this episode. Time to get started on the end. I've been preparing for this moment a LONG time. Already had a good portion of it written near the beginning. I actually just copy-pasted half of it here, so a part of it may seem odd... If it doesn't make sense, let me know. I read it, and it should be fine.**

**I actually didn't even know the Abominations name until now! :D I looked it up, and I originally had the guy's name as Vivitus! I decided to look up what the canon name is, and I was surprised. I wasn't aware the canon guy HAD a name!**

**The whole idea behind this is that the Abomination, in canon, and Son and Daughter and Anakin actually do have similar births! Also, the Abomination was similar to Plageuis in some ways, so I just decided to string them together and try something interesting. Now it produced an idea that is REALLY cool! :D**

**I really would like reviews letting me know what you think of this chapter. EVERYTHING in the entire fiction points to this one moment as its center. All of the investigation, the mystery, the hints in the Path of Revan of a great enemy, Nihilus words in Path the Revan, all of the hints from Leland and Starkiller, all of the clues, all of the work to find just WHO this mysterious enemy is... all points to this one chapter where it is finally revealed.**

**It also took a LOT of planning and work and maneuvering on my part to get so many pieces of the board in position to strike simultaneously in a logical manner. I've been planting seeds for this all the way back in... episode 5 or 6. So yeah, please let me know what you think of everything here, not just one thing. I do appreciate reviews, but they tend to focus on the details that I wasn't concerned with. I really am worried about this chapter. I want it to be easy to understanding yet blowing your mind, make sense yet insane enough to leave you shocked and speechless.**

**So yeah, let's keep the notes to a minimum and get down to the exciting parts. I had chills writing this.**

**Oh, and I am taking a break from this story for a bit. I pushed myself to finish this episode to get it out quickly for you guys, but now I just want to chill and relax.**

* * *

**Episode 15 - Ancients Part 6**

* * *

"… and Leia, you know she saw that tree and HAD to climb it despite Luke's caution."

"Oh crap…" I mutter.

Its morning now and I adjust myself. I have Ahsoka in my arms, in bed, and we're naked. Have fun putting the pieces together. I'm too tired to get up yet and she wants to regale me with an explanation with why I had to be the one to settle a problem between Cyborg-Hugger and one of the Miraluka noble women.

"So you have Luke reading at the base of the tree, Leia climbing, and Cahj taunting her from the top. It's snowing, and this brat-"

"Her son wasn't that bad…" I try.

"The kid told Cahj to carry him on her back." She says quickly. "Because she's alien and that amounts to being a mule."

"…" Never mind, I'm gonna hurt that kid. I growl lightly.

"And no, you may not terrorize him." She says knowingly. "He's six."

"Damnit." I hiss.

"Anyway, the brat comes along and Cahj decides to get some payback by jumping on HIS back from the top of the tree."

"Good."

"She jumps, misses, lands in the snow, and causes a small tidal-wave to splash over him. He freaks out because he's covered and snow and it will make him wet while in his finest clothes. Cahj mocks him for having clothes in so many clashing colors. Leia freaks out because Luke is covered in the process as well, so she jumps and-"

"Wait, let me guess… Lands on him?"

"No. She just lands in the giant pile of snow. With the snow normally being two feet deep and being piled up even more, she was buried as well. She scrambles around looking for Luke, only, Luke had calmly made himself a little tunnel to the tree, climbed up to the first branch, and resumed reading. Leia just keeps tunneling around looking for him."

Normally, their inane Force-Bond combined with their twin-bond would have let Leia know Luke was fine, but as the Miraluka have been teaching them how to control the bond, and their parents telling them that SOME privacy is necessary as they grow up, they haven't been completely a two-in-one package anymore.

Ahsoka continues explaining, "I'm guessing Luke at least let her know he wasn't in danger or something, and she could sense he was near and not afraid, just failed to explain where he was. Because she just keeps tunneling around like a mole looking for him. The brat runs home, cries to mommy, mommy comes out… and one of the tunnels collapse under her."

I roar in laughter. "That explains her problem!"

I remember the rest now. Cyborg Hugger said kids would be kids, and the noble women had her pride damaged too much to listen. I told her to suck it up and deal with it, and that managed to get through to her. Made her angry and humiliated, but got her to stop screaming.

"That wasn't all, that was just the first part."

"There's more?" I ask.

"The four kids returned to her estate with a cold. The servants explain it's a cold, and Cahj assumed that you beat cold with hot and decided to spontaneously set herself on fire."

"Of course she did…" I sigh. "At least she isn't hurt by fire."

"It freaked the twins out to the point they were screaming, panicking in terror, and crying thinking their friend was dying. The brat freaks out because Cahj was accidentally setting fire to everything she touched, and the woman just screams because… really? When is the last time you see a child walking around wreathed in flames like it's the most casual thing ever?"

"Wish I had been there." I smile. It would have been… awesome. Just imaging Squirt sending them all into a panic, by accident, is enough to send a tear to my eye. So proud.

We fall into content silence for a bit, except Ahsoka slowly tenses. I wait for her to bring it up, but if he doesn't, I'm gonna pull it out of her.

"Varus?"

"Yeah."

"What is Nihilus doing on the Ravager?"

Of course…

I lay back and sigh while rubbing my face. She turns to look at me. She doesn't seem mad, but it is important and is something on her mind. I take a moment to gather my thoughts before answering, "Because I'm still his slave."

"…"

"I've spent my entire life, since the day I met him, trying to find a way to kill him. I've stabbed him, shot him, gassed him, electrocuted him, jettisoned him into space, cut his throat while he was in a host, crushed him, and exploded the room he was in. Nothing has ever hurt him. He is a demon to the galaxy, but to me, he is a shadow. A shadow in the sense that he never goes away. I lost my memory, and he sent assassins after me, publically declared me as his apprentice, and kidnapped me just to remind me that I am his slave."

"You're not his slave anymore, Varus."

"I am. You remember when we found out Squirt has the Force? That is when I found Nihilus. He hadn't touched anyone, but he retreated back to his room. For the last several years, ever since the Starkiller Legion and Eternal Hand appeared, he had been hiding on the Ravager from them. Right now, as it stands, if I try to get him off, he will kill everyone on the Ravager and take me away with him. If I broadcast his location to the Eternal Hand so they can kill him, it will cause a three-way war on the Ravager. I can't hurt him. I have nothing on him. No advantage at all. If it was just my life on the line, I would have dumped him in a gravity well and broadcasted to every Prior in the galaxy he was there, but as it stands he has the lives of everyone I care about in his hand."

"And what's to keep him from killing us? Why let him stay?"

"Because…" This is as crazy as it sounds. "If there is one thing I can trust, it's his honesty."

"You can't be serious."

"Ahsoka, even amongst your greatest enemies, wasn't there any that still had principles? One that held so strongly on his principles that you could depend on him, even when it seemed like a mistake to anyone else?"

Ahsoka lays down next to me and thinks a moment. "There was one occasion where Sky-guy and Count Dooku had to work together to escape a bandit base. Dooku went out of his way to protect Sky-guy. It may have been out of need to save himself, but Dooku could be trusted for understanding his situation. I also worked with Asajj Ventress in a bombing situation."

"And what let you trust her?"

"She understood my situation. She was an outcast Sith, and I was an outcast Jedi, at the time. We may have been enemies, but we were… honest… enemies. She believed in her cause, and I did in mine. Without the war anymore pushing us at each other's throats, it was… possible for us to be friends. Kinda."

I nod. "Exactly. Nihilus may have a cause of satisfying his hunger, and massacring worlds, but he is also obsessed with a few principles. Honesty being first and foremost, followed by promises, order and so on. Nihilus, twisted or not, believes his actions are for the greater good and of a higher principle than just being a personal vendetta. So when he says he will not touch my crew, so long as I don't sick him to the Eternal hand…" I look her in the eye. "I trust his word as much as Tree-Huggers."

"You trust his word that much?"

"I know he's that obsessed." I answer honestly.

It looks like something difficult for her to swallow. She looks up at the ceiling and considers it. "Varus… I love you, but I can't trust him. I can forgive and trust you openly because you have turned away from your old path, but he hasn't. I can't just… let it go… just because he is afraid and hiding in some dark corner of the ship. He needs to pay. He needs judgement."

"I know."

"We need to stop him. We need to get rid of him. Or, at least, not let anyone on the Ravager except you and Sky-guy."

"I know." I sigh. "I just… don't know how. Trust me, if I knew how, I would jump at the chance to stop him."

"You said he was afraid of the Eternal Hand, right?"

"Yeah." I look to her. She looks like she has an idea. Sorry, but it won't work or its too dangerous. "What you thinking?"

"Wasn't Koj in the Eternal Hand?" She asks.

Yes.

My eyes widen. "Yes, he was."

Nihilus is afraid of the Eternal Hand.

The Eternal Hand has some way of hurting him.

Koj was in the Eternal Hand.

Koj may know how to stop Nihilus.

Koj may know how to kill Nihilus.

We can kill Nihilus.

"Y-You…" I stammer. I can't believe this. "YOU ARE BRILLIANT!"

I kiss her and jump out of bed. Its daylight and a new days is on the horizon. I throw my clothes on. "Come on! We need to head back to the temple anyway!"

We can kill Nihilus!

* * *

Skywalker sat in silence in the library.

He hadn't moved all night. Koj left long ago to sleep, but Skywalker couldn't sleep. His mind was racing the whole night. He felt his world was turned on its head. He wanted to deny it. To say the facts were wrong. But he knew… somewhere deep in his heart, he knew. Just as man is born with the reality of eternity imbedded in their hearts, so can we be able to discern truth and reality from fantasy.

And as he searched his feelings, he couldn't throw away what he had learned. He hated it. He despised it. He wanted to deny everything he learned and say it was wrong, but… it fit. It all fit.

The morning sun's rays landed on the desk before him, and Skywalker rubbed his eyes. He was exhausted.

"Time to face reality…" He resigned himself.

Skywalker rose and left the library. He found The One in meditation in the lobby. "I think I have your answers."

"Good." The One nodded. He continued to sit with his eyes closed in deep meditation. "Everyone is returning soon. Son, Daughter, and your students will be back soon. Also, the rest of your friends are outside enjoying the warm morning."

"Okay? So you don't want my answers?" Skywalker asked.

"I do, but I believe it is worth waiting until all have returned that are relevant. However, if you wish for us to end this charrade now, then by all means, I can give you all you need to know now."

"No." Skywalker relented. "It can wait until they return."

He sat down next to the man… his… his father. Possibly.

A part of him was confused, hurt even that the man never showed himself before and expected Anakin to find him on his own. Were it not for Koj, Anakin would never have been here, in which case, he would die of old age before ever knowing of this man. Did the man know his mother? Did he even choose his mother to do… whatever he did to him?

Perhaps the man wasn't even his father and Anakin was just going crazy.

Before long, Skywalker saw a pair of unusual birds in the distance land outside the temple. Koj, Cahj, and Ash entered the temple. Anakin said, "Can you guys stay here a minute? I have the answer to his riddles."

"Understood." Koj nodded. They had his daughter sit and mind her own business to the side.

Ahsoka, Varus, Son, and Daughter arrived a bit later. Anakin felt something was very… odd. They seemed more comfortable than before, Varus had a scar on his shoulder like a bite-mark, and he was missing a shirt. "What happened to you? Where's your shirt? Why do you have a bite-mark?... Two of them?" There was a second smaller bite mark.

Anakin looked to Son. "You bit him?"

"No."

"Okay, I'm confused."

Varus smirked, "Turns out Ahsoka has a biting fetish."

Anakin coughed in surprise. "A what?!"

"NOTHING!" Ahsoka interrupted quickly. She narrowed her eyes at Varus. "Nothing. Don't bring it up. Ever." Varus just smiled cheekily.

Anakin stared at them a long moment. Some kind of conversation passed between them that he couldn't track. He got the feeling something happened to them. Something… personal, intimate, and he felt like an outsider all of a sudden.

It had always been the three of them as a team in one way or another. The secrets were few and necessary when they existed. But now Anakin felt something had happened that split their little family to a small degree.

"Alright." He sighed and massaged his forehead. He would have to file this away as another thing to be expected with Varus. He had trouble just keeping up with the guy's life. Didn't Varus have one calm day in his life? "Everyone, The One is ready to tell us about the Abomination, and I wanted to wait till we were all here."

"Alrighty." Varus walked over to a statue, sat down, and leaned against its feet with his hands behind his head.

Ahsoka sat down cross-legged, Koj leaned against the wall with his staff leaning against his shoulder, and Ashley just stood there. Son and Daughter were content to stand where they were.

Anakin breathed in and out slowly. "Here we go. The One asked me to answer two riddles last night, in return for his assistance against our great enemy." Anakin looked to The One. "I have your answers."

The One nodded. "What is balance?"

"Balance is when both sides are equal." Anakin looked to Varus and Ahsoka, as well as Son and Daughter. "When Light and Dark are equal. Just as the ancient Jed'aii once taught."

"And how does this relate to the Sith?"

"They are not evil merely for being of the Dark Side. Being of the Dark Side is not a sign of evil, but of a different path of the Force. One of power. A path that should be balanced equally by wisdom and understanding and knowledge. But in the same way, knowledge only goes so far. To see opportunity, to see good you can do, and be powerless to help, has to be a curse. In the time of the Mandalorian War, the Jedi were afraid. They felt and sensed a great foe hidden behind the Mandalorian army, but were too afraid to do anything more than sit and wait for the foe to come to them. Revan had courage, power, and wisdom. He was the embodiment of balance."

Varus gaped slightly, and the others were in minor states of shock from his words. Except Koj. He merely watched thoughtfully.

Varus was probably the most surprised from having intimate knowledge of what Anakin was referring to.

The One clapped lightly. "Good. Very good. This is certainly a different answer from before. Now, the second riddle: I am a father of four children. One born of death, one born of Dark, one born of Light, and one born of life. Who are we?"

Anakin breathed in and out deeply. "The first child is the Abomination, the second child is Son, the third child is Daughter…"

"Good. Continue." The One pressed.

"And the fourth child… is me."

"WHAT?!" Ahsoka and Varus yelled. "You don't have a father!" "You're a brother to Son and the Abomination!?"

Anakin ignored them. "And the father… is you, Darth Plageus the Wise. Second in command to Marco Ragnos."

Everything went deathly silent. No one breathed.

Then Varus burst out in gut-wreching, crying, laughter. He collapsed to the ground, pounded his fist on the stone, and struggled to breathe. In between what few breathes he could get out, his words were along the lines of, "Your father is a Sith!? Him?! Oh, this is beautiful!"

"Is it true?" Koj asked.

The One stood to his feet. "It is. My name is Plagues. Anakin Skywalker, you are my fourth child. I am incapable of producing children naturally, but rather through ritual. When I made you, it was because the Force wanted me to. The Force told me it was time, and so I did the ritual that went out into the galaxy and made you. I didn't know the woman you bore you, and I never chosen her. The Force did. Knowing that, whether you choose to consider me as your father and have a relationship in the future, I will leave up to you."

"Depends. Do I WANT to get to know you?"

"After what I tell you, I cannot say." Plagues sighed deeply. "I know everything about the Firstborn, after all, I did make him. Once I was a Sith, as you say, but after what I saw and witnessed and did… I became a hermit. I had to separate myself from the galaxy and what my actions had done. The Force told me of its plan to make a child to combat my first child, and so the prophecy of you was made."

Plageus continued, "And now I will tell you all of what it is that created the imbalance. What created the Abomination of yours, and the name and power it has."

And so, as Plagues told it, the tale began long ago. The Abomination and Plagues were born a thousand years ago, but the beginning of the imbalance started long before that. To understand truly, the tale had to start at the very beginning of the Je'daii and the war with the Infinite Empire.

The Je'daii, at its very beginning, was a kind of sub-species within the galaxy. Where among every race would be 'mutants' in a sense, capable of communicating with the galactic consciousness. The universe, in turn, communicated back and gave them wisdom provided by the Maker, as well as power and authority to use the universe, itself, towards their own means. It was a relationship. At first it was fine, but the original Je'daii were isolated and alone in the universe, and lonely. The Je'daii were comprised of many races, including ancient Sith, Ghorfa, and Killik, and many other races considered largely uncivilized.

The Force had seven ships that encompassed Force-rich worlds. The ships predated empires and may have been created in the beginning of creation, so far as could be theorized. The Force gathered all who heard it to these ships, and so created a people that would go by the Force's will, learn, teach, be a community, and be in balance. These ships and the planets within them were so perfectly balanced within the Force themselves, that anyone who went out of balance would be easily noticeable and be required to work on fixing the imbalance. The Force moved the ships on its own, deciding when and where its people were needed in the galaxy and its many conflicts.

But one arose so great that the Force had to unite all of its people against a single cause.

The Infinite Empire, originally the Rakata, were parasitic by nature. They came across the Force-ships and wanted to steal the power and technology for themselves. They gave themselves utterly to the Dark Side in their greed and became corrupt. They developed technology to mimic the Force-ships in the holocrons, and their ships. The Infinite Empire could only travel to worlds rich in the Force because of it, and so conquered specific worlds. Manaan, Nar Shadaa, Nal Hutta, Tatooine, Kashyyk, Dantooine, and Korriban to name the main ones. All were enslaved to the Infinite Empire. The Infinite Empire even succeeded in capturing one of the Force-ships and building a kind of cage/factory around it, and renamed it Star Forge.

The Force retaliated with the Je'daii. The Je'daii rallied the galaxy together against the Empire. The Rakata's slaves rose up in revolte and the war was with great cost. The Rakata were dark and evil and hateful and angry to the point of madness. They boiled Manaan's seas, gassed Nar Shadaa, grew Tatooine's trees so fast it destroyed the ecosystem, and hit Tatooine with so much heat and so many nukes that it turned the once lush planet with a thriving, advanced society into glass with a population forced to sit in bunkers a mile under the surface.

It looked like the Je'daii would lose at first, but then the Rakata began to turn on themselves. Their own power corrupted them, and they delved into civil war at the moment of victory. Rakata turned on Rakata, brother on brother, until there were few left. In the wake of the war, the Rakata were nothing. They were so driven towards power that they had burned their own libraries and schools without care. They did not know how to build their technology again, and were left as barbaric cave men surrounded in broken technology they could no comprehend.

It looked like the Je'daii had won, and were united more than ever, but a false seed had been placed in them by their own war with the Rakata. They became puffed up, and rather than going with what the Force wanted them to do, decided they were the galaxy's police on their own. That they had the right to say what was right and what was wrong, that they were justice.

Out of this arose three political factions.

The first said that they should go selflessly into the galaxy, fix all the problems, and make an era of peace and prosperity.

The second said that they should focus themselves inward, on preparing for the next great conflict and be strong enough to withstand it, to seek perfection.

The third said they shouldn't have to destroy themselves, or change, for the sake of others, but rather… they were a nation or people like any other. That they should set for themselves a place in the galaxy as a nation just like any other. That they had no authority over other nations and other people, but rather should focus inward and seek both peace and prosperity and perfection, but within themselves as a community.

At first it was a thought, then a small debate and idea, but it slowly grew into civil war. The Je'daii fought each other over this ideal, and just as the first battle began, the Force stepped in.

The Force exiled all three factions from its Force-ships, telling them to seek balance once more and remember who the master was. They were not the masters, the Maker was.

The first political faction joined the Republic as the Jedi.

The second political faction found mutual ideals in the ancient Sith culture (who were friends with the Je'daii) which at the time mirrored the current Mandalorian ideals, and became so segregated with the culture that they could no longer become separated.

The third political faction disappeared and became the Miraluka.

Then… Marco Ragnos. One thousand years ago.

Marco Ragnos was the ideal Sith. Ambition and power personified. The Jedi killed the Sith ambassador, and Marco Ragnos lead the Sith to war. Under his rule, the Sith reached the state of an Empire rivaling that of the Infinite Empire in its size, and also some of its cruelty, such as mass slavery. However, the ancient Sith Empire was still very civilized compared to the Infinite Empire and the current Sith you see now. They were not mass murderers, they were conquerors. More than that, they believed their war was justified.

After all, the Republic did strike first and send the Sith ambassador's head back on a spike.

Darth Plagues was a childhood friend to Ragnos. Plagues was equally ambitious, but also respected Ragnos' position. Just as Ragnos was a being of power and destruction, Plagues found power in healing. Not just healing, but mass healing, able to heal wounds that could kill almost anyone. Plageus' power reached such a point that he was considered immortal. Plagues would enter battle and heal himself just as fast as he was wounded, making himself appear equally unstoppable.

But then the truth came out.

_Plageus stood on the bridge of Marco Ragnos's personal battleship. Ragnos sat in battle meditation, demoralizing the Republic and Jedi, while uprising the Sith forces. He showed his allies how to focus, and his enemies how to fear. In such a simple way the battle was turned in their favor._

_"The Jedi are desperate." Plageus reflected. "This surprise attack took most of their remaining forces."_

_Ragnos smiled darkly. "Then let us end this, old friend." He turned his dark eyes to the remaining Republic fleet, even as Sith reinforcements arrived. Ragnos put his hand out and yelled into the Force._

_Wipe them all out. Leave none alive!_

_Ragnos did not give further orders, however, as a lightsaber went into his gut. Ragnos gasped in surprise and pain. "You..." _

_Around them, Plageus' personal escort attacked Ragnos' men and cut them down. Ragnos turned his eyes out and saw that the reinforcements he thought had come to assist him in ending the Jedi had opened fire on his forces._

_It was rebellion. _

_"You... why?" Ragnos asked. Blood spilled from his mouth._

_"Because I have learned of your deception." Plagues answered. "You manipulated us into war with the Republic and are pushing the Code into a form that will tear us apart from the inside. You killed the Sith Ambassador! You blamed it on Jedi! You started this! How many have to die for you to be content? I have asked you this and you always answered, 'more'! You brought this rebellion on yourself."_

_Ragnos chuckled and fell to his knees. He looked up to his old friend. "What will you do now? You clearly have me."_

_"I will end this war." Plague answered. "I will surrender and ask for peace."_

_"Hehe... you think that will end this?" Ragnos laughed. "Look around you! This conflict that I started is only now at its peak! Desperation is all that is left for anyone! You think you can stop a song while its at its loudest!? You cannot! There was only one way out of this, old friend, and that was with victory! You may be able to bring about a ceasefire, but the Sith will not follow you."_

_"That doesn't matter anymore." _

_Plagues captured Ragnos and threw him in prison. Without the Emperor to lead them, the Sith forces crumbled into despair. The Sith had depended so much on Ragnos' battle meditation that they did not know what to do without it. He pulled back all Sith Forces and called the Jedi and Republic to Korriban._

_Over the red lush world of Korriban, he asked for peace from the Jedi and Republic forces. He stood in the midst of Jedi Masters and bowed his head. "Ragnos was a madman hungry for power and conquest. That is not our way."_

_He saw the anger and pain of loss in the eyes of the masters, and he reflected on how much like Sith their eyes were in the moment. Plagues had been promised peace. He had been promised an end to the conflict. He saw how Ragnos was twisting the Sith Code into one of hatred and slaughter rather than simply self-growth, and he believed Ragnos needed to be stopped before it was too late._

_But it was already too late. In response, the Jedi took advantage of the Sith's gesture and bombarded the planet in nukes and great bombs of Force energy. Plagues stood in their midst as they gave the order and looked on in horror. "You monsters! You deceived us!"_

_"It was the will of the Force." The master's lied through their teeth. "We have no need to bargain with monsters."_

_Realizing he had been used, Plagues gathered what Sith he could and fled, but could not rescue anyone from Korriban. The planet, once thriving and full of life, was little more than a radiation graveyard when the Jedi were through. Most of the Sith army had been on Korriban resting during the cease fire, and were defenseless._

_The Sith were demoralized and afraid, and a group of loyalists rescued Ragnos from prison. Ragnos called for Plagues on a certain planet, and all Sith forces that remained to make a stand. Plagues, reeling from the deception, answered his old friends call._

_"I am sorry to hear of how you were deceived, old friend." Darth Ragnos comforted him. The Sith Emperor was weak and crippled. The wound Plagues had given him was lethal, but slow. He was dying. _

_"I will not say I am sorry for what I have done... or what I wanted."_

_"I know, you only wanted what was best for our people... but now we are left at a desperate time. The Jedi are destroying us. They are sparing no one. Slave, master, young, old, women, men... they aren't even paying attention to who they kill. All they know is revenge and call it 'justice'." Ragnos looked to the city where they hid. "This is one of a few planets that remain... They are coming. And when the Jedi come, they will destroy this planet as they have so many others. The people are afraid, Plagues. I slaughtered armies, but left planet and people for a growing empire. The Jedi are going even further. They don't care for conquest, they are aiming for genocide."_

_"What shall we do?" The Sith Lords asked._

_Ragnos looked to Plageus and said, "There is one way we can escape the reaper, but it will come at a cost. We must make a champion that can stand against the Jedi in my place and defend our people. A champion stronger than any Sith Lord has ever dreamed of."_

_"How?"_

_Ragnos grinned. Plagues knew the grin. It was one of both brilliance and madness. But he was also a person who was focused on goals, so Plagues trusted him, for the sake of their people. Plagues would also be lying if he denied the fury of having been betrayed by the Jedi. With Ragnos, his paramount desire for conquest was one he could have predicted easily, although it took work to figure out how he had started the war. It was something Plagues did not feel was a deception as much as his base nature. But the Jedi... _

_There was no forgiveness._

_Ragnos told Plagues of an experimental ritual he had been inventing, and knew that Plagues was the only one who could achieve it. Plagues was an individual who was strong in healing and the manipulation of life, and used it in ways a Sith would think of. Such as healing themselves in battle just as fast as they took damage, or achieving immortality._

_Ragnos sat on a throne with a chosen slave women before him. Around the room sat thousands of Sith Lords, all of the remaining high ranking ones, and there Plagues conducted the ritual. It was one they were willing to take._

_It was something Plagues had completely underestimated._

_The ritual broke out of his control and consumed every living thing on the planet. The distant sun was changed in color, the breeze stopped flowing, the moon was shattered, the oceans dried, the forests wilted into ashes, and people disappeared. In moments the only two living beings left on the planet was the mother and Plageus. The slave woman cried out in sudden pain as she gave birth. She had not had a child before, and now in the span of minutes she had one and was giving birth to him._

_She died and Plageus looked into the eyes of the boy he held in his arms. Abyssal eyes looked back into him, and what Plageus saw horrified him. They were not the inquisitive eyes of a newborn, but the determined ones of a leader. He saw the hatred and fear of a thousand Sith Lords in those eyes._

_Plagues turned the child over to what remained of the Sith, and the child grew in secret. The Sith hid themselves, but were hunted ruthlessly by the Jedi. Plagues went into self-exile and years later came to learn of something the child did._

_At the age of ten, the child gathered all that remained of the Sith, and secretly killed half of them in a replication of the very ritual that gave birth to him. Plagues confronted him there, but could not ask him what he had done, because they both knew. In the child's eyes he saw full comprehension of his actions. The child knew he had killed billions, but did not care. _

_"Why did you do this?"_

_"That they may realize what we are." The child answered. His voice was warped, like a thousand voices spoken at once._

_"And what are you?" Realization and fear dawning on Plageus._

_"We are the embodiment of all that the Sith are. We are the carrier of Ragnos's will... and of your will, father. We are the inherited will of all the Sith that have fallen and the collective of all that have been a part of our birth-ritual. We will take all that remain of our people and we will hide and we will wait. A hundred years... a thousand... ten thousand. We will wait, and when we feel the time is right, we shall return as harbingers of the all the Jedi's sins. They will know pain. They will know hatred. They will know what their vaunted justice feels when it is turned back on their heads! Then they will realize how it was their choice to throw away peace. We will return, carrying the weight of centuries on our back, and the galaxy will be engulfed in our retribution. We are… Emperor Vitiate Valkorion."_

_Plagues could only stare into his eyes. The strength of will behind the child, his determination, his hatred, his fear... The child's dark eyes sparked, and in him Plagues saw the combined consciousness of every person who had died in the ritual that gave birth to him._

_This child wasn't a child. This was a legion of Sith Lords inside a child's mind with all of their collective power, fear, and hatred. This was an abomination._

_The child walked by him and the remaining Sith followed, save Plagues. But the child stopped long enough to whisper, "We dearly hope you will live long enough to see the galaxy we will create, old friend."_

Plageuis saw they had trouble digesting the information. It was massive in scale, in complexity, and might be difficult to believe. The Jedi, believed to be the pinnacle of righteousness, were just as capable of evil as anyone else. That is what happens when you are mortal, and when you believe you are right no matter what you do because you are holy.

At the same time, the Sith, a culture comparable to the current Mandalorians, were pushed to a corner so deep they turned to the one thing left. Hatred. Fear. Desperation. Power.

The Sith Empire had returned.

* * *

Leland stopped walking suddenly as a voice came to him. He looked around to be sure he was alone, and listened more closely. A gem in his pocket glowed with use and a voice came through it from a great distance.

_The balance of the Force has shifted. The Eternal Harbinger has found a ripple in the Force. The evil has found a great ally… we can no longer afford to hold back. It is time._

With pleasure. He slipped a disc into the Ravager's computer before walking away. Varus' Stooge friends were smarter than they were given credit for. Their project to understanding the nature of the Ravager had come close. Close enough for his purposes.

Leland caught sight of Varus. Leland smirked and twirled a knife in his fingers.

Time to see what kind of person his brother was in his last moments.

* * *

Nihilus felt it.

The Force was shifting. Light and Darkness were in great conflict, more than ever. Before, Darkness was nearly overcoming everything, but now, a beacon of Light had appeared. A great battle was on the horizon.

More than that, Nihilus felt them… As if a sign of what he felt in the Force, the ship shuddered and the door to Nihilus' chamber opened.

That was impossible… The Ravager was ordered to keep the door closed by BOTH Varus and Nihilus. No one, and NO ONE could have opened that door. Not unless they went around the Ravager's systems… or put the Ravager on a leash.

They were here! They had found him!

Nihilus could not allow them to destroy him!

Nihilus fled into the deeper passages of the Ravager. In the distance he could hear explosions and the sound of lightning and lightsabers. A battle had erupted.

Voices. People were afraid.

Nihilus hid his shadow-self inside a vent and observed. A couple children ran by with a woman and a bunch of Miraluka. A Starkiller fought them and was winning.

Nihilus poured out of the vent. At the sight of him, all were afraid. Nihilus encompassed Starkiller and consumed him without mercy, then looked on the group he had come across.

Something about them was… special. Familiar…

Ah! Yes. The woman was Skywalker's wife. Which, judging from her protective behavior… made the kids her children. They even smelled of Skywalker.

_"-if I find my apprentice taken from me, again…" Nihilus stopped and growled loudly, "I will return the favor!"_

Nihilus had said that years ago, as a promise to Skywalker. Skywalker really should have been more cautious and not touched the original Starkiller again… But Skywalker did because Skywalker failed to realize something about Nihilus.

He was a man of his word.


	78. Ep16 - Marek Unleashed Part 1

**Note: Now we come to perhaps, the most emotionally driven episodes. I have been in tears through most of this episode, and I have written already a fair number of scenes. Expect a lot of darkness, pain, death, and madness. Characters will die. Characters I feel for, and don't want to die, but are determined to. This episode, and the next, will bring the story to a new emotional low. Fitting for an episode named 'Marek Unleashed'. We will finally see into the true personality of Leland Marek.**

**And that's on purpose. I have had these episodes in my mind since the beginning. This is as intended, and all will be explained as necessary.**

**There is also a reference to being numb. I know what it feels like to be truly numb from loss, so while it may seem that people are acting odd and out of control, it's because they kind of are. I lost my best friend some months back, and in the aftermath I was numb. It literally feels numb. You feel nothing, even as your rational mind is screaming and you know you are technically in pain. You are volatile yet at a strange calm at once. The world could have burned and I wouldn't have cared. So I based it off my own experience.**

**We will see the end of all plots here, and the beginning of the final plot.**

**"War is coming! In all of its glory, and all of its horror!" Emporer Mengsk.**

* * *

**Episode 16 - Marek Unleashed Part 1**

* * *

For one to the rarest moments in my life, all I hear is silence. It's kind of creepy actually.

The Sith? I know of the Sith from Korriban, and the Triad, but the ancient Sith? They had been hiding somewhere for a thousand years just waiting and plotting to return?

It actually fits surprisingly well. Revan is in agreement with me. He suspected there was a far greater threat out there, a threat that turned the Mandalorians on the Republic. I suspected it was the Abomination, but for this person to have a name and identity as the leader of an Empire… I don't know which is a scarier thought. That this great evil, feared by Revan, could be a deity similar in nature to Nihilus or the leader of an Empire with armies and a lot of ships and crap.

Actually, no. I would prefer the Empire. Then you can at least kill the bastard.

But then again, we might be able to do something with Nihilus. Just need to grab Koj for a moment.

Tree-Hugger's knees shake and he lowers himself on his hands and knees. He looks overwhelmed.

"Now it all makes sense." He says. "The Starkiller's left a message about the sins of the Jedi, and even Nihilus told me that there was a foe out there much less forgiving than him. Revan was considered a paranoid bat for telling the galaxy to prepare for an unknown foe and to seek out something we had created. Even the Force and everyone with insight has told us in some way or another that the imbalance comes from the Jedi. But I… I never would have imagined."

Tree-Hugger looks up at his father. "We killed everyone?"

Plageus nods. He sees Tree-Hugger's turmoil and softens. "Without mercy. The Jedi of my time never even took the time to see who they were killing. In their minds, it was revenge. It was justice. It was their greater good. It was their Will of the Force that they slaughter a people to the last man. A warmongering people, perhaps, but a nation none of the less."

"No wonder they hate us… they don't just dislike us, they HATE us! Were I in their position, I would see a galaxy made by the Republic and want to see it all burn. We set the standards of war… the Sith are merely playing by the rules we set for them."

"The Sith are not blameless." Plageus said, "Valkorion may have had a thousand years to twist them around his finger, but even so it is just as wrong for them to assume you are monsters just as much as it is for you to assume they are. The generation that is to blame is gone. Now the following generations are made to suffer for crimes they haven't done. Someone has to be the bigger party and try to fix this before both sides destroy each other."

"But how!" Tree-Hugger yelled painfully. "How! How can either side forgive the other anymore! By the Force, this isn't just a war between two nations or ideologies, this is a war of hatred nested into our cores! How can we even understand each other enough to WANT it!"

Tree-Hugger looks like he is mourning. He doesn't cry, but the pain fills him. He looks back at me and Ahsoka briefly. "You can't look at a Sith and not see evil these days. And you can't not see hate. The bloodlust. In turn, they see the same evil. We have driven each other so far into the opposite extremes how can we even relate?! It took a MIND-WIPE for my apprentice to be relatable as a Sith! I can't wipe the memories of a nation!"

"I know it looks hard, but it is possible. Were it not possible, the Force would have forced balance on its own. That is your destiny in finding balance. Finding a way for the two sides to relate."

Ahsoka walked up to her master in turmoil and put a comforting hand on him. She said, "Master… I'm ashamed of the Jedi because they are so quick to judge. To just go along with their own mentality deeper and deeper, rather than stop and consider. To truly consider what is true and right. In the war, we never stopped to think of who was right, only what we were told was right. Legally, the Confederacy had the right to leave the Republic, yet we deemed them rebels. We forced them to join, might as well been slavers and conquerors at that point. When I was on trial, no one but you stopped to think and wonder what was true. It is good to know what is right, but it is another to assume you know what is right."

"We were at war with the Confederacy… what were we to do? Abandon the Republic?" He asked.

"Yes." She said simply. "If you have to ask that, as if we are wrong to say they were wrong just because they are the Republic, then we're too attached. Then it's no longer about who is right. We should never have played a part in the war at all except perhaps to get both sides to talk."

"That was Palpatine's plan." I add. "Regardless of who won, Confederacy or Republic, just by playing a part, you lost. Or would have, if Nihilus hadn't stepped in."

"We still lost."

"Yeah, that's true…" I mutter. "And you know how the Sith are now, and how I dislike what we are. Typical Sith are bloodthirsty, villainous, psychopaths."

Plageus said, "My apologies, but how you accomplish it is up to you. If I had the answer to that, I would have tried doing it already."

Tree-Hugger closed his eyes in deep thought, and I share a worried glance with Ahsoka. He has a massive weight on him. Even Koj looks like he understands the weight on Tree-Hugger.

Valkorion is the avenger of the Sith. He bears the weight of all that have died as the last. Whether he accepts the responsibility in the way Koj and I have, or if he is just out for his own agenda, we cannot say. Only he would know.

But, for once, perhaps we stand in the presence of an even greater weight. A weight Koj does not understand, but I do.

The weight of knowing you caused it.

I blame myself for the Miraluka, and now Tree-Hugger has to bear the blame for the Sith. Not because he did anything, that war was long ago, but because he has to find a way to stop it. To remove the blame and the hate.

He has to stop a war that hasn't ended in a thousand years. The war never ended, it merely took on a different form one generation to the next.

"Koj…" Tree-Hugger says. "Will Valkorian consider diplomacy or negotiation…"

"No."

"Not even if we beg?"

"He doesn't care if you do. You know what he wants to do as much as I do."

Tree-Hugger closes his eyes in torment and nods. I remember he told us. The Sith Emperor wants to replace the Force, to commit galactic genocide.

Koj continues, "Even if his agenda was not so bad, he will not listen regardless. His hate is pure. He is the production of hate, and his only desire is death for everyone and everything. He will look at you as you bow and beg and he will kill you without a second thought."

"Then we have to kill him." Tree-Hugger decides. "But… that means war. Which will only drive the hate further in…"

"War is already upon you." Plageus says. "Yes, war can create hatred, but only in how it is conducted. I have seen wars where how it was conducted brought the two closer together by showing the kind of people they were rather than apart. In addition, if you have a one such as my firstborn planting the seed of hate in every generation, then removing him will help prevent that seed from being planted so intentionally. Perhaps, the best thing, is to remove those that remember, the source of their hatred."

Which means killing Valkorion still, but then perhaps offering peace afterwards. But… Tree-Hugger doesn't have the pull to do that. He is one Jedi Master. There are several out there in hiding. And after the run-in I have had with squirrel-face I think they will not be very inclined as a whole to shake hands with Sith, kiss, and make up.

This is so incredibly screwed up… It looks impossible.

Tree-Hugger might be able to change the way we think about Sith and Jedi in his life-time, but we don't have that long. The Emporer is out there, NOW, with his agents causing chaos. We don't have years.

"Is he stronger than me?" Tree-Hugger asks.

"Much." Koj replies.

Tree-Hugger nods, and bows before his father. "Please teach me, please help me grow enough to defeat my brother."

And yet again, we have another surprise. I share an amazed glance with Ahsoka.

I really should be running out of surprised-faces by now…

"What about the summit?" Ahsoka asks.

"Its fine, I left Leland in charge." Tree-Hugger says with his face still down. Koj stiffens violently and his eyes widen. "At least until you guys go back. I want to stay and learn what I can, at least for a little while, if that is alright with you, Father?"

"NO!" Koj roars. We jump, and AGAIN I have a surprised face. I have never heard him yell so violently and so suddenly like that. Ever. Not even when he was a Prior.

Koj ignores our surprise and looks between us with fear. "Who is it? Leland! He's at the summit?!"

"Leland Marek, my brother, dude." I explain. Okay, he is really starting to freak me out.

"Leland… is YOUR BROTHER?!" Koj yells.

"Uh, yeah. Sorry, you left before we met him. He's okay, bro. Don't worry-"

"No! No, no, no!" Koj looks between us all and sweats in fervant fear and panic. "It is not 'okay'! He's an agent of the Dread Lords!"

And… again… the surprise.

Ice goes down my back like someone splashed me with cold water, and the Jedi go pale, and Ash gasps. She looks less surprised than the rest of us, but still surprised.

I stare at Koj a long moment before walking up to him. I look him in the eye. He is so close to crossing a border. If he is lying… But if he isn't… "Koj. Brother. I want you to stop a moment, and think. Leland Marek is my little brother. My flesh and blood, while you, are by oath. Now, look me in the eye, and say that again and know that EVERYTHING between us hinges on this moment."

I trust Koj as a brother, and I trust Leland as a new brother. I trust Koj more because he is honest while Leland is a natural schemer, but has also been honest with me about the few things he opens up about.

My relationship with Koj, despite our efforts, is shaky because of what has happened.

If Koj is lying, while in full control of his senses… I will not forgive him.

Koj looks me in the eyes and says, "Leland Marek is one of the founders of the Eternal Hand."

He is not lying.

Leland… my brother… is the enemy.

Koj continues, "While I was among them, I was in touch with him as much as everyone else. He informed us he was in position."

"You didn't think to tell us that before?" Tree-Hugger demands.

"Oh, I am sorry! I thought IMMEDIATELY going out after the ONE thing the Abomination, the biggest one among them, truly fears was more important than a single agent!"

"He could have killed us! He… HE COULD HAVE KILLED MY CHILDREN!"

"Enough!" Plageus yells. Everyone stops. "It was right of the Ghorfa to prioritize the leader than a single agent. You must remember only a day has transpired since his return to us. But now that you know, you should act."

"The summit has the world leaders gathered… the Sith will not resist taking advantage of the moment."

"Nihilus is also near." I add. I feel… numb. I don't care. The world can burn and I wouldn't care. I don't know what expression I have anymore, or if I have one. My voice sounds monotone. "One of Leland's targets, so far as I know, is Nihilus. Nihilus fears the Eternal Hand. Koj, what can the Eternal Hand do to him?"

"We, or rather, they interact with the Dread Lords mentally through crystals in our staff. If he is touched by one, being a Force presence, he can be sucked away into it until he is presented to them. He is much too powerful and large to be sucked away to the otherside directly through the link. It would have to be physically presented to them. The crystals would then be poured out into a cage where he would be prisoned along with everyone else the crystals have consumed."

"He would be trapped inside the crystal we touch him with?"

"Yes."

I nod. A plan slowly begins to form in my mind, and I don't like it.

"What are you thinking?" Tree-Hugger asks me.

"I'm thinking… I might know how we can save the summit and defeat both the Starkiller Legion and Nihilus all at once."

And perhaps so much more…

The full magnitude of my thoughts hit me, and I look to Ahsoka. She will not like it, but it might work… It just might work.

Time to go on the offensive.

"Tree-Hugger, we need to get back now. I need to grab Ribs for a quick chat. I have a plan, and, for once, I need him."

He nods. "Agreed. Let's go back."

After a quick goodbye to Tree-Hugger's newfound family, as well as promises to return soon for a family gathering and introduce his family to the rest of his family, we step back through the portal to Forge.

"Varus!" Ahsoka calls as we walk hurriedly out of the temple.

I stop and avoid looking at her. Just thinking about my plan has me feeling guilty.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not." She says in understanding. "You look like you're in pain. A lot of it. You're closed off and not thinking rationally."

I scoff. "Trust me, Love. Right now, I'm thinking more logically than I perhaps ever have. I don't feel anything."

"That's because you're in so much pain you've closed yourself off to it…" She looks like she is in pain too just looking at me. Damnit… she's crying.

I look away. That's the last thing I need to see. "Love… just… I love you, but I need to… do something. Right now we don't have time to stop and help me get over this, even as much as I want to. Right now… we just need to act. Once things calm down we'll get through this, promise."

I hate it… because this may be the one promise I can't keep.

"Okay." She looks at me worriedly, but thankfully drops it.

I immediately run to catch up and get into the transport. I call up Ribs and have him meet us for a private meeting. "Tree-Hugger, Koj, I need you both at the meeting to discuss what I have in mind. I have a plan, and I will need help from all three of you to pull it off, but it can turn things around."

They agree, albeit looking at me with concern as well. I can't say I care.

Ribs meets us at the landing zone and Tree-Hugger asks the others to give us some privacy. Ribs has a ship of his own and we enter it to talk.

"What have you called me for?" He asks.

"I have a plan to destroy the Eternal Hand at the source, Nihilus, the Starkiller Legion, and Leland all in one move." I announce. "In turn, I also surrender."

Suffice to say, that gets his attention. "That must be one hell of a plan… your going to surrender to them?"

"No. To you."

"Beg your pardon?"

I sigh. "Don't make me lay it out for you. Take care of my mother, make sure she is well taken care of, and I give up the Keeper line."

His eyebrows raise up past his eye-cloth and Tree-Hugger tries to stop me, but I throw his hand off my shoulder. "You give up. Just like that?"

"Yep. I never really cared except in regards to mother, and right now I care even less than I have ever cared before."

"Varus!" Tree-Hugger yells, but I pop him the finger and keep my attention on Rebhorn.

Rebhorn, despite how much of a victory this should be for him, doesn't look pleased. If anything, it's a victory he didn't want it appears. He looks almost… saddened by it.

He asks, "What is this plan of yours?"

I explain my plan and by the end of it, they are silent.

Rebhorn nods slowly. "That's why you surrendered… I see… I had no doubt Leland was a foe, but the Eternal Hand? That is news to me. Do you doubt the source of your finding?"

"No."

He nods again, "You know… the plan might just work."

"It's stupid!" Tree-Hugger yells. "Not to mention the number of people it will hurt!"

"That is perhaps what he is relying on…" Koj mutters sadly.

Tree-Hugger looks at me like he has never seen me before. "Do you have any idea… ANY idea what your plan will do to them? To HER?"

Yes, I do. But its also the only way.

"You have to admit, though…" Koj says slowly. "It can end the war practically overnight. The pieces are in place, and the opportunity is there waiting for us to take advantage of it."

"Now is not the time for logic!" Tree-Hugger argues. "Varus, you are not thinking! You're in so much pain that-"

"I know I'm in pain!" I yell. "But I want you to stop and think who else is going to do it! Who else can fight the Starkillers one on one!?"

Tree-Hugger looks at me long and hard. "If you do this to the Starkillers… If you turn back… even Ahsoka may not forgive you."

I look away and feel his words impact my heart. I know that already, damnit. I don't need to be told. I'm in so much pain just thinking about it. To think that even Ahsoka may not be able to forgive me…

But it is exactly for her, for my family, that I choose to do this. I'll be her rage, and I'll take it to them. I'm ready.

"That's why I need your help…" I whisper.

"You want me to look her in the eye and tell her this bullshit… That's my role?"

"Yes."

Tree-Hugger punches me in the jaw clear across the room. I look up at him firmly despite the blood in my mouth. He looks livid and his openly angry, shocked expression is like he has never seen me before. "I'll do it." He says. "But do not show your face to me again until you are on your knees begging her for forgiveness."

I spit blood out of my mouth. Tree-Hugger turns to leave, but stops briefly to add something. "You know, I was skeptical at first about you two. You were more like siblings than a flirty couple, but Padme showed me otherwise. You two fought a lot, but it worked out, and recently I thought you had finally gotten to a point where I didn't have to be skeptical at all, that she was right. That you were good for Ahsoka. She wants to find her family because her family in the Jedi had abandoned her one time too many, and you rid her of that feeling of abandonment. The part that sucks is to know, finally, that I was the one that was right all along."

I watch him leave. No one moves to help me up. Fine, I stand on my own and spit more blood out of my mouth. He really wasn't holding back when he hit me.

Koj looks to me and says, "He doesn't mean it. He regretted saying it as it left his mouth."

"Whatever." I mutter. I wipe the blood from my mouth and have to do the same for my nose. The knockout punch also caused another nose bleed.

"Not like it will be too bad." I say. "He thinks I'll go too far, but I'm not stupid. I'll do what I need to do and get back without taking risks, then I'll do whatever it takes."

"It is better to have done nothing wrong than to have to ask for forgiveness…" Koj replies.

"Yeah, well. This is war. She will understand. Let's head back. The sooner the better. Should take us an hour at maximum Warp."

* * *

One moment everything was nice and peaceful. Men went about their way, the Galen children played, and the Revanchist considered their next move. The talks had been going well, and those that had an idea of what to expect from Varus' sudden departure, as well as his Jedi friends, anticipated something big was coming. They had to downplay the event to keep the other ambassadors from getting paranoid, esspecially as they weren't allowed to leave. (Neither was Varus, technically.)

The next moment, it was chaos.

Explosions ruptured all through the space station, lightsaber battles with the Force being thrown around like cannonballs filled the halls, and over all of it was the Ravager. The Ravager fired on everything around her. Being a Leviathan-class starship, she had the firepower of three Dreadnaughts. Orbital Ion cannons on the surface fired back and successfully neutralized her, but could do little to cause lasting damage. Fighters did little more than act as cannon fodder in the most literal sense of the word, bombers couldn't get close, and the ambassador's transports were quickly turned into debris to fall to the planet in balls of fire.

In the midst of it Nihilus chose Luke Skywalker as his vessel. He closed the boy's eyes and quickly consumed him from the inside. To his surprise, the boy did not die. His life was perfectly intact within his body, and in this way his life was separate from Nihilus even with his touch. Nihilus killed by creating Force Bonds most of the time, and for some reason he could not do it with the boy. He could control the boy's body and act from within it, but he could not touch his life.

Luke/Nihilus opened his black eyes and looked around. Leia, Nihilus realizing as the boy's twin sister, looked on him with pure unadulterated terror. This had to be a living nightmare for her. But it was more than that… she was in complete awareness of him, of what he was, and of what he was doing. She felt him as closely as Luke did.

A small corner of his mind felt her, and he realized the two were linked. Nihilus could easily consume her through it as well. It wouldn't be hard. Just a touch, a thought. Little more than a whim and he could extend into her through the back of her mind, wouldn't even need to force himself down her throat and eyes like he did to Luke.

But he didn't feel the need. He had bigger priorities.

"What are you?!" A woman yelled behind him and Nihilus turned to behold their mother. She was also filled with terror, but of a different kind. She would probably kill him if she could, but with him being a part of her son like a parasite, it was hardly the logical choice for her emotionally.

"I am Nihilus, Lord of Hunger." He answered.

She pulled out a pistol and pointed it at his face right between the eyes. "Give me back my son, you son of a-!"

Nihilus was not intimidated. He stared into her eyes from the other side of the pistol and considered. She was a mother, so logically she would be uncooperative to any statement he made nor would she be in understanding as to why he did it. Still, time was not something he had an abundance of now and he would rather focus his attention where it needed to be.

"Five years ago, I made a promise with Skywalker. If Skywalker took my Starkiller from me, I would repay him in kind. He has made the first move, and so I am merely… fulfilling a contract."

If anything, his statement only seemed to make her angrier, more volatile, yet she had a strong will and didn't lash out or fire.

Nihilus continued to explain, "For the last many months, I have held this ship and its crew hostage. Varus knew, but if he uttered a word, I would have killed everyone. A few lives to protect myself? I, who both fears and is feared by the coming Sith? Who are they compared to me. It is only reasonable towards the greater good that the one who is feared by the enemy be the one protected. Now, I no longer can hide. They know I am here. They are coming. And I am the only one who can fight them. Shoot me, if you wish, but it will not hurt me. In fact, I offer you a deal."

She looked on him like he was insane.

Funny enough, Nihilus didn't doubt it. Crazy people don't know they are crazy. Nihilus knew he was crazy, so he wasn't crazy. Insane people had a foundation and perspective of reality like any other. They were considered insane merely because their perspective was different from the norm.

So yes, Nihilus was insane. He didn't doubt it. He was different in the way that a diety was different from insects. He saw the galaxy from a larger perspective. These… people… were simply incapable of seeing it the way he did, and their inability to understand lead them to believe there was something wrong with him.

How crazy is that?

Nihilus explained, "The Starkiller clone legion has come for me. If my guess is right, then all of them are here. They cannot kill me, but there is still a way they can… capture me. However, they will kill your son in the process to do it. If you will aid me, and prevent my capture, then I will return your son to you when I have killed them all."

"As if I will ever help you!"

He ignored that and explained further, "From what I sense, the two points of control is the station and the Ravager. It is around these two points that the battle is being waged. You do not command the Miraluka, but they do respect you and will be much more cooperative with you than with me. I suggest, for the sake of everyone present in this battle, that you attempt to regain control of the ship. Do so and it will turn the tide."

The woman looked between the others uncertainly. It was a sound plan, but coming from him? Nihilus knew they were skeptical and wondering what the catch was.

The catch was that he didn't sense any Eternal Hand on the station. The Starkillers could not capture him directly, only the Eternal Hand could, hence why the Starkillers depended on them so much. He didn't sense any of those dang crystals except on the station. Only on the Ravager. If they would deal with whoever has that crystal, he could deal with the others.

She started to waver. Even as a mother, her sense of what was the greater good was coming into play. There were many lives at stake.

Nihilus couldn't be bothered waiting for an answer and departed. She would do her part or she wouldn't. Either way, Nihilus intended to kill them before they got him.


	79. Ep16 - Marek Unleashed Part 2

**Episode 16 - Marek Unleashed Part 2**

* * *

Victoria Marek may be blind as a natural Miraluka and physically handicapped, but she wasn't deaf. The explosions set her on alert and the children, her children, scrambled to hide around the room.

"Shhh, it's okay." She told them gently.

"No! They have come for us!"

"Where's Galen?"

"I don't know, but I am sure he is very worried about you, so let's just wait patiently for him." She said. She had grown strong enough on Forge to speak more fluently.

The children, being children, were not influenced easily by words, even words from their newly adopted mother. Or, perhaps, esspecially words from their newly adopted mother. It was too new. They had only been adopted yesterday. They had been raised by Galen Marek and considered him their foundation.

She tried her best not to sigh as they continued to panic.

As the Chosen to the former Keeper, she was both a skilled Miraluka Seeker and the preserver of the Miraluka network.

As the Chosen, she opened herself to the network, the union of thought and emotion, and struggled not to scream from the migraine and barrage hitting all of her senses. She delved furhter into it and focused on the Miraluka around her. All through the ship she saw what her people saw.

The Ravager had its own droid flowing through it. The flying droids called faeries repaired it, and with upgrade from the Star Forge added security droids to the list.

And the Ravager had gone out of control. The doors were shut. The crew was isolated from each other and the droids were systematically taking them apart one by one. The Ravager was allowing entry from a few outsiders that looked incredibly like Galen, and were hostile while looking through the ship room by room, and Leland was standing in the bridge watching it all play out.

One of the imposter Galen's was nearing their door.

Okay, they were just a bit doomed.

"Children, to the back of the room!" She ordered them. She took hold of her wheelchair wheels and moved to the door. She pulled a pistol out of a side-pocket that she kept on her, and aimed it at the door.

Starkiller opened the door and walked in.

Two Revanchist in the room turned on Starkiller. They lasted seconds. He sent a wave of lightning into the first, sending him across the room where he fell to the ground dead. The second was cut down before he even raised his sword. Starkiller was simply too fast for him to react.

Victoria gulped. Fear crippled her just as much as Nihilus' touch did. She knew well what her family was capable of, and thereby, what a clone of them was capable of as well. She was nothing compared to him. All she could do was sit and wait to die.

She had known her son, and therefore the clones, were capable killers, but to witness the casual tethality of it was breathtaking. She had seen duels where you practiced form and exercised strength. Starkiller didn't do that. He did not waste his time making it a duel of strength or form, he went for the kill from the start.

Starkiller was different. He didn't fight his enemy; he killed his enemy.

Starkiller scanned the room briefly before locking eyes with her. He turned his head in consideration, and then recognition. He recognized her.

A long moment passed. Victoria felt her heart beating out of her chest. Every moment she anticipated the ways she would die, but it didn't come. The expectation, one idea after another of how it would end, nearly drove her insane.

"Where is Nihilus?" Starkiller asked, at last.

"I don't know." She answered honestly.

Again, a long moment passed. This time, Victoria got the impression he wasn't going to outright kill her. If he wanted to, he would have. It was simple as that. Instead, he did as his father did (whether he knew that or not) and chewed on his tongue in thought.

He narrowed his eyes and chewed on his tongue. He sighed. "Come. There's an escape pod nearby."

"What?" She blanched. He wasn't going to kill her? Kill her children? His fellow clones?

He gestured to the door. "This way. I'm not going to kill you." He turned his eyes to the children _trying_ to hide behind her. "Any of you."

The children don't move, and Victoria watches him a moment. She judged the situation.

Her son was practically incapable of lying. He was brutally honest... he was almost too stupid to lie. Not because he was unintelligent, but because it takes a particular charisma to lie.

And with Varus/Galen making bad first impressions on every occasion, it becomes predictable. He lacked that certain charisma, or perhaps caring to learn how to have charisma. So far as Victoria knew, he didn't care to learn how to get better at it except with his girlfriend.

But there was one thing that Varus, Galen, and Starkiller did have in a positive way. Their honesty and idea of promises given to them by Nihilus. They may react to his lack of emotions with extremity, but they did pick up some of his OCD. Even though they will deny it.

"Do you give us your word?" Victoria asked.

Starkiller hesitated briefly, but nodded firmly. "My brothers are on the space station. Few are here and they are capturing the ship... I will make sure they do not touch you."

Victoria nodded. "Let's go children. Hurry."

The Galen children ran to her and pushed her along, and Starkiller took the lead. Explosions somewhere in the ship rocked them, but they were steady. Victoria considered him further.

He was going to ensure they did not touch them...

That was a confusing thought. Did that mean he had conflicted allegiance? As if picking up her thoughts, he explained, "They are too busy killing the crew and hunting Nihilus to pay attention to who you are. They would not harm you if they realize who you are." He glanced to her. "We remember."

That surprised her. She looked to him, no longer as an enemy clone, but as an abandoned son like all the others. They recognized her. She always did know and recognize them, but for it to be mutual...

They made it to a set of escape pods and Victoria ordered the children in. They were small enough to fill them despite their numbers.

Starkiller kept watch by the door, and for a moment ran out as the children clambered into the tubes. Victoria cringed at the sound of death just outside the room. Starkiller returned quickly. His mercy did not extend to anyone else...

The children clambered in and Starkiller shut the doors behind them. Victoria had trouble standing to do it.

"Now for you. The Ravager will not shoot her own escape pods, even under Leland's control." He said.

"You don't have to do this..." She tried.

"Yes. We do." He said firmly.

He looked down the hall worriedly before picking the woman up and hauling her into the escape pod. She protested and squirmed as he struggled to get her into the confined space. She was a tall woman, and shall we say slightly obese what with having been confined to a bed for twenty years.

"Listen!" He insisted. "We have to do this! Just as we remember you, we cannot forget what Nihilus is! We cannot forget the betrayel of the Jedi, and we will never lose our hatred and guilt and fear! You do not offer hope! There is none! Leland is at the helm, we are capturing the Ravager, and we will destroy the station after we have Nihilus!"

"But your brothers are on it!"

"They know. We will be content to die if only it means taking Nihilus with us."

Starkiller managed to force her into a seat and started to strap on her harness when she managed to grasp something under her seat and hit him over the side of the head with a 'KROOOM'.

He fell unconscious onto the floor and she looked at her hands. A frying pan? Who leaves a frying pan lieing around.

She sat there a moment catching her breathe.

Leland was at the helm...

She couldn't stay here long. She shook her head and struggled out of the escape pod. She hit the buttons and launched them all.

She stood there a moment, collecting her strength. She was weak, literally crippled, but also stronger than she had been in twenty years. Spending time on Forge, breathing its air, and living on a planet that was so full of life had given her more vitality than she had had in years.

And Leland was at the helm. The thought made her cold. It was a powerful thing, being a mother. She could watch him grow and develop, and know him. She knew her son better than anyone.

But then again, she also knew her son better than anyone...

* * *

The silence was suffocating to Koj.

They were on route from Forge to the summit again, but the journey was silent and difficult. There was too much ignoring each other.

Skywalker kept his attention on their path. He didn't turn or glance away, but kept his back firmly against them all.

In the same way, his brother, Varus sat with his attention squarely ahead. He leaned back, his arms looped together, and he glared at the opposite wall. He didn't look angry, but Koj had also never seen him so... walled off. Varus was the type to react outwardly. He yelled, he raged, he acted childishly, but he was never silent about his anger unless it was so deep he couldn't blow it off so easily.

Ash minded her own business with Cahj.

Koj glanced to Ahsoka. He... wasn't sure what to make of her.

When he first met her, she was just another girl. She was Varus's friend. They met once. Years later, she had tried to capture Varus and him under false pretenses, and she was just another of the Jedi murderers. As she was a friend of Varus, and her attempted capture was under false pretenses, he allowed her entry on the ship with minimal fuss. But she was just supposed to be a friend... They both treated it like friendship, but failed to have a proper friendship in the sense that they treated it stronger and deeper than just a mere friendship.

Koj didn't know what to make of it. He knew of marriages. He had been married, his parents were married, and many in his tribe had been married as well. It was as though Varus and Ahsoka had no idea what they were.

Now that Koj was no longer under the hold of his hatred and could see the galaxy with fresh, unburned eyes, he wondered how things had shifted yet again. He mentally listed all he had seen... One tackle, a few kisses spread across different parts of the face, endless glances, one time she grabbed his arm to get him to listen, followed by him naturally listening just from a touch, and they had spent nearly ninty-nine percent of their time in arms reach of each other holding hands. And all of this while being shy enough to acknowledge an emotional impact, yet not so shy as to be put off by it. Varus was a lot more casual about it, but then, Koj also recognized that was his way of being shy and keeping it outside his skin. He was complicated like that.

It had evolved greatly. Koj could no longer ignore it. Their relationship was no longer an isolated situation, it had an impact on everyone just by existing. Marriage was easily down the line and, whether they wanted to acknowledge it or not, part of the marriage would involve being married into the family. She would be Koj's sister-by-law... sister-in-law? Sister-through-law? Something. She would be the wife of his brother. That meant a relationship between her and Koj as well, and Cahj. In a sense, it also meant that Koj would also not be able to ignore whatever relationship he had with Skywalker, as he was, for all extents and purposes, the father figure of them.

Which worried Koj. Normally, he would take it as it goes and take the time to set aside an hour to discuss the reality of the situation with each of them in turn, and his position within the growing family.

And Varus' plan threatened to shatter all of that.

It was practical. It was smart. It was something that could bring the war to a quick resolution. It was something that ONLY Varus could do...

It was also stupid. It didn't just threaten to break a lot of people, it USED that! IT DEPENDED on hurting a lot of people to work. The more it hurt, the more successful it would be.

Koj had kept his peace and sided with Varus in the argument about it, because it was practical. It was for the greater good. It was the kind of victory that could turn the war in their favor and save the galaxy. (And there are tens of billions of systems in the galaxy, mostly unexplored. There's just too many.)

But at what cost? Wasn't the concept of 'the greator good' the exact concept that killed the Ghorfa? Wasn't the concept of 'greator good' the exact thing that Varus dislikes so much about the Jedi?

People reach for the idea of a greater good, only to find it is an ideal that is beyond our reach, and they sometimes become monsters in trying to reach it. They don't even know how much damage they cause in trying. Rather than just doing their part... doing what is within reach. Doing what they know they can do, or going just beyond that a tiny bit to push themselves.

No one man can fix the galaxy's problems. That is the reach of a god, and people only turned to monsters in trying to be one. People cannot be gods. They are too flawed. They are too selfish. They have too little perception or understanding, even if you have an IQ of ten million, you are still limited.

Before, Koj had kept his peace, but now... he couldn't stomach it. This... Jedi, this woman, this... potential sister-in-law was looking between two stubborn obstinate men wondering just what the hell happened. She was hurt, she was confused, and no one was obliged to explain.

Koj couldn't say anything without causing irreversible damage... Not involving the plan at least. But he was NOT going to just abandon his brother. Not after his brother reached into the jaws of death and Void to pull him out.

"Mrs. Tano, if I may have a word." Koj said to her. He nodded towards the door to the cockpit, and left without waiting for a response.

The shuttle was large enough for a few rooms, but it was hardly spacious. He figured he would have to whisper, just incase. A minute longer and Ahsoka followed him. "Yeah, what's up?"

"Varus is being stupid."

Ahsoka stopped and studied him, trying to get the context out of him just by looking. "He... tends to be. Is this about him having some spat with Sky-guy?"

"Yes." Koj replied. He was getting perilously close to crossing the line.

The plan was solid. It needed to be intact.

It also needed to have its damage reduced, or all of the healing and recovering Varus had done in his life, all that he had gained, would go up in smoke. Varus was a lonely man. there was nothing in him before, and now all that he had was family and friends. It was good to have that, of that there is no doubt, but Varus lacked the confidence to live without it. If he was left with nothing again... He wouldn't care if he lived or died.

Koj shuddered to remember what Skywalker had told him about what happened on Mandalore. How low Varus had fallen... And to think at the exact same time, he himself was falling.

Varus had someone to pick him up, Koj did not. Not till much later.

"What happened?" Ahsoka asked.

Koj looked away and considered his words carefully.

If he told her... it would do just as much damage as that plan itself.

But he could... warn.

"I cannot say, it is not my place. It is between them."

"Of course...?" She said questioningly. As though to ask 'so what am I doing here?'. First he asked her here, then won't tell her anything.

Ahsoka said, "You have to remember, he is also hurt. Dealing with you was... I'm sorry to say... predictable."

Koj raised an eyebrow.

"What I mean is... you were hurt BAD. It is easy to see how you would have lashed out and done what you did, not excusable, but also not hard to see happen. People react violently when they are upset. There is a chain of events that can be followed. But this whole thing with Leland now... that is... I'm sorry, but I didn't see that coming. Miraluka are isolated. They were hurt long ago, but they have moved on. and it's his family. If he didn't see it coming before, then it would be a big shocker."

"I do not know how much he could have predicted, I never met the man. Varus may have seen his inner nature and ignored it, or been oblivious. I do not believe it is our place to say what Varus saw." Koj responded cooley.

Ahsoka nodded. "Alright. but despite that, you can see what I mean about him being hurt easily?"

"Yes. He is hurting, and the pain is making him numb. But that is because he is running away from it."

Ahsoka recognized it and looked away painfully. Koj continued, "He is a traumatized, lonely person at his core. He feels unsafe. He may be a strong fighter, but emotionally he is never centered."

"We've been working on that."

"And from what I have seen, you have helped center him just as much as Cahj and I have. He was improving, but now he is reverting to his old self. He is ignoring his gut feelings and is in numb awareness of what is going on. He is hiding from himself. He is running away. He is fighting the enemy, yes, but he will do so alone. He will isolate himself to run away from the pain, and he will return to what he did with Nihilus. He will go down into the darkness and do what he thinks he has to do to fix everything."

Ahsoka's eyes widened. Koj had not brought up the plan, but now Ahsoka would figure it out just as much, to a degree. Varus was naturally a loner, he would go alone to face the enemy because that was where he believed he belonged.

Koj continued, "Varus faced Nihilus, alone. He faced the results of his mind-wipe WHILE in prison, alone. He faced his inner demons by sending himself into isolation in prison, on purpose. He took on your burden of rage on Starkiller, to bear, alone. He ran from the sight of Bastilla's head and the guilt of seeing what Starkiller was doing to die, alone. He went after me, alone."

Ahsoka hugged herself and leaned against the wall. Tears filled her eyes and she started to shake. Koj disliked showing Varus' bad side like this, but it was something they needed to face.

Ahsoka said, "At the temple... when Coruscant fell. Anakin was pulled in by Nihilus. Varus stopped to hold Nihilus back for a few seconds, for me, alone."

"Then you know what I am talking about."

"The last thing you said doesn't count, as we all acknowledged it was important for him to do without us holding him back. You were his greatest test, to see if he would return to... well... the Dark Side, despite his use of it. but I do see what you mean."

"He has ALWAYS fought alone. It might be he believes he has to, or it might be just from being used to it. He fought Nihilus alone, so why not fight everything else alone?"

Koj let it sit a moment for her to digest. She tried not to cry, but he could see the pain in her. She loved him. That only made it worse.

Damnit... she wasn't supposed to love him! Varus, just how stupid were you!? Varus was purposefully throwing EVERYTHING away!

Varus was still here, but he was run away to be alone inside himself and wasn't reacting to anyone or anything, with a stupid plan to hurt everyone to save them.

Koj shook his head to get rid of the thoughts. "Right now... Varus is at a low point. He will face his enemy, alone, because he believes he should. He believes he can. He believes it is how it should be. Don't think ill of him as though he purposefully isolates himself for the purpose of isolation. He isn't THAT self-damaging..."

"No. its just how he is, what he is used to. Teamwork is hard for him, of any kind. He just keeps moving. Always moving..."

Always moving. always running. Always running from his pain and guilt.

Koj couldn't be there for Varus... he knew the plan had to go on. As such, Koj had his part to play to make sure it worked. But Ahsoka...

Perhaps... the plan could be twisted, tweaked, made a bit differently so that it could not only be improved, but have less... damaging repercussions.

Koj lowered himself onto his knee to look her more closely in the eye. He was naturally a lot taller than her. Her head was at his chest level even as a grown woman. "You joined the crew to be his compass, his forgiveness, to help him get a foundation. To get him to stop running and facing everything alone. But right now, it is not the time for him to be tested. If facing me was his test, then right now is yours. As such I have one simple instruction for you: Do not leave his side. Not even for a moment. Not until we are all sure he won't do something stupid. Consider him to be in a self-destructive, almost suicidal mindset if you have to. You never leave them alone, so you shouldn't leave him alone right now. Do not leave his side."

Ahsoka looked deeply into his double-irises and nodded. She understood what he was talking about, and she looked resolved to do it. "I won't."

"Do not leave his side."

"Yeah."

"Do not leave his side."

"Koj..."

"I'm serious. If you get hungry, suck it up. If you have to pee, then just do it." He urged her. She gagged on his choice of words in embarrassment. But he didn't care. It was too important and serious to mince words. "Do not leave his side."

She nodded firmly.

Koj sighed and raised himself up. Now... it was all for hoping. On a more casual note, Koj asked, "I am curious, though. How did Varus get two bite marks?"

Ahsoka flushed in embarrassment. "Well... first time... I was emotionally drunk... Dark Side... lot of pain... bit him pretty hard."

"That really was you? I thought he was joking about it."

"Yeah, well. Then the second time... um... yeah... same reasons as the first. Only we... kind of liked it... and... yeah."

"What?" Koj asked, bewildered.

"Please don't ask me to explain further... by the Force, you're as clueless with some things as him!"

Koj just stared at her. He felt completely lost. That made absolutely no sense. And judging from how embarrassed she was... it was probably best to just move on. The only part he understood was that she was the one to bite him, twice.

"Let's go back to the cockpit. We should be arriving soon." Koj suggested. Ahsoka didn't even wait to respond before dashing away from that situation. "Don't leave his side!" Koj yelled as a reminder, again. "Not for a moment!"

For all their sakes.


	80. Ep16 - Marek Unleashed Part 3

**Note: Lots of exciting things happening now. I've had this chapter prepared for a while now. And this is also one of the chapters I referred to as a tear-jerker. I was literally crying my eyes out when I wrote it a while back. I am not holding back on the emotion department. If I can't feel it when I write, I don't expect you guys to.**

* * *

**Episode 16 - Marek Unleashed Part 3**

* * *

I breathe in and out slowly. Pain fills my belly, and my body aches. But my mind… my mind. Its sharper than ever.

"We're coming out of Warp soon. Judging from the long range scans, the Ravager is firing on anything that moves." Tree says.

"Why?" Ahsoka asks worriedly. "The Ravager is kind! May be full of the Dark Side, but she would never disobey Varus!"

"Not unless Nihilus orders her to."

"No." I reply darkly. I groan slightly. I've been holding it in, but talking let out some of my pain. But I turn it around and let it sharpen me. "Nihilus isn't that stupid, you know that. He won't broadcast his position like that. If he does come out, it will only be after the enemy finds him first. And with Leland… Leland might have gotten close. So yes, Nihilus might be acting, but right now, the bigger problem is the Ravager… and Leland." I look to Tree-Hugger. Still angry with him, but I need to keep it professional despite his distaste for me. "I will need you to hack in to the Ravager and get rid of a program."

"A program?"

I nod grimly. "The Stooges were working on a program to… put the Ravager on a leash. To cage her inside her heart and turn the Ravager into a normal ship. I didn't like it, but I allowed them to work on it just incase Nihilus tried to take my Ravager back. Leland supported them as well… and-"

"Used it for his own purposes." Tree-Hugger guessed. "Alright. Where do I go?"

"The Heart."

Talk over, Tree-Hugger turns back towards flying and I lean back and groan in pain. When was the last time I ate? Oh yes, it was a few days ago. I haven't had anything to eat or drink. Good. That's what I need. I wish I could extend the time I need to do this by another two weeks so I can continue fasting, but this will have to do. I can get the same results out of a few days' worth of fasting with some meditation.

I stand and leave the bridge room to meditate in silence. I sit, I focus, I breathe, I allow my Sith teachings to return. Jedi are good for preparing morals and knowing what you need to do, but I already know what I need to do. Meditating like a Jedi won't help me here.

I flick on my lightsaber and stare into it. The sight of red sends my blood pumping and my mind sharpens.

"When was the last time you ate anything?" Ahsoka asks.

I glance to her and turn back to my meditation. "I don't remember. A few days at least."

"That's not good for you, Varus. You need to eat something."

"No. Go away." I growl.

She takes a step back, hurt at my tone, but hardens herself and defies me. Damnit, I need to focus.

"I'm not going anywhere." She says.

I glare at her. She puts her hands on her hips and stands in front of me. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to focus, you're interrupting." Again, she looks pained by my tone, but only grows harsher for it herself.

For a long moment she watches me, before sighing and sitting across from me. "Explain this to me."

"What?"

"I'm not leaving you alone, and I will drag you to the kitchen to get something into you if you can't convince me not to." I narrow my eyes at her. "And you know I will. Even if I have to get Koj and Fly-boy here to drag you kicking and screaming while I shovel it into your mouth like you're an infant. You will not be pulling this childish-bullshit on me. I'm not your friend. I'm more than that."

…

I explain, "Fasting has a lasting impression on the body. I'm used to fasting for short periods of time, and over the long time it makes you healthier, have a moderate motabulism, and sharpens your mind with self-discipline and you learn how to focus even when your mind is clouded. However, short-term fasting has much more… powerful effects. The first week, all you can think about is food. All the steak and meat and noodles you can't eat while fasting, then then you forget about food altogether."

"You stop getting hungry?" She asks.

"Your thoughts turn to liquids. At first you want something sugary, a soda or juice. It spins around in your head constantly, and then it turns to water. All the water you can imagine. You're thirsty… so thirsty. It is at this point when your whole body starts to feel the effects. Your nerve endings and senses become more sensetive, the world slows down around you, and you think faster and your senses become much stronger. A sound you wouldn't normally hear becomes loud. Someone moving turns slow and you see the world in slow motion."

Her eyes grow wider.

"It's mental torment. It's the stage where you push yourself beyond your physical limits. Nihilus taught me that the greatest limit on our body is placed by our own minds, and different… meditations remove the limits."

"You…" She breathed. "You can't be serious. You're doing that to yourself?!"

"Ahsoka." I say firmly. "Starkiller and I are equals. Even now, we are physically equal. But he has the advantage. He is used to fighting and training and sparring with himself, with people as fast and powerful as himself. He is used to seeing and working at a level of speed I have never had to train with. Our bodies may be equal, but when we move, I am fighting a person I have never had to see move that fast, while he is used to it. And there are several of them. If I am going to fight Starkiller, I need to treat this as though I'm the weaker one, I'm the challenger to the champion. Every time I have had to fight a duel I believed I would… die in, I've prepared this way. Nihilus, various Jedi Masters. It has always given results."

"But it damages your body!"

"Which is better. To lose a few pounds and possibly start digesting some of my own muscles for a day or two, or death?"

Ahsoka shuts her mouth but looks like she is having a hard time swallowing it. Can't blame her, its agony. To see the world moving much faster than I can move is agony. But it gets worse. You can't sleep. Every sound, every touch, every sight becomes agony burning into my mind. I become so full of pain from a body aching for something to eat and drink that I become numb.

Fitting that my heart already feels numb right now.

"Ahsoka… I know how it looks. My fights with the Jedi all of my life could have been avoided by simply turning away from my path. I was the one on the offensive. I was the assassin. I fasted routinely alongside my training to keep myself sharp as a knife mentally. Then I learned how to enter the state of mind, what he called 'Gamma State', without starving for three weeks. But this fight, I can't walk away. If I do, Starkiller will kill us all. Starkiller is on the offensive, and I have to defend."

"Well, then I'm not leaving. I'll only let you do this to yourself provided I get to say when to stop."

"I'll stop when Starkiller is dead… and I've only fasted for 2 or 3 days so far." I argue.

"And?" She crosses her arms defiantly. "Haven't you ever heard of a weight-buddy?"

"A what?"

"When someone lifts weights, someone else has to be there to make sure they don't die in the process. If you insist on hurting yourself like this, I'm going to make sure you don't kill yourself and I'll pull you out of it when you're done even if I have to drug you."

…

"Don't do this to yourself. This is my burden!"

"Then what the hell am I to you!?" She yells.

I growl and grit my teeth. It's not supposed to be like this! This isn't part of the plan!

She's my lover. Last night pretty much proved that. That hasn't changed, not of its own violation, but outside circumstances are simply more important right now. The war, these people going around killing everything. I know Starkiller intimately. I AM Starkiller! I need to remove him, not just for the galaxy's sake, but for my own.

"Ahsoka. Try as I might, Starkiller and Nihilus still hold me back. I can't move on and have a life so long as they exist in it!"

"That doesn't mean pushing me away and hurting yourself! You want to do your special meditation, fine. As your girlfriend, I expect the right to at least be beside you while you hurt yourself. And if you got a problem with that, you can just grow up and deal with it."

I stare at her a long moment. She isn't budging. She is insistent on being here.

Fine.

At least I don't have to starve for two weeks to do this. Just two days is all I need and some time to meditate. I flick on my lightsaber and return my attention to it. I feel the Dark Side surround me, but at the same time, I feel Ahsoka. She's just out of my reach, but also close enough to be a rope line and also close enough to pull me back out by my hair if I don't come out on my own.

As numb as my heart is, I know I hurt her a lot. I'm still hurting her. Our relationship just evolved to a whole new level and I'm taking one gigantic shit on it. Right now, I don't care. I can't care. I'm trying, but I don't. I'm in too much pain.

I continue to meditate and slowly everything becomes sharper. I see more, hear more, feel more. The strings on my clothes, the bumps and creases, the smell of oil and rust and metal and sweat, the feeling of a rumbling engine and the effect of a shield bouncing space dust away as we fly at a speed many many times the speed of light. The glaring of suns and stars passing by the windows, like lightning striking in the night illuminating everything.

The world slows down and I feel every part of my body. I know exactly what every part of me is doing. I feel like a hummingbird.

I'm nearly there. Just a bit more.

"We're entering the system now." Tree-Hugger announces in the comm.

"The Ravager will not fire on us." I murmur quietly. "Even leashed, she will not hurt me. Even if it means Leland punishing her."

Ahsoka yells what I said, and Tree-Hugger replies, "I'll get us in. Get ready."

* * *

Mandalore was having a very bad day.

He felt a Starkiller's lightsaber come perilously close to his face and head butted the younger man. The impact was enough to shatter the man's skull. It was an ugly sight to behold, but his face was now utterly flat in an imprint of Mandalore's helmet.

A second Starkiller came at him from the side. Mandalore changed his robotic hand from a cannon to a bunch of lightsaber-fingers and managed to catch the attack, but Starkiller moved just as suddenly to the side for another. Mandalore threw his whole body against him into the wall with an impact of a thousand pounds worth of powered assault armor and cyborg surgery. A sickening crunch followed and Mandalore leaped away to see Starkiller fall to the ground in a boneless limp. If he was alive, he wouldn't be getting up.

He grit his teeth and glared at the other five in the room. His men were dying all around him. They were unused to fighting Sith. The laser bolts fired were thrown back at them and the Starkillers threw a barrage of Force PUNCHES (Not even Force Pushes, they were punching the air to do just as well.) that shot the air like cannons and lightning followed. One of the punches hit Mandalore in the chest and he went flying into the wall, which immediately crumbled on impact.

Mandalore groaned. He was getting too old for this.

Still, he was a born warrior. He wasn't about to go down without a fight. He shook his negative thoughts away and focused. He ignored his bodies ache (from spending too much time on a throne) and raised himself up.

A Starkiller came at him, and Mandalore obliged. He grabbed the lightsaber of a fallen Sith clone, blocked the initial attack, then dropped the lightsaber and rather grabbed the man's arm. At the same time Mandalore shifted his cybernetic hand back to a cannon. "Dodge this."

He fired point blank into the man's chest and blew a huge bloody cavity out of it. Not like the dead needed any use for lungs or a heart anyway.

He had seen a true Starkiller in action, and, frankly, these clones weren't it. They were Starkiller all right, but they weren't as powerful as the real thing. More like watered down versions. They were weaker versions of the chaos, the speed, the power, the sheer lethality of what he had seen in holovids.

Mandalore knew it. He knew it just as he knew the Voda Clan were watered down versions of Jango.

Jango Fett was a master Mandalorian capable of going toe to toe with a Jedi Knight, with minimal gear. The clones that followed could not. They were good, of that there was no doubt, and Mandalore would never take away credit where credit was due. But they also weren't authentically Jango.

Clones were good, up to a point. They had the memories, perhaps even the genes, to be just as good. But the originals, and the first clones in a set, always had an advantage of experience. Experience that gave them those memories, that gave them those genes, that made them worthy of being cloned.

You can't clone experience.

A Wookie with a lightsaber on a spear came at him, and Mandalore caught the staff in his hands. The Wookie pressed against him, and Mandalore allowed it. For a moment, he amused himself with the show of strength. The Wookie was young, not quite an adult. He wasn't at the age to fully develop all of his muscle. Otherwise, he might be a challenge. Mandalore crushed the pole in his hand and kicked him away before blasted him with a cannon shot.

The four remaining Starkiller's eyed him hatefully. They hesitated, and that gave him a moment to breathe. He was sweating already. He was breathing heavy. He hadn't done much in the way of moving, but he threw his weight around when he did with enough force to crush them. He wasn't going for love taps. He was going to flatten them.

From what Mandalore could recall, he wouldn't be getting reinforcements. The Revanchist had their hands full and were losing. The Shan's were a good team able to fight the Starkillers and win, but Galen's reported death shook the young lady to her core. She was very angry, but her anger wasn't trained like a Sith and would only last so long. It wouldn't fuel her.

Mandalore prepared and waited for them to come, only, he realized they weren't going to keep trying the same thing over and over. They weren't stupid. If they had trouble fighting him close, they would stay away.

A pair of Force blasts threw Mandalore back through the hole in the wall and into the opposite one. He climbed to his feet again, but a ripple of electricity stunned him. He felt no pain. The armor protected him. But it was powered assault armor. The attack short-circuited his armor, and he may be a man of great strength, but he couldn't properly move a thousand pounds worth of armor on muscle alone. The screen on his visor blew and he was left in darkness.

"Hello! Hello! Anyone!?"

Silence.

He was completely screwed.

He forced his breathing to calm and waited for the inevitable pain of a lightsaber piercing his gut, but nothing came. The visor rebooted itself and flickered back up to show… a child?

A child stood between him and the Starkiller Legion. He didn't recognize the child. The Starkillers did, though. They looked on the child with such unabashed and unrestrained hanger and hatred that it chilled Mandalore.

It was a child. No one should look on a child with that much hate. Only a master could-

The child turned to look at Mandalore, and in his eyes was darkness. A hollow chill went down his spine, and a feeling raised the hairs on his skin. He felt he was looking into an empty abyss, hollow, and infinite as empty space, yet filled with unseen demons.

He had only felt like this a few occassions. All of which was when looking on the face or mask of Nihilus.

Mandalore wanted to snarl and choke the child himself. Forget blaming the Starkillers, forget killing them, this… this devil was a monstrosity far more menacing.

The child looked back to the Starkillers, and Nihilus gazed on them. He said nothing. Yet it was not unfilled, he was clearly thoughtful.

With the moment over, Nihilus jumped… or perhaps flew… away. The Starkillers immediately followed with the intent of killing him.

Nihilus jumped from wall to wall, defying gravity freely, appearing and disappearing in one room after another, but teleporting in such small instances that he could be easily followed. One Starkiller clone after another caught sight of him, recognized him, and stopped fighting to chase after him. He went around the entire space station with them on his tail before being content he had found them all. He sensed no more Starkillers on the space station. The only remaining was one or two on the Ravager and one nearing the Ravager.

"Well, now." Nihilus looked to the Legion. "Just how many are you? Fourty-eight? Is this all of you that have been cloned? Then again, with how much you want me, I figure it just might be. Not one of you would miss the chance to be here. Pity, I expected more."

Nihilus tapped his little feet on the ground and stretched. "Do me a favor and not harm this body? I have a deal and it would be dishonorable for me to break a promise."

* * *

Reinforcements from various powers arrived in the system. While the summit was supposed to have standing guard only allowed, the six galactic powers still kept small fleets in the distance as a last precaution. The six fleets immediately focused their attention on the Ravager and the small squadron of Eternal Hand ships. The Eternal Hand had assault ships and frigates of various sizes, but they were little more than ants to the Ravager. They would have to combine their efforts on her, and even then there was a good chance they would lose. The Ravager was a leviathan class ship. She was simply that much larger, than much more powerful.

Leland heard a click, and through the Force, he knew what was happening.

He believed that everyone in life was a liar. People only smiled through gritted teeth while having a knife behind their back to stab everyone else in theirs. People were so competitive they would turn on anyone. People would find a single fault wrong with a child and cast it out…

And oddly enough it was to the exiles to whom they showed their true face. They had no need for a façade with people they truly hated. They could be as cruel as they wanted.

Only real hatred was true. Peace was a lie.

Otherwise, if Hatred was a lie, and love was true, then everyone would love each other. But reality proved otherwise in the galaxy. The competitiveness… the single-minded obsession to survive was just another form of hate. Because everyone else simply didn't matter as much as yourself.

And Leland knew that only in the end, when all need for facades and smiles was unnecessary, could a person show who they truly were. No lies. No need to hide. Only truth. Beautiful truth and understanding.

He had killed Galen Marek, and the man showed himself to be a fighter right up to the very end. His concerns and thoughts were for his wife and his siblings.

"So in the end… this is who we are." Leland said. "Mother."

He turned to see Victoria Marek, his mother, the woman who birthed him, pointing a gun at his head. Her face was determined. He saw in her eyes that her mind was made up and she was resolved to do what she needed to do.

For once, he hated being right.

Leland didn't say anything. He didn't move to defend himself. Explosions went off all around the ship, and the Ravager lurched as some explosions occurred within her hull, but the bridge held steady.

Leland didn't care enough about his life anymore to resist. Life was hell. There was no point in living. The universe was just full of liars and evil. What hope was there in it? Better to just do what you want while you live and accept the consequences with a smile.

But he couldn't smile.

For one thing, a part of him felt… amazed. He had known that exposure to Forge had healed his mother greatly, but for her to be able to stand? That was nothing short of extraordinary. She was in agony from the exertion, and looked on the verge of collapse just from standing there, but never in his life had he seen her stand, nor hold anything in her hands with strength or conviction.

For a moment, in what would probably be the final moment for himself, he figured, he felt pride for her. She had finally found the strength to stand.

And she finally found the strength to show him how much she truly hated him, at the end of a gun.

He had known her fear all his life. It was small at first, nothing more than concern, but he recognized it as it grew. It turned into glances, whispers behind his back, and eventually one day would be outright terror.

Even the terror in a sense was a lie. It was a cowards way of trying to reconcile weakness with hatred, but now… his mother was strong. She could embrace it and show him what he truly meant to her.

So Leland waited. He waited for her to shoot him in the face and end it. End his miserable existence. End his two-faced life behind a mask and a beautiful face he inherited from her. End the pain of having half a body made up entirely of bones like a skeleton that burned where it met flesh.

But she didn't fire. And Leland grew concerned. Was she pulling out of it?

"What's wrong? Too afraid? Too terrified of me to actually pull the trigger?"

"No."

"Too afraid to show me the truth of how much you truly hate me?" He spat. The gun wavered in her hand and shook violently. At this point she would most likely miss him but he didn't move.

He wouldn't dodge. He was prepared for her to kill him. He didn't care if he lived or died. If she fired, he would leave it up to the Force whether the bolt killed him. If she missed, then that was simply what fate decided.

"No…" Her expression was sad… pitying… even…

Loving. "How can I shoot my own son?"

Leland was about to ask what that was supposed to mean, but couldn't find the words as she fired.

Victoria Marek fell to the ground.

…

What?

"Mother?" Leland asked. Nothing.

What just happened?

"Mother?" Leland stepped forward, but there was nothing. She didn't make a sound.

Leland continued to walk to her. He didn't notice his steps became steadily more urgent. "Okay, Mother. You can stop playing now."

He walked up to her. The gun smoked in her hands and smoke came from the side of her temple where a bloody red and black burn mark was evident. He nudged her with his foot. His voice was oddly distressed, "This isn't funny, Mother."

He no longer noticed the explosions in the distance nor the sparks nor the violent shaking of the ship.

Leland stooped down and nudged her with his bandaged hand. She had always hated being touched by his bandages. She always preferred holding his fleshy hand.

She liked the touch of his skin. So he touched her cheek with his fleshy hand.

"Mother. You can wake up now. You don't have to sleep any longer. Mother? Mother?... Mo-Mom?" His voice dropped to be practically childish. He hadn't called her 'mom' since he was very very young. It was too informal for a prince.

"Mom? Mom? Mom?" He nudged her harder, and harder. His voice grew progressively younger and younger until he was sounding like an infant.

He stopped and looked at his bandaged hand on her face, looked at the brief exposure of white skull on her temple where she had shot herself, and the smoke that billowed out of her gun. She wasn't moving.

It all came flooding back to him and he knew… She was dead.

Something cracked.

Leland's face dipped down till his hair covered his eyes. A gentle sound escaped his lips.

At first, it was minute, little more than a quiet 'heh'. Then that sound was repeated again and again until Leland chuckled. The chuckling only grew in volume with each breathe until it seemingly threatened to fill the room and be heard across the ship. Gentle tears dripped from his chin.

Leland threw his head back in howling laughter.

It grew at a steady rate with the pain in his heart. Pain he could not recall ever feeling in his life. It was unlike anything he knew, and it was located in a part of him where he never recalled feeling anything. It was new! It was powerful and amazing! It filled him through and through and drove him to laugh and cry harder!

His eyes had lost their intensity. No longer were they shielded and conveyed manipulated feelings such as comfort, gentleness, and compassion. No longer was his eyes angry or destructive. Something new and unprepared had taken hold: madness.

"Yes!" He laughed and cried. His grin threatened to encompass his whole face in a twisted parody of a façade he was used to wearing. "Yes! This is the truth of it! It all comes out in the end! I love you mother! And now I know you loved me!"

Wanting to relish more in the pain, Leland ripped at his bandages. His fleshy hand scraped against hard bone and bled, and he loved it. He ripped the bandages off, threw the mask aside, and revealed himself to the world.

No more lies! No more pretending! No more pain! No more hatred! Only understanding!


	81. Ep16 - Marek Unleashed Part 4

**Note: Here we go. Finished the episode, so consider this a double feature!**

* * *

**Episode 16 - Marek Unleashed Part 4**

* * *

Admiral Rebhorn gasped.

One moment he was standing on a hill overlooking the work being done. The Ghorfa were having constructed a small village for them. The Ghorfa themselves were expected to help with some of the lesser tasks. It seems the endangered species laws insists they don't put themselves in a position to have an 'accident' such near nails and power tools. Rebhorn was not going to go so far as to wait on them hand and foot, but he saw the practicality in preventing 'accidents' from happening.

Though it still seemed like baby-proofing the planet for a group of thirty-something adults…

The next moment, he felt something rip his heart out.

It was not a painful tear. He felt nothing penetrate his body. He did not feel his heart leave his flesh. But the absence was still there. His eyes felt gouged out and all was blurry and limited. His thoughts shouted at him when he had them, otherwise they were agonizingly silent. There was a hole in his chest, in his vision, in his mind. Everywhere he looked or perceived, something was missing. The Miraluka did not see the world in color, but at this moment he felt color-blind.

He struggled to breathe right. His lungs pained him and the absence of his heart sent fire into his chest. He wanted to scream just to fill his empty thoughts and not feel as though he was being swallowed by the Void. He perceived Nihilus all around him, that infinite abyss that was a living boogieman to them. Nihilus did not hide under beds, but within their very thoughts and hearts, it was an emptiness, loneliness.

He felt alone. He was surrounded by attendants and fellow Miraluka, but he felt completely alone.

Judging from the groans and moans of the others, they were in pain as well. One in the distance was screaming "Make it stop!'. One beside him said, 'So cold…'. And another said, 'Where did everyone go!?".

"What… what is happening?" Rebhorn asked openly.

"Were we attacked?" Someone asked.

Rebhorn called out a quick sound-off, and everyone was accounted for. The Miraluka all around them were in a state of panic and terror, and stopped their work to rally to the Admiral. The Admiral reminded himself to breathe in and out slowly. He needed to calm his beating heart, but he found no comfort in it. There was no comfort in practicality. Even as he knew he wasn't dead, he felt he had been torn asunder.

They were not attacked, otherwise people would be dead or taken prisoner. However… that didn't mean there wasn't an attack elsewhere. "Get me in contact with the village, the Fleet Mother, and anyone else we can grab!" He ordered.

His men set to work, but he could tell they were too busy trying to keep their heads together and not panic to be efficient.

Why did he feel so utterly alone? His brethren were all around him. He… he was alone even among them.

…

He couldn't hear their thoughts, feel their presence, feel the warmth and comfort the Miraluka's inner flame provided. He was cold, alone inside his own mind, and caged within his flesh.

"Sir! We have the Fleet Mother!" Someone said. He could not have spoken soon enough, Rebhorn was already on the verge of panicking from the extended silence of waiting for the call to be picked up!

"What is it? Is everything okay? Are we under attack?!" Rebhorn demanded.

"They report they don't know, but… it's hard to make out sir. They are panicking and in pain just as much as us. What I can get is that there is mass panic on the ship. There are reports of everyone feeling… alone and cold and surrounding in darkness."

Rebhorn forced himself not to shiver. It was exactly how he felt.

The reports from the village and other communications were all the same. The people in charge had no idea what was going on, they were out of touch with each other even standing five feet apart, they were not engaged in active hostilities with an enemy force, but there was still mass panic. Uncontrolled riots and anarchy was filling the streets in a combination of fear, panic, and just simply trying to find each other.

A horrifying realization came to him, and Rebhorn felt himself pale. "I think I know exactly what is going on." If it was true… then everything he had believed was wrong. And only guilt awaited. "In my… discussions with the Mistress, she warned me something like this would happen. I thought us stronger… I thought us able to exist and live independent of such traditions."

"What traditions sir?" One of them asked.

"The Network… The Miraluka Force Bond Network." He hissed. "That cursed network of bonds that cages us to this… this fate! We are like drug-addicts without the drug now!" He gasped for breathe. The effect was weakening him. He felt chill to the bone.

So alone…

He was having a panic attack. They couldn't live without it… The future generations might be able to be weaned off it, bit by bit, but that would have to be a move done over hundreds of years by a series of leaders who agreed it was for the best! He had NO idea it was this bad! He had no idea how much they depended on it, how much a part of their very soul it was… not until it was gone.

He gasped. Victoria…

She held the Network intact inside her. If it was gone…

"No…" He tried to deny it. He tried, he truly did, but he was a realistic man. He didn't lie to himself. He had made a mistake… A very big mistake. He may have doomed his people.

* * *

We land amongst a load of Ravager droids that decide, HEY! It's the enemy! Let's walk right up to them and fire from point blank range with long range weapons!

I swear I taught her to be smarter than this…

I jump out of the ship in a blaze of lightning and tear apart droids by the dozens. I move from one to another in fractions of a second, and in fifteen seconds flat I have fifty dead droids falling to the ground.

"Damn." Tree-Hugger comments. He observes the damage with a hint of amazement. "Did you drink an expresso or something?"

I give him the finger. Ahsoka says, "He meditated himself into something called the 'Gamma state'."

"What's that?" Koj asks. He steps down from the ship and helps his down daughter as well.

Tree-Hugger says, "I've heard of it. It's a state of mind where you are incredibly reactive to instinct and sensory overload and-."

They are talking too slow. I swear, they're a bunch of slugs! I run off towards the bridge.

"And there he goes…" Anakin sighs. Ahsoka ran off after Varus.

"Is it just me, or is this 'game state' only making him MORE crazy?" Koj mutters.

"It's a real state of mind. The world slows down, your hand-eye coordination jumps to extremes, it pushes your senses to its limit. People are born with filters, Koj. We see everything, technically, but we blur out anything we aren't focusing on because otherwise… imagine seeing every detail of everything in your field of vision evenly, hearing every sound no matter how small, feeling every nerve on your skin light up. It is very stressful on the brain."

Koj stared at him. "And that's healthy for him to be doing? In THIS state of mind?"

"No. I don't know what the hell he's thinking." Anakin growled. "But too late now. None of us could catch him if we tried. I'll head to the Heart and see what I can do. I would suggest you head for the brig, it's the most secure place here. Hopefully the survivors are holding up there, and you should be able to find it safe enough for Cahjinawl."

In the event of a boarding, many brigs were transformed into the final layer of defense just because of how secure they were. Depending on the situation, even the prisoners were allowed free temporarily if they would serve their country in return for a shorter sentence.

* * *

Nihilus was a patient man.

He was devoid of emotion. He was at peace. He was one with the Force. Devoid of ambition, of hate, of fear, of any of those ridicules human emotions to hold him back from doing what he had to do for the greater good in bringing balance to the galaxy. In just about every logical manner, he was the ultimate form of the Jedi code.

All he had to do was stand, and wait. The Starkiller Legion numbered around forty-eight, and he measured them and found them wanting. They were weak, far too weak to measure up to him or his apprentice. They were mockeries of the original. True, Nihilus felt there were a few among them that were good, and one on the planet who was Varus' equal, but the masses were little more than fodder clones put through a rushed manufacturing just for the hope of getting some quick Sith blood.

As he anticipated, one of the Starkillers ran at him to cut him down.

Nihilus had no lightsaber, but then, he didn't need one. A lightsaber was little more than an extension of your body and your power, a way to extend yourself beyond your born limitations. Nihilus had few such limitations.

He wrapped himself in the Force to absorb any lightning or Force-based attacks they might use, and he acted. Nihilus jumped into the air and kick the first Starkiller in the throat with both feet. The young man's neck snapped and he fell to the ground.

The Legion, now having Nihilus surrounded, ran at him as one.

Nihilus landed on his/Luke's hands upside down and Force pushed the ground. He launched himself into the air, kicking another Starkiller in the chin and snapping the connection between skull and vertebrae.

He limbly landed on another's head and played soccer with it, literally. He kicked his target so hard in the side of the head, his foot imbedded itself in the young man's skull, and sent part of his skull flying out the other side like a bullet into the eye of another Starkiller.

The body of the Starkiller he stood on didn't realize it was dead yet, and so he stood on a high enough pedestal to reach the rest. He blocked and deflected lightsaber and lightning-claw attacks with Force-shielded hands from all sides. He Force-grabbed the arms of two Starkillers trying to claw at him from both sides, pulled the arms with such force that it ripped them from their sockets, and spun while holding them like clubs, effectively throwing them into their comrades.

With the surrounding Starkillers knocked down, the ones behind them had a clear shot. They generated balls of energy and shot them at Nihilus/Luke. Nihilus jumped at the last moment while shielding himself, allowed himself to be shot into the air, and landed gracefully with his feet on the wall.

Not like he needed gravity.

The Starkillers though… kinda did.

Nihilus placed his feet together in a centered stance and raised a hand in a gesture of 'bring it'.

A barrage of Force-Cannons, and projectiles of all sorts they could grab to throw at him, rained on him. Nihilus nimbly evaded them, deflected the ones that came close, and Force-grabbed the ones he couldn't evade or deflect.

One would think they wanted him to break a deal and hurt the body… Though, to be fair. The boy would have some very bruised knuckles and toes when all is over… He might have broken the boy's toes. He couldn't tell. He didn't feel pain.

Not feeling pain allowed him to punch and kick as hard and as fast as he wanted, but it also had an annoying habit of breaking his hosts.

A series of larger projectiles being thrown at him forced him to jump from the wall. He slowed the largest projectile, a massive desk, with the Force, jumped onto it, and shot it back at them at the same time as jumping up off of it. He landed on his feet, upside down on the ceiling, and returned to the offensive.

He ripped the ceiling apart. Every wire, every metal framing, every light projector, every lightbulb, everything that wasn't an immediate part of the roof itself was ripped out and thrown at them. He danced and moved as freely as the wind across the ceiling, evading the projectiles thrown at him while also avoiding the annoying problem of standing on top of something he wanted to throw back at them.

Lightning struck the ceiling around him and rippled to where he stood. He felt himself go limp and fall from the ceiling. Pain or not, he was struck by lightning.

Damnit… He broke a promise. He promised the boy wouldn't be harmed if the lady would deal with whoever had the damn crystal.

He broke a promise…

HE BROKE A PROMISE!

Infuriated, Nihilus spun himself upright and slammed a Force-embewed fist into the ground on his landing. The metal around him rippled. Not many knew, but metal could be warped and rippled when hit with enough impact. The energy would travel and either explode out the end or shatter the metal at the hight of the ripples.

Nihilus didn't know which happened, but everyone in the room were knocked away into the air and the air exploded in a supersonic wave. With projectiles on the ground by the hundreds (broken glass, splintered wood, bent sharpened metal rods), and the impact…

First the Starkillers were knocked into the walls, then hit by an impact of wind hard enough to break bone, then barraged by hundreds of sharp metal/glass/wood with enough speed to pierce the metal hull behind them.

Only four Starkillers survived the impact. The rest were more or less crucified to the walls.

Nihilus/Luke rose to his feet and briefly gave a moment to breathing meditation. Simple as breathing in… and breathing out.

And he was at peace.

The four remaining Starkillers hesitated, but did not leave. Not that Nihilus intended to allow them to leave. Not after they had gone so far as to expose him. No no, this is what they wanted. He was simply giving it to them.

Nihilus wrapped himself in the Void. A mist enveloped him, and out of the mist, Nihilus showed himself as he was normally. A dark hooded skeletal presence in the Force. He floated a few inches off the ground.

He extended his hand. The Starkillers evaded and ran at him, but that didn't matter. His hand turns itself around like water and roped around a Starkiller. Even as he sucked away the man's life, he threw him at a brother, knocking a second one down. The third tried to cut Nihilus with a long thin piece of metal like a sword, but Nihilus jumped backwards over him, grabbed him by the head and neck, and snapped it around. He grabbed the man's makeshift sword and swiftly cut the fourth up the side of the head so fast and so clean, that the man's skull didn't explode or split. Rather, half his skull slid off cleanly.

The second man managed to stand back up, but Nihilus was already on him. He punched him so hard in the chest his heart went flying out his back. Not content with it, Nihilus punched him hard enough in the face to knock an eye out, then punctured his lungs with his own ribs.

Then, and only then, did Nihilus allow the final clone to fall and die.

Nihilus removed the Void shroud from himself and landed on Luke's feet. He popped a kink in his neck and examined his bloody knuckles.

Maybe Skywalker would be content with half a deal? The host was alive and not PERMANENTLY damaged. A few broken bones might build character.

* * *

Anakin and Koj ran through the ship.

The Ravager was their home. They knew it well. Yet now, their home had turned on them. At every impasse Ravager droids tried to kill them. Every door was shut tight. They had to use the Force to keep moving, and at times, it almost seemed the walls themselves moved and twisted against them, turning them around in a labyrinth. They came across survivors to rally at times, and after making their way to the brig found a small army.

Visas and a number of Miraluka were in combat with an army of Ravager droids and two Starkillers. Anakin caught Padme hiding in the back hovering over his daughter and trying to take a clear shot at the enemy. He motioned Cahjinawl and Ashley Marr to go to Padme, and they joined the fray.

Koj's body shrouded in the Void like a mist that grew and grew until he was encased inside a black skeletal monster. The monster had one hand, and he reached for one of the Starkillers. He took hold of the young man. The Starkiller screamed and strained against him, covering himself in Void and lightning to fight back, but Koj would have none of that. He squeezed. The young man was crushed inside the giant's hand. The final Starkiller turned to flee, but a hand exploded out of his back, and he fell to the ground dead. Luke stood in his place.

The Ravager droids did not last long without the Starkiller's support, and Anakin looked to Luke in amazement… and confused fear. Something… was off.

"Luke?" He asked. Afraid to believe what he was seeing. Luke was covered in blood and cuts. His knuckle bones were broken out of the skin and one of his feet looked… wrong. Luke glanced in his direction as he passed, and what Anakin saw sent a cold chill down his spine. He could only stare in horror.

Black eyes, empty and bottomless as the abyss. Nothing existed in the orbs, and Anakin felt himself falling… falling… every falling.

Nihilus.

Luke/Nihilus returned his gaze to Padme and said, "The station is cleared of the clones. There is one remaining on the planet. The only threat left is the one left for you to destroy. Leland still is at the helm. I will not go near him. As part of the deal, you must take care of him and I will return the boy to you."

Deal?! Anakin felt a bit of the world fall around him. What deal? What was going on?!

Padme, like Anakin, could only stare. Leia was numb in shock. While the boy's twin sister could not comprehend what she was seeing, Padme and Anakin could. A fury unlike anything Padme felt overcame her and she leaped on Nihilus. She would not hurt him, but she no longer had any intent of allowing Nihilus to use her son.

At the same time, Anakin reached his hands out to Koj. Koj, realizing what Anakin wanted to do, broke the top of his staff off and tossed it to him.

Nihilus, the Lord of Hunger, the Voidsmith, Destroyer of Coruscant, was contained into a crystal he did not know was near, because he did not taste the Eternal Hand on Koj. He was defeated because, while war and battle and science and philosophy and the Force was his art and his purpose, something as simple as family was beyond him. He had never tasted a mother's love, nor what one was willing to do. He had never seen a protective father, as his own had been an abusive drunkard. He was caught off guard and in the single moment of incomprehension, he failed.

The greatest weakness a warrior has is the blows they never see coming, because they, perhaps, cannot comprehend from where it comes.

Anakin held the crystal of Nihilus in his grasp and felt the confusion, the sense of betrayal, the FURY that emanated from it. "You!" The crystal seethed. A black mist filled the crystal and a skeletal face shoved itself up against the glassy surface. "We had a deal! You broke it! Why?! What is wrong with you!"

Anakin considered the question, and him. He knew Nihilus better than, perhaps, even Varus. He had been a host to Nihilus for years. And so, Anakin hated him, but he also pitied him.

"The fact that you have to ask that question, is why you lost." Anakin responded. "You pushed a mother over the edge, and you should have known I wouldn't sit for this."

Nihilus' fury dissipated and turned to a thoughtful analytical composure. He looked to the statement as though it was something to be dissected, which only made Anakin pity him more. "We had a deal. If you touched my apprentice, I would repay you in kind. So I did, however, I also made a deal with the woman. In return for you all taking care of Leland and keeping me from the Sith, I would return him to you. A very simple and compassionate deal, I'm sure you can agree."

In kind. A chill went down Anakin's spine at the implications of it and he felt suddenly sick. The monster did not go after Ahsoka… no. However, by his own logic, he should have. Ahsoka was to Anakin as Galen was to Nihilus… unless.

Unless Luke was to Anakin as Galen was to Nihilus.

Nihilus considered Galen/Starkiller/Varus a son.

"No." Anakin replied.

"No? It is part of payment to be equally compensated, and then for me to return payment for a favor? How is that not compassionate?"

The tone, the way he reduced lives to an economic equation, made Anakin squirm. But, then… it was exactly this kind of logical thinking that the Jedi once strived for. The greater good, seeing a galaxy as a whole rather than the individual. It was a mindset he intended to change.

"Because people, lives, are not pieces on a board." Anakin replied simply. He dropped the crystal into a cloth and looked to his family.

Luke was unconscious. Right now, that was the greatest blessing they could have asked for, because even asleep, he looked like he was having a nightmare. Padme was bordering between panic and crying over him, and Leia was much worse off with the uncontrolled state of a child. Anakin picked his little girl up in his arms and helped them. They would need to get Luke to a bacta-tank before the damage became permanent.

Anakin handed the bag holding the crystal to Visas, and noted how she hesitated. She was terrified, but she took it from him. "Take it to Mandalore. He will know what to do with it." He instructed her.

* * *

The throne room comes into view.

All through my run I've come across countless bodies, both of my people and of the Ravager droids to turn on them. In hindsight, my people were taken off guard and isolated from each other, but were also strong enough to defend themselves.

I hear Ahsoka gasp in the distance behind me. I sense her pain. A lot of these people she knew. Typical of her to try to be friends with everyone. I knew them too, but from a more distance stance. They revered me too much to get to know me. They were never comfortable around me, despite my efforts.

The throne room door is wide open.

I run in lightsabers drawn and look for Leland. He is on the other side of the room peering out of the glass. Bodies litter the floor. Many of them have cut throats. Leland himself has no bandages on his arm. I see an arm without muscle or flesh, only bone and a black mist around it. He turns slightly and I see half of his face is that of a skeleton. No skin. No muscle. Just bone and Void.

So this is what he looks like behind the mask.

I had come here hoping it was all wrong, that my family wasn't as messed up as I thought. But now that I see his face… now that I see what is behind the mask. Now that I feel the energy's and malice and sheer madness coming from him, I know.

Ahsoka gasps at the sight.

"Welcome, brother." Leland says. He turns to look at me.

Half of his face is beautiful, almost feminine. The kind of beauty mother might have had at one point. The other half is skeleton, dark mist, and an eye-socket as dark and empty as a black hole trying to pull me in. He smiles widely in madness.

I have always sensed he was dangerous, but it was a hidden danger. Now the danger is fully exposed. It was not a dangerous feeling that is normal, anyone can be dangerous, but a danger of base madness.

"Care to see the end of the world with me?"

"Not interested." I reply. I sense he isn't going to outright attack, yet. I turn off my lightsabers, but keep them in hand.

"Awwwww, don't be like that!" He sounds like a child. "Not when we are finally at the end of it all! These are the moments to be cherished!"

End of it all?

"End of what?"

Leland smirks darkly. "The galaxy is burning, brother. They sought to unite here, but they have only been scattered further. The galaxy is ripe for the war to come!"

"You mean Valkorion." I reply as a question.

He laughs. "Exactly the same! A very insightful man! He opened my eyes. Hey!" His eyes widen under a bright idea. "Why don't you join me? He will accept you too! We're the same, you and I!"

"Hardly. We're nothing alike."

He smirks and chuckles. "You don't see it… do you? Oh, it must be awful… I know what it is to be lied to, brother. But to lie to yourself? That's special. Does that make you the criminal or the victim?... I don't know." He looks away in thought. "I really don't know. I might just ask him."

An explosion rocks the ship slightly and I steady myself, but Leland just laughs in glee.

I've about had enough of this. Still, there is one thing on my mind. "I don't understand, brother. Why? Why have you done this?"

He frowns slightly, but then smiles brightly again. "Why? Hehehe, to show them what it is like."

I sigh inwardly. Can't he just give me a straight answer. "Show who what WHAT is like?"

"Ah, well. That is quite a thing isn't it. To show them what it is like to be alone."

"…"

"That's just stupid." I admit.

"That's because you don't realize something." He walks toward me. "We're Miraluka. Miraluka are about community, yes, but it goes so much deeper than that. The Network is like a drug… the union of thought and emotion. For hundreds of generations we have been intwined within it. No one is alone, everyone feels companionship, that they are part of a team, that they are part of something bigger. It is something so ingrained into us that no Miraluka is kept out… except for a few." He smirks madly. "I've seen it… the slow decay into insanity. The desperation. The fear… Only a few criminals in history have been kept from the warming embrace of the union. They feel like they sit alone in darkness, in total isolation. I've seen isolation, brother. People tend to go mad. The coming of Nihilus only made it worse, as the idea of isolation and darkness has become associated with him. Nihilus is the boogeyman!" He laughs. "Nihilus hides under all our beds! in all our closets!.. But no, he hides within our very hearts and only together do our people feel they can resist the fear of him and the terror of knowing we are the last… that we are alone in the universe."

Leland continues to walk towards me and explains, "You and I… I felt it in you, brother. The same dark lingering isolation. The exile from this union…"

"Your wrong!" Ahsoka yells. "Varus is going to make a great Keeper! He is accepted by his people!"

Leland smiles knowingly. "But does he accept it?" He looks to me. "Or do you believe yourself… alone?"

Starkiller chuckles in my memory._ "Oh, Varus. Fight me as long as you wish, but look at your wounds. Loneliness and misunderstanding is our reality, and you know this. Pain… death… loneliness… I know your pains, your dreams, your nightmares… and your secrets. Deep down, below all the bluster and confidence and sarcasm, all the words and bonds, behind everything you have tricked even yourself into believing, you know the truth… and you are simply waiting for the day you are once more alone."_

"There is a very real reason we are the way we are, brother." Leland says. He stops in front of me. "You and I… have never been a part of the union. We are exiles among our people. We are alone."

"You're-!"

"Right." I finish for Ahsoka. Ahsoka stares at me in horror that I am agreeing with him. I agree whole-heartedly with Leland. Leland smiles madly in victory. "Ahsoka. Our bodies are Miraluka. We're born addicts… and Leland and I have never been accepted into the Network. I haven't joined into the Network, not only because I don't care for the responsibility yet, but because I know my people. They fear me. They feel the taint of Nihilus on me. If I join the Network… I will bring that with me. Leland and I… we are both my people's nightmare, just as much as they say I am their savior."

"Loneliness is a gaping hole… it just keeps pulling and pulling until there is nothing left to pull, then it keeps going anyway." Leland says knowingly. "Just like Nihilus."

"Our people were doomed either way." I reflect. "Accept me and they have the taint of Nihilus lingering in their hearts, or dismiss me and the Network breaks and they become alone."

Is this why I am always bored? Why I'm always running and running and trying not to reflect and think? I know I feel guilt, but this is different. Like a gaping maw is opened beneath me and if I slow down I will only fall in. If I stop, I will realize how alone I am. And then my guilt will follow and I will be surrounded by my demons.

Because I'm a Miraluka…

A Miraluka needs the Network.

Like a thirsty man never given water or a hungry man never given food.

Does Rebhorn even realize what he has been trying to do all this time? Are my people ignorant of how much they truly need the Network? Or do they have no idea, and only people outside of it like Leland know? Then again, you don't truly realize what you have had until you lost it, as they say. No wonder Leland is so dangerous. He knows what is important because he never had it, he saw others with it and knew what he had lost in life.

Well, that explains why. It explains a lot actually.

Leland walks back to the front of the bridge to look out the window. He laughs at the sight of explosions and chaos. The Ravager is in battle with other ships out there. We need to take control.

I step forward to head towards him and arrest him, but I trip over blood-soaked bandages and stop myself from landing on a body.

Mother?!

All I can do is stare. The numbness in my heart deepens and snaps. Rage fills me and pain and guilt and anger.

No.

No!

Not when I finally had mother again!

Ahsoka gasps, again, and this time jumps onto my mother to see what she can do. I watch Ahsoka check vitals and begin healing techniques, but all I see is the smoke lingering from the pistol in mother's hand. I look up to Leland and snarl.

"You killed her?!" I snap on my lightsabers. Leland doesn't respond.

"Varus!" Ahsoka yells. "We need to get her to a doctor! Her vitals are dangerously weak!"

"She's alive?!" I ask.

"Barely!"

"She's alive?..." Leland asks.

I stoop down to check mother myself. She has a pulse, but its weak. Very weak. She could die at any moment. There is a burn on her temple but its small. The pistol looks old… very old. When was the last time it was used? Hell, when was the last time any maintenance was done on it? It's a wonder the thing was able to fire at all. A dirty lens will make it barely usable to burn your fingers, much less kill something.

"Shes… alive…?" Leland murmurs, closer.

"Can you get her out of here?"

Ahsoka shakes her head. "It would be dangerous to move her."

"She can't be alive!" Leland yells. "I WON'T LET YOU TARNISH IT!"

I block his sudden attack with my lightsabers and our battle begins. Pathetically enough, I expected something better from him. He's not much of a fighter at all. His attacks are wild and uncoordinated, but not in the way mine are. My attacks appear wild and appear uncoordinated to throw people off and I aim to kill. Leland is just being a child with a pair of vibro-blades.

"SHE LOVES ME! I WON'T LET YOU GET IN THE WAY OF IT!" He yells loudly.

I avoid outright killing him. My plan is to capture, believe it or not. So I need to weaken him down.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I love this!" Leland yells while he continues to attack me like an idiot. He is very bad, and yet he doesn't seem to be putting in the brain cells to realize he isn't going to win. He just keeps coming at me again and again. I see him starting to sweat, he may have skill in something, but he is throwing all of his skill out the window. He actually fights like a drunkard. There is a martial art style called the Drunken Fist, but this ain't even close to that. He's outright lost it. "I love you brother! I love mother! Let's end this together! Let the exiled brothers end it on the bridge of the monster that birthed us! How fitting that mother has already moved on to hold seats for us!"

I shoot lightning at him and he jumps away.

Leland lands away on all fours, like a spider. His vibro-knives still in his hands and a wild glee in his eyes. He kicks off wildly with his feet, dashes in, and swings up at me. I deflect the attacks to the side. I swing widely but he jumps clear over my swipe, kicks me in the face, spins back, lands on all four again, and comes at me. I deflect his blows easily. He jumps and tries to swipe down onto my head, but I deflect it as well and throw him off.

He comes at me a third time and I continue to deflect his attacks. This time, he doesn't allow himself to be pushed off like the annoying gnat he is, and he suddenly drops his knives to stab me with his Void-arm. I drop my lightsabers as well, shroud myself in Void and lightning, and grab his wrists.

"Gotcha." I kick him square in the chest.

He flies away from me, but I have attached to his wrists a pair of lightning whips. It won't hurt him, but I control the lightning to be bound together and become handcuffs of sorts. He lands on the ground wheezing, screaming, cursing, and straining to free himself. "NO! NO! NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO! LET ME LOVE YOU! WHY DO YOU HAVE TO RUIN IT! WHY CAN'T WE JUST EMBRACE IT?!"

I take his bandages and wrap his mouth in them. I don't care to hear any more of it. I grab him by the arms and lift him up. I drag him towards Ahsoka. She stands and looks at me worriedly. She is back to her shy tendency to fundle with her hands. "That was actually kinda easy." I smirk. "Pathetic, I expected better."

"His art was more in… talking… it seems." She says.

"Seems like it." I agree. I drop Leland, untie my belt from my pants, and use that to wrap his wrists. The leather works well. And no my pants aren't going to fall just because of that -stop looking at me like that! I tie him to a pipe and make sure it is good and tight. He doesn't seem to mind. His muffled rambling has to do more with… actually I don't know. He's insane.

And Ahsoka is still nervous about something. Her eyes are downcast, filled with pain, and is trying to work up the nerve to either say or do something. I wait expectantly.

"Varus…"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry." Her eyes are on mother.

"… She's dead?" I ask neutrally.

"She already was… her brain… there is no brain function. I sense nothing from her."

"But her heart-"

"Doesn't know to stop…" She murmurs.

I stare at Ahsoka a moment. I feel a knife plunge itself in my chest, but I continue to just… feel numb. I continue moving regardless. It's all too surreal to react to. I've already used up my surprised-faces quota for the year. "Let's check on Tree-Hugger. We need to take control of the Ravager and I can't do it from here." I turn away from Leland and mother's body to pull up my datapad, but Ahsoka stops me from lifting it and holds me from behind.

She continues to hold me.

"Ahsoka? What are you doing?" I ask.

"I'm afraid… and hurting."

"Why? Leland isn't a problem anymore. Everything is going smoothly."

"I'm hurting because you're not…" She whispers. She squeezes me tight.

"…"

"You lost your brother… you lost your mother… and you just keep going. You are in so much pain you can't see it. And I'm afraid… of what will happen when you do see it, or if you refuse to ever see it. I'm afraid… because you say Leland is right about you."

"He is-"

"HE IS NOT!" She yells into my chest. "You are not alone! You never have been! You had the Ravager! As a Jedi, you had Fly-boy and me! As a prisoner you had a couple of guys following you around! As a slave you had Cahjinawl and a brother! As a Miraluka you had a mother, a people, a crew, friends… and you have me! The only time you have ever been alone is when you are Sith! Because as a Sith you push people away!"

"I am a Sith." I say neutrally.

"You know what I mean. You are a Sith, you are a Miraluka, you are a Jedi. You are many things, but the mindset you choose to have from day to day changes regardless of the side of the Force you use."

We linger on that note for a moment. I return her hold and think a moment. I feel myself soften a bit. A tiny bit. Its one thing to feel numb and hard-headed, its another to simply acknowledge… I don't feel anything, and I don't like it. I know I'm in pain, I just can't feel it. I can't let myself feel it. Not yet.

"Ahsoka, I love you. But Leland is also right about me. I'm a Miraluka. A Miraluka is a born addict to the Network. Growing up as a child, I had a family and was loved and ignorant, so I didn't feel it. But as I grew, I should have been joined to the Network when I was old enough. I know I am not technically alone, but I am numb to that just as much as to the pain I'm in right now. As a Miraluka, I simply NEED the force bonds that come with the Network. It's a part of who we are, and I've been without it for so long…"

"You were happy and content as a Jedi."

"Well. Yeah. I was. I was truly happy. I wasn't alone then."

Ahsoka is silent a moment, and it's the thoughtful kind of silence. Scary that I can pick it up on what kind it is.

"We had a force bond then… the three of us."

I scrunch my face in disgust. "You mean that annoying mental-crap that Tree-Hugger had us do as a team? As if I didn't have enough fingers digging through my brains. He kept jumping into my head telling me to do stuff or NOT to do stuff! I had enough personalities in my head as it was without him adding to the mix!"

She giggles. "But you were also happy. What was so bad about it?"

"Trust me, the last thing I needed was you guys in my head. That's still the case."

"Varus, I… I think it would be good for us if we did that again."

I tense. Hell no. That's not happening.

"It will help you." She says. "You're afraid of what people will see, but what they will see is a lonely person who reacts outwardly against the loneliness. I know it's scary, but I think it will help you a lot."

Damnit. "You're cheating." I argue. "You're not supposed to make sense. But its more than loneliness. Its guilt and… that's VERY intimate."

"After what we did last night I don't think 'intimacy' is going to work for you."

"… damnit…"

"And you know I'm not afraid of seeing your guilt, Varus. You already told us your crimes. And I forgave you for what you did to Master Koon, and I know Master Koon would be smiling on you and forgive you as well."

I close my eyes and sigh inwardly. I really can't get a proper word in. I can't argue against it. It's just… ridicules. How many people out there are lovers to a girl whose father figure they murdered in cold blood? That's just outright messed up. I can't wrap my head around it.

"You did say you would be willing to learn to dance with me…" She adds.

"Stop using my words against me… it's not fair." I pout, but sigh. "I'll consider it. Can I call Tree-Hugger now?"

"Not yet."

I swear she is taking advantage of me for hugs now. Behind her back I type some messages to Tree-Hugger and he gives me a status update. He's near the heart, Koj and him got Nihilus in the crystal, and the resistance is taking control of the ship. Well, since everything is going well, I can let Ahsoka take them. But as soon as the ship is back in my control, I'm calling everybody to tell them to shove it and stop attacking us!

It says something about us that Ahsoka and I are being attacked from all sides by multiple fleets aboard a ship that is still beyond our control and trying to kill us, and we're calmer now than we were getting here.

Ahsoka says my family is insane…

The ship jolts and we stagger. That wasn't an explosion… that was something else.

The ship twists and turns and resists against whatever it is going against us. Tree-Hugger sends us a message he removed the program that controlled the Ravager, and I feel the Ravager returnining to life all around us, but the Ravager is panicking. And not because we are being fired on.

The Ravager violently is shoved aside and we fall to the ground. "What is happening!?" Ahsoka yells.

"I don't know! Ravager, you back girl?"

"Yes, Master! I am so sorry abou-"

"Forget it, its fine. Blame Leland. Did something hit us?"

Again, the Ravager is shoved to the side and we all tumble. "No! Nothing is hitting me! The enemy fleets have stopped firing! They appear confused? Should I ask them why they are confused?"

"Nah, forget it." I reply.

Ahsoka closes her eyes. "Theres… something from the planet. I can't. Its weird. Something has hold of us!"

"Tractor beam?"

"No, its… Force related. I've never felt anything like it."

I close my eyes as well. I feel it too. Something, like massive hands have taken hold of the Ravager. Its coming from the planet. It feels familiar… almost like…

…

A chill goes down my spine. "Oh no."

* * *

Starkiller grows angrily and kicks open the escape pod door. He clambers out and looks around. Theres a volcano in the distance, and more mountains, but the area is largely plains. There isn't a city in sight. Up in the sky he sees the space station, the Ravager, and a number of smaller ships in fleets fighting. A few ships are destroyed and fall into orbit only to burst in balls of flame.

The blasted woman tricked him! He could forgive and forget, after all, she was mother. But his brethren were dead! He didn't feel his brothers anymore. They were dead! All dead!

He was the last.

Starkiller pulled out a datapad and called the ship down. A ship was hiding on the planet, and would need to pick him up to get him back up there. With that call done, he made a second call to Leland.

Leland didn't pick up. Starkiller looked at the datapad a long moment.

Leland was OCD as Nihilus in many ways. He ALWAYS picked up a call.

Leland was compromised…

The Ravager was no longer in their control.

They had lost.

No! NO! Starkiller would not accept it!

Angrily, he looked up towards it, and decided… he wasn't going to accept that. He reached up with the Force, grabbed hold of the Ravager, and PULLED!


	82. Ep16 - Marek Unleashed Part 5

**Note: I just wanna say this chapter had me crying. From the moment I started to the end, I have shaken with the sheer epicness of the images in my head (I see things visually in my mind, like an anime.) and I have tears going down my face as I end this chapter. I love this. Even if you all do not see this chapter the same way I do and do not feel the emotion in the lines that I feel, I will not regret writing it because this has been a powerful ride. I do not feel emotion easily, and I am sitting here sobbing even as I make note of how I feel here. Its not because its sad or happy or any one emotion in particular, but the sheer epicness and drama and intensity of feeling I am trying to express has me crying.**

**and incase anyone is wondering: THIS IS THE SAME STARKILLER AS FROM DANTOOINE! He's the leader Starkiller, the toughest of the clones. He's the one that faced off against everyone and killed Rahm Kota.**

**Also, let's add some music. Go to YOUTUBE and look up these songs:**

**#1 - Victory by Two Steps from Hell**

**#2 - As the Sun Rises by PostHaste Music**

**Bonus - What I've Become by Nightcore**

**Lets do this.**

**Note2: I just remembered something and this is important. I had made a teaser back in the first 10-15 chapters for Igor or somebody doing a last stand, and I need to be clear about something because it goes down to the Stooges identity in the story.**

**Their identity was not to be overly retarded, but a kind of annoyance/friendship that Varus had even in prison. His friendships are not calm most of the time. They were designed to be followers, to let me have some stupidity and insanity even as many characters get more serious and more grown up, and they are meant to show loyalty and belief in a guy who doesn't believe that much in himself.**

**Igor's last stand was originally going to happen as him dieing to slow down Starkiller and wound him in the leg. His death would be more guilt on Varus because he had misstreated them for so long, and enrage him into going back and killing a wounded Starkiller.**

**However, as the story progressed to this point, that wasn't going to happen. I accidentally made them too flawed, too stupid, and unimportant. Even Cupcake, who was meant to be more of a rival-follower looking to overtake the 'alpha', has more personality than them.**

* * *

Starkiller was not a philosophical person, but he had picked up some of the same things the original had picked up in his servitude of Nihilus. Or slavery. Or apprenticeship. Partnership. However they may choose to put it.

So as he meditated on the cooled surface of the volcano, as he tapped his energies into the energy surrounding him and the burning heat beneath him, he couldn't help but draw an interesting comparison to Sith. The planet was a living thing just as much as the plants on its surface and the people who inhabited it. Beneath all the skin was hot blood pumping through its veins. The blood pumped, burning and boiling, in a hateful manner destroying everything in its path, yet providing warmth and nourishment to the skin. The skin was warmed by the sun and cooled by the wind. It was an amazing sense of balance.

Also showed how much people knew, about the worlds they stood on, and about themselves. People go about their day and think to themselves that they are not bigots, that they cannot dislike a generic people simply for existing, that there is no way they can cross the line into evil. If only they knew how close to the surface evil truly lies, how much the freedom warms your bones.

(N/A: Song #1)

"The difference between us and ordinary people is that we don't lie to ourselves about who we are... wouldn't you say?" Starkiller said to his newly arrived audience.

He looked up to see Varus Wynn looking down at him from the rim of the volcano. His eyes were as red as the magma, and as burning hot as the center of the world.

"Where have you been?" Starkiller asked. "Six months is a long time to be away. While you have been off sucking face with the whore-"

The air exploded around Varus and ash splashed in Starkiller's face. As if it was possible, Varus' anger and hatred went up a degree and his concentration cracked ever so slightly to reveal the real emotion within.

Starkiller coughed. "Well, that's a surprise. Didn't think you had the guts. After all, it only took you long enough... even after I went so far as to give her an eye-opener." He smirked. "A nice little present. Left her breathless!"

Varus extended his hand and a burst of Force energy came down at him. Starkiller knocked it aside with barely a backhanded swipe and the cooled magma cracked where it impacted.

Starkiller had used the Void to absorb the energy of the volcano. It was how he healed, how he chose to meditate. Because of it, the surface was cool enough to stand on while still being stifling hot. It had taken a toll on him to heal his leg. Even now it felt like he was stabbed with a knife to the bone. At least he could walk again.

"Enough of this. Why don't you come down and play?" Starkiller taunted.

He expected Varus would do something interesting. It was part of their personality to do things their own way without considering the norm, to do things exciting. What he did not expect was for Varus to extend his hand, and drop his lightsaber. The lightsaber fell a pocket of magma. Red smoke went into the air as the lava melted the red crystal.

Varus extended one hand, flat and vertical, and slammed his fist sideways into it. Electricity crackled furiously around him, rippled across his skin, and joined together in his hands. He started to withdraw his fist, and as he did so, the lightning appeared between his fist and open palm only to weave around itself over and over and over into a flat rod. Inch by inch he withdrew his fist and continued to wrap the lightning around itself.

He drew a blade of lightning out of his palm. The blade spun around his fist backwards into his normal posture.

Starkiller grinned madly. **This. This was what he wanted! **Starkiller swiped the air with his lightning claws and yelled, "COME!"

No more words! The redemption versus the quest! Twenty years of work would not be tossed aside like it was useless! It was time to prove who was better, who had the right to exist, who's reality would survive. The original against the copy. The Light against the Dark. Forgiveness against vengeance. Love against hatred. Survivor's guilt against guilt of a villain.

Varus Wynn obliged by leaning forward over the edge of the rock cliff. He started to fall, but just as gravity took over, he kicked off the edge and flew like a missile straight for Starkiller. Starkiller met his downward attack happily and knocked him off. Varus flipped over him, landed on his other side, twisted and turned, swinging the lightning sword to Starkiller's side. Starkiller turned with him and met his attack with one of his own.

Varus created a second lightning blade and the true battle started. Neither moved a foot as they swung at each other recklessly. Neither allowed the other to gain ground. Every attack was met with another of equal measure. Their eyes never left the other's eyes. They poured all of their emotion into every attack. Every time Starkiller met his claws to Varus' blade, he felt how serious Varus was, and he knew without a doubt in his bones that Varus intended to kill him or die trying and Starkiller was of like mind. There would be no backup, no reinforcements, no roaches crawling out of the wood. No one would be here to heal them.

Only one of them was walking out of this alive, if any.

Starkiller hated Varus, yet loved him, just as he knew Varus hated and loved him. Varus was a part of him just as much as Starkiller was. Starkiller could not hate himself truly. That wasn't what this was about. It was about whether the path Starkiller had set for a life time was the right one or whether the path Anakin and Ahsoka had given Varus was right.

And that was what Starkiller hated. He hated Anakin for giving him a place to call home, for making him feel again, for reopening his scars rather than leave him numb, and finally proving it was all a betrayal. However, that he had come to forgive just as much as Varus did. It hurt… it hurt so much, but it didn't matter as much as the other Jedi. Anakin hadn't dealt the lethal blow to Starkiller. Ahsoka had.

Ahsoka had forgiven him. Ahsoka had taken all the pain and turned it into something… beautiful. Starkiller loved her. He knew Varus loved her. Ahsoka's existence was a healing balm to their soul. She opened every wound, reignited every scar, and then poured gentle, peaceful, patient love into it. She showed there was another way of dealing with loss and pain. A way that denied Starkiller… A way that denied his existence.

"**I WILL NOT DISAPPEAR!**" Starkiller vowed. He would not be forgotten! He would stake his place in the galaxy and prove his existence!

Otherwise… All of the pain, loneliness, struggle, tears, death, and hatred would be for nothing! He would become…

Nothing.

Starkiller struck furiously with renewed rage and Varus was forced on the defensive. Starkiller poured all of his power into the attacks. Lightning sparked all around them with his yells. Cracks snapped on the cooled lava surface, and flames shot up. Bursts of hot air exploded into the air and burned them, yet none of it mattered. One thing mattered. Them.

Starkiller only became angrier as none of his attacks hurt Varus. Varus evaded and maneuvered just out of the way of his attacks and blocked those he couldn't move against. He moved as fast, if not faster than Starkiller! When had he become this fast! He wasn't this fast… a week… ago…

Varus was in the Gamma state! He was fasting on purpose to sharpen his mind! Varus wasn't faster than Starkiller physically, but his mind was sharper, more focused. Varus' true power was fully unlocked and unleashed.

The odds of Starkiller's victory dropped down just a bit, but he didn't mind. If anything, he reveled in it more! This is exactly what he wanted! He wanted Varus at his best!

Starkiller managed to land an attack in. He kicked Varus in the gut and Varus took several steps back in pain. He nearly fell to the ground, but recovered and sent a Force burst at Starkiller. Starkiller laughed madly and responded in kind, having already anticipated it.

Their energies met and immediately evened out. Like two unstoppable forces going head to head, the only things that suffered was everything around them. Starkiller strained against the power of his equal, and Varus sweated and panted in turn. The ground cracked and a giant line split across the top of the volcano like it had been cut with a blade. Lava shot up all around them and poured down the sides of the firery mountain. Shockwaves of air pulsed off of where their two attacks met nearly knocking them both down on its own. Rocks shattered, clouds parted above them and reformed into a storm, wildlife fled for miles, lightning crackled around them, and the winds stirred and spun around them into a weak tornado. The tornado evolved into a lightning lit spiraling pillar of fire and at its apex stood two men pushing every thought, every emotion, every ounce of their being at each other in a desperate struggle to find out which was more.

Starkiller hissed quietly, "You will not escape your own shadow!" His eyes flicked ever so briefly to the side, and Varus's eyes widened in realization just before a rock hit him in the head.

Varus blacked out for an instant.

An instant was all Starkiller needed.

He yelled out and with renewed vigor hit Varus with all of the energy built up around them. It hit Varus like a cannonball and he flew back. Varus found himself flying through the air and covered himself in the Void just in the nick of time. He hit the cliff side of the inside of the volcano and was imbedded into it. However, he had not enough time to be thorough. A lot of bones had cracked. He tasted blood in his mouth.

"Well, least I'm alive." Varus coughed up blood. "That should have killed me…"

His eyes widened as he saw Starkiller gather up another attack, and he pulled himself out of the hole and leaped away before it hit where he was a moment before. Varus jumped to the top of a stalagnite, then another, then another. Each time his feet touched ground, Starkiller was unleashing an attack on him.

Varus could not allow Starkiller to dictate the fight before he loses footing. He formed miniature lightning spinning discs and tossed them at Starkiller. Starkiller hissed in aggravation. He stopped his attacks long enough to form claws and cut the discs into nothing but discharged energy.

That was all the time Varus needed. Varus stood his ground and formed a difficult attack. He called down a full lightning strike, not on Starkiller, but onto himself. Lightning struck from the heavens on Varus and he redirected it at Starkiller through his palms.

Starkiller called on the energy of the volcano under his feet and it answered. With outstretched palms, magma and fire rose up to meet the lightning strike. Lava exploded on impact but the magma matched the lightning inch for inch. The magma rose, but the lightning cut it down and made it explode with each impact. Millions of strikes hit the magma. Starkiller transitioned his attack. He called on the raw energy of the volcano and transformed it into its most raw state of power, not heat, but energy, lightning.

Lightning extended from Starkiller to match Varus' lightning strike. A second time their energy was perfectly matched yet neither gave the other any ground.

Growing frustrated, Starkiller tried shooting rapid bursts of lightning like bullets from a machine gun rather than one long stream. Varus matched it and for a brief time their attacks looked like a pair of lightning titans in a punching match. Every fist thrown was matched fist for fist. Lightning never stopped pouring down on them one after another, and lightning did not stop rising up in its transition from heat to energy. Every blow was met by an equally powerful and rapid blow, and a shockwave exploded each time in the air. Latent electricity rippled across the ground around them and in the air.

Yet, they were not perfectly even. Not anymore. Starkiller had struck Varus with an attack earlier that wounded him. It wasn't enough to kill him, but it was enough to weaken him and slow him down. Varus was growing tired from the strain of fighting with broken ribs while Starkiller only grew more and more wild, more unpredictable even for his own opposite.

Slowly Starkiller gained control of the pace in their lightning punching match and he grinned in victory. Varus, growing desperate, stopped the attacks and instead shot lightning into the ground around Starkiller's feet. Starkillers attacks hit Varus and foreign lightning shot through his chest. But at the same time the lava and ground beneath Starkiller exploded and splashed over him.

Starkiller screamed in agony and pain and leaped away. He fell onto a higher ledge and rolled in the hot dirt to get rid of the flames licking at his skin. When at least the flames died away his skin was black and burned away to reveal muscle and bone. Never before had he felt such intense agony and his mouth opened in silent screams. Blood poured out of his mouth. The lava had entered his open mouth and burned his throat.

The lava rose up freely now, unrestrained of its cage. The volcano shook, smoke rose, sharp rocks and stalagmites fell all around them like arrows. They were high enough for the lava not to reach them. Openings had formed in the side of the volcano on a lower level for it to flow out of. Instead there was a pool of lava between them.

Varus fell to his knees from the lightning strike to his chest and desperately sucked in air. His body shook in pain, the amount of energy he had gained, and the amount of energy he had used in turn. Tears fell from his eyes. He could barely see in the smoke and he strained to see across the pool of lava to where he dimly saw an unmoving figure laying on the ground.

Varus struggled to his feet and limped to the edge of the lava pool. He breathed in and out deeply, using a Jedi technique to make the air clean in his lungs. He closed his eyes for a moment to allow himself a brief moment before opening his eyes again, stooping down, and in rising up, leaped across the pool of lava. He landed painfully and rolled across the ground.

Varus struggled onto his hands and knees and crawled across the hot red sand to where Starkiller lay. He looked down on him.

Starkiller's eyes were closed. His breathing was shallow and weak. He was unmoving… He looked almost at peace. He was diein-

Starkiller's eyes shot open full of pain, rage, and madness, and he lunged Varus. His yell was a wet gurgling sound as blood poured from his mouth, and his face was half melted off. He grabbed Varus by the throat, forced him to the ground, and choked him. Varus struggled against his weak grip, but he was so weak as well. Varus felt like he could barely lift his arms, much less force the man off of him. He struggled and flailed around, but Starkiller was too heavy.

Starkiller laughed. The laugh was not one of hatred, but of pure unrestrained madness and glee. The pain and being so close to fainting or dieing had cracked him. He laughed the laugh of insanity demanding solely for the man's death.

It was also the laugh of mad victory.

Starkiller continued to laugh with his pained, wet gurgling sound, and had a coughing fit where blood splattered all over Varus' face.

He choked Varus and squeezed with all of his strength, but Varus did not look like he was in pain or even having trouble. And Starkiller came to a final realization.

He didn't have the strength to choke him.

He tried, oh he tried all right. But his hands shook in burning agony and from loss of energy. He barely held on to the border of consciousness, much less life. The one thing that kept him going was willpower. He no longer had any strength in his limbs or power in his body. He couldn't pull enough braincells together through the burning cloud of pain to call on the Void to consume Varus and heal him.

If anything, the one thing that kept Starkiller from falling flat on Varus' face was his hands supporting him on the man's neck. Varus did not struggle anymore, but attentively watched his every expression.

"You're not going to kill me?" Starkiller struggled to say. He knew Varus could. Varus still had enough power to create a burst of lightning and cut Starkiller's heart if he wanted to, but he didn't.

"No. You've lost. You're dieing."

Starkiller laughed again, this time of comedic remorse. Tears poured from his eyes. He was sad because he had lost. He was furious because he was the lesser one. He was happy because he got this chance to express his emotions and desperation to his own brother, and looking into Varus' eyes he knew the message had been expressed loud and clear.

(N/A: Song #2)

They were two sides of the same coin. Two sides of the same person. Neither could destroy the other without destroying themselves. Starkiller did not want to disappear. Varus didn't have to like him, or accept him, but he couldn't just ignore himself or kill his darker side entirely. We are all entitled to make mistakes, but what separates a hero from a villain is how we learn from those mistakes. A villain will see his past as a weakness to be erased. A hero will see his past as experience, to be acknowledged and incorporated into the present.

Starkiller continued to laugh even as he cried. There was so much to feel in the end. He found it funny that he was the one with his hands on the man's throat, yet he was the loser. And whether it was madness on Varus' part, he chuckled as well.

The laughter ended with Starkiller throwing up blood again. He collapsed onto Varus' chest, no longer having the energy to hold himself up. Varus strained to push him off, and Starkiller fell onto the ground next to him. And there they lay.

Varus turned his head enough to look into Starkillers eyes and of all the things he expected to find, it was loneliness.

Past the fighting, past the words, past all the sarcasm and insanity was a central core. Their fight had run out of energy for fighting and there was little needs for words. In the end, who they were was exposed openly.

Just as Leland said… who they truly were was exposed in their final moments.

Loneliness was at the very core of what made them who they were. It was what Nihilus created in them, what his design was for them. Starkiller and Varus had very obnoxious and possibly insane personalities to combat the pain in their hearts, the loneliness they felt every day as the shadows clung to them and darkness circled in. It fueled their pain, their hatred, their purpose of living. They would both deny it all the way to the end, but now…

It was the end.

and being Miraluka only made it worse... It was like being a Manaan without the water.

"I don't want to be erased…" Starkiller whispered.

"I know…"

The moments passed by in silence, before Varus decided to speak. "You know… Ahsoka knows. She knows everything. She… forgave me. I don't know how she can, but she has." Varus turned his head to look at Starkiller.

Starkiller met his gaze, and Varus no longer saw hatred or pain. Starkiller's slow death had moved beyond pain it seemed. He was calmly observing… and… smiled.

"Maris… Ahsoka. We spared them purposefully as seeds to grow and provide an end to our path. And now she has." Varus smiled to him. "She forgave you."

Starkiller's eyes were wide in amazement. Varus smiled in turn knowingly. He too found it amazing that she could. But then, that is what made him love her. Varus continued gently, "I won't kill you, Starkiller. I can't. Instead, I'm going to put you to sleep. Its time you rested. Doesn't sleep sound nice?"

"Sleep…" Starkiller whispered. He didn't say so, but it looked appealing to him. He was tired. Tired of the pain, the fighting, the hatred.

They rested a bit longer, and suddenly Starkiller snapped. He lurched around on the ground a bit. He panicked, "I can't see! I can't see!"

His death was creeping closer. Varus grabbed him and held him to his chest. Starkiller shook like a leaf and gone was the tirade of a Sith. In its place was Galen, the lonely Miraluka boy who blamed himself. "I can't see. I can't see." Starkiller repeated like a mantra.

"I know. I know." Varus whispered. He felt there was something he needed to say. "Mother…"

Starkiller's unseeing eyes shot open and he stilled. "Mother?"

"She's dead."

"How?"

"Leland murdered her."

"…" Varus watched as something broke in Starkiller's eyes. Like a long forgotten hope was crushed or remembered. "I… swear. I..."

"I know you had no idea. You wouldn't have allowed her to get hurt. But… you know. She would have accepted you, Sith and all, even if you are a clone. She would have been overjoyed to gain a dozen of her first child back. I don't say it just because I'm trying to make you feel better, but she was just like that. She couldn't kill Leland even knowing how evil he was. She loved him too much. Mother may not approve of… well… all of us being Sith, but she would have loved all of you no less. She only stopped looking for us because she had to choose between her responsibility to her child and her shattered people. When I met her, she was a broken women, and I don't know what broke her more: The loss of her people because of Nihilus, Nihilus's touch on her, or having to choose between us and them. Just between us… I think it's the third. With her family she would have held much stronger despite millions of us dieing, and the Marek's would have reunited our people with support from each other as a family. But really, with us moving from place to place and being under Nihilus' heel, what was the odds of them getting us out of there? She had no choice, and that broke her. I have forgiven her, but I think, in the end, that broken woman wasn't completely my mother anymore. Mother died a long time ago, and in her place was the broken shell of one. Still, I think seeing me again brought back a bit of it. You should have seen the hope in her eyes, how badly she wanted to know us again. Oh… I introduced Ahsoka and Anakin to her… She climbed out of her hospital chair to bow herself to the ground and thanked Anakin for all he did for me; and she accepted Ahsoka right then as family, whether Ahsoka accepted it or not." Varus chuckled. "That's just the kind of mother she was… I guess. Not that I really have much to go on. You know?"

Varus glanced down at Starkiller. His face looked peaceful, content.

Starkiller was dead.

Varus felt tears pool in his eyes and gazed up at the smoke billowing out of the volcano. The numbness in him hadn't been shattered, but it had been coaxed away. The fight had been what he needed ironically to let it out. Now all he felt was pain and agony... and he wept because he blamed himself.

Varus had seen it. He had seen the effect Leland was having on mother. He saw her fear, her terror, everytime Leland was near. He sensed Leland was dangerous.

And he did nothing...

He was as much to blame for his mothers death as Leland and her was. His family was one giant tragedy.

The eruptions had calmed and lava flowed down the mountain from where the battle had cracked it, but the ledge on which they laid was untouched. Pity he couldn't see the stars through the smoke. "And then there's Visas… Sure you remember her. The two of you would have gotten along VERY well… oh yes…" Varus chuckled and the tears rolled down his cheeks. "Very well! I can just see it. Your introductions would have been propositions, and then we wouldn't find you two out of the damn room for a month! We would have thought you were dead or something. You two would be practically joined at the hip and we would need a chain-saw-lightsaber to separate you two…"

"Then HK would be like… your best friend ever. No joke. The two of you are so much alike its stupid… We were attacked once, and his reaction was: 'Master, it appears this meatbag has hostile intentions. This should be fun!'. And one time I asked him to use words to describe people beyond 'meatbag', and his response was 'But… but no other technical term can accurately portray the vast amount of bulbous slushiness present in your bipedal form! You are bags of slushing meat! I say meatbag simply because my optical sensors pick up all the water sloshing about inside your fleshy coating. It is… unpleasant. You have all these squishy parts, master. And all that water! How the constant sloshing doesn't drive you mad, I have no idea. Perhaps you would prefer the term liquidious fleshbag? Fluid-filled biped? Watery flesh-sentient? Non-compartmentalized organic meatbag?'"

Varus chuckled. "I think 'meatbag' works fine at this point. And don't ask it to describe love… that was just weird. And then there's Squirt… She's Koj's daughter. Let me tell you about her… I met her several years ago…"


	83. Epilogue - Varus's Plan

Epilogue - Varus' Plan

* * *

The Ravager fell under Starkiller's pull.

A ship approximately 3000 meters in length and 2000 meters in height while 1500 meters in width was a giant fireball in the sky. Massive dark clouds built in its wake as the space dust burned, freak hurricanes and tornadoes appeared under it, and after all the dust finished burning off into black smoke, the ravager appeared out of the dark cloud like a demonic ship from the wakes of hell.

The impact was comparable to a fiery hollow spear driven into the planet's crust, only to hit a layer denser and thicker than the ship itself. The ground split and cracked into an earthquake and water exploded up from an underground river. The front of the ship was crushed like a soda can and buried under the earth and flooded.

Something not known about metal is that it does ripple on impact, only very quickly, as the energy flows through it. The points where the ripple was too large for the metal to sustain, it cracked outward and exploded in base energy. Long story short, very little of the ship was without a crack of some thickness, the crack most prevelant being closer to the surface where the impact would have the least amount of give to bend.

The ship split in half at approximately one-fifth up from the nose. But the ship had not stopped falling. The remaining four-fifths of the ship drove down into itself and over, impaling itself on its own nose, shredding itself in pieces, and spinning like a boulder across the surface.

The bridge split off, being a separate extension, and was crushed like a can and sent spinning across the surface.

No one on the ship recognized any of this. All they knew was ear splitting noise, wildly spinning gravity, moving walls, explosions and fire, sparks, being thrown around, and general chaos.

Sixty-percent of those left in the wake of Leland's betrayal died instantly or in minutes.

Another twenty percent died slowly from burns, flooded compartments, being in a room sealed from life support and impossible to leave with limited air, or from being impaled.

Five percent went into a coma.

The remaining fifteen percent were permanently deaf, had broken bones over varying portions of their body, had major concussions, or were crippled in some way.

Fifty remained uninjured, out of a crew of 30,000. Thanks to nothing more than the Force power of the crew.

All that was left was silence. During it, everyone had experienced such a chaos of the senses that all they could do was wait for it to be over. When it was over, something as gentle as the wind or birds crying as they fled was silent. They could barely comprehend the world around them. No one moved, no one dared to breathe, confusion and terror filled them. No one but Varus knew what was happening and why.

Shell shock didn't cover it, but do let it be noted that HK was near the hanger area fighting other droids when it happened, and the assassination droid loved every moment of the whole thing. When it was all done, HK stood on its remaining one limb with one of its eyes dangling by a wire and cackled in glee.

Varus rose from the wreckage, dragging three bodies out of the bridge's shattered windows. He made sure Ahsoka was comfortable, tied Leland to the wreckage, and laid his mother next to Ahsoka. He looked out over the land, saw a volcano, sensed Starkiller, and walked.

Koj climbed out of the wreckage with Cahjinawl and headed towards the bridge wreckage. Cahjinawl was okay, but silent and stiff and clingy. Koj looked into the bridge and worried, but soon found the bodies laid out on the grass. He placed himself by them and watched Varus walk away. He sighed deeply.

An hour later, Ahsoka came to, and it was another half an hour before Koj could get her to understand the situation.

"Varus is heading for the volcano? Why?" Ahsoka asked. She shook like a leaf, but held steady.

"Starkiller is there." Varus was going to go kill him.

Ahsoka gulped. She struggled to breathe properly. She was covered in bruises and had enough adrenaline pumping through her to let an elephant fly. Adrenaline makes you shake. "We… we should go… make sure he… he doesn't fight alone."

"Agreed, but you cannot fight."

"I don't care! We just fell out of the sky and Varus ran off to fight a guy who could have killed the survivors easily! The last time Varus fought him, he lost. Even if all we do is help him limp back, we're going."

Koj looked to Leland, unconscious, and frowned. "I'll stay with him just incase. Be careful."

Ahsoka hurried toward the volcano. She limped, walked, and ran when she could. It was hours away, but she was fast on the Force's winds.

She felt the clash of energies ontop the volcano from miles away. She watched the volcano split down both sides like it was cut by a knife, the flame tornado spiral around it, the ENDLESS rain of lightning to slam down onto the volcano, the explosions and ripples of Force energy to blow away. She was only at the base of the fiery mountain and she was nearly blown away by the energies. It was like walking into a tsunami. Finally, the volcano erupted in an explosion upward and she screamed in fright.

Varus was in that!

She managed to divert the lava away from her and jump and climb to the top. She still felt him up there.

She couldn't climb over the top of the volcano, its edges pouring lava down the side she was on, but she could jump. She leaped over its edge and angled herself onto a crevice. She leaped again to the other side of the volcano where lava did not flow.

The body of Starkiller. She shuddered at the sight of it in the smog. Large parts of Starkiller were burned away to the bone, the rest was blackened flesh and muscle. His hair was gone. His face… was no longer possible to make out. The only way she knew him to be Starkiller was… well. Inuition? Hope?

And if Starkiller looked like this, where was Varus?! What happened to him?

"VARUS!" She yelled. She looked through the area as best she could. The blackened smog was thick and she coughed harshly. She managed to keep most of it out through the Force, but her control was shaky.

"VARUS!"

At last, she found a man sitting on a rock to the side. He had his head in his hands. "Varus?" She walked close enough to see him. He wasn't burned near to the extent Starkiller was, but most of his body had some kind of burn on it. He had to be in excruciating pain, but he didn't seem to notice. "Varus?" She asked.

Please don't let him be Starkiller…

"I can't do it…" He whispered.

"Can't do what?" She asked. He didn't answer. "Varus, lets get you back, okay? The crew needs you. We have casualities and need to call for aid. You did well. You killed him."

He didn't move and didn't answer. He was in a dormant emotional state. It looked like the volcano might blow again and hit him in the face, and he wouldn't care. Not that he was in a suicidal mentality like before, but he was in shock.

She gently tugged on him, and as he didn't resist, she pulled him up and walked him back.

"I can't do it." He muttered.

"Can't do what?"

He looked down guiltily as they walked. "My plan. I can't do it… I… I can, technically… I'm the only one that can… but I can't do it to you. Not to Squirt."

"What are you talking about?" She mostly asked to keep him talking. They passed another burnt tree and she sighed. The lava was flowing in front of them and Varus was in a state that she didn't want to risk Force-jumping over. She turned to walk him down and find another way.

"My plan… was to put my clothes on Starkiller, and find whatever ship he came on."

Ahsoka nearly stumbled. By the Force… The implications that came to her. She wanted to strangle him, to yell, to punch him in the gut, but she could only keep herself moving. It hurt, it hurt so much, but he also changed his mind, and the mental state in which he must have come up with this plan was… suffice it to say, BAD.

That would have meant faking his death. Making Ahsoka, Koj, Anakin believe he was dead! Cahjinawl… would believe her uncle was dead.

"Wh-why would you do that." She forced herself to sound calm, even as she wanted to cry in pain. She knew he didn't do it. She knew he made the plan while numb. But it hurt so much to think he would even consider it… and wouldn't have let them in on it.

"Don't cry. It's okay. He isn't going to do it." She thought to herself. He pulled himself out of the emotional rut he was in. He conquered his pain enough to realize the implications of his plain.

"My DNA is the same as theirs. I was Starkiller once. If there is a DNA tracer either in the ship or on some security in the Eternal Hand, I could fool it. If anyone talked to me, I could fool them. My plan was to backtrack the ship's flight path and find their base… their home and plant a beacon and sabatage them. While using Nihilus as a ticket in after Tree-Hugger captured him."

Like Koj said, she realized. Varus was a loner. He believed he had to do things like this alone, because that was what he was used to. The idea of depending on others wasn't ingrained in him like it was other people. He fought Nihilus alone, he fought armies and Jedi Masters alone, why not go off against the Sith alone.

He had Revan in his head, who went off to face the Sith TWICE alone.

Unconsciously he was still following Revan's path… until now. Now he pulled himself away from Revan enough to say he would do things differently.

"Your faked death would hurt everyone…" She said, letting some tears through.

"That was a part of it… If there was a chance the Sith or Eternal Hand saw through me, saw some glimpse that I was off… Leland would need to be convinced I was dead. Leland would need to somehow be tricked into sending a message back that I was dead… and Starkiller had returned with Nihilus. That the mission was in some way a success. The pain at my funeral would convince him, and his message would clear up what suspicion his superiors would have."

He wouldn't just inflict pain on them, he would USE it…

There was still one last thing she wanted to know. "And what about you?"

"I would most likely die in the end, and I would have been fine with it. The guilt of using you and Squirt like that would kill me, unless the Sith killed me first."

He was eerily calm while he said it. Ahsoka realized they weren't walking anymore. She struggled to speak right. Her throat refused to work right. She was too emotionally shocked by the day to speak clearly. "If you had done it, I never would have been able to forgive you for it, because you would have done it knowingly."

"I know."

"And you're fine with that?"

"Yes and no…" He was still disturbingly calm, speaking about something so bad it could shatter their relationship. He was numb again, she realized, but it wasn't near as bad as it was before. He would need to let it all out a bit at a time in phases, before he could be emotionally stable again.

He explained, "I… I would have had my heart broken, and been without a purpose anymore to live, knowing I had betrayed my family and been beyond their forgiveness, but I would have sacrificed all that willingly if it meant ending the war sooner… and saving you."

She didn't respond for a while, but focused on them walking.

"What stopped you?" She finally asked.

"You would have been able to move on… eventually. Get a nice guy one day who wasn't broken to his core, lacking my sense of humor, ugly as hell…" He tried to chuckle, but it came out weak. His weak attempt to make light of the situation dropped instantly on his own. He couldn't joke, he couldn't escape the guilt and reality of the plan he made up while so numb.

He said, "But Squirt… it would have broken her, and no amount of love from anyone would fix it. When I met her, she was hearing voices that told her to kill herself. She still has them… it's not as bad, but I doubt she will fully recover without proper therapy. Koj and I are her rock… She considers me her guardian angel. She always slept with me because of the voices… the nightmares. She witnessed the genocide on Tatooine first hand, she was made a slave, tossed around, beaten to within an inch of her life, abused and considered trash. You may be able to recover, Ahsoka, one of these days, but she wouldn't. She would most likely… listen to the voices."

Ahsoka didn't know what to say. But Varus kept going, "You are my forgiveness, Ahsoka… my foundation in the new life I am trying to figure out. I love you, but I am her foundation."

Ahsoka realized she was crying and rubbed her eyes with her sleeve. Varus stopped talking as they walked. He didn't ask for forgiveness, he probably felt he didn't deserve it. "You're not broken, Varus…"

Even a lot of parents didn't take their responsibility to family that seriously. A part of her was proud that all those life lessons over the years was making a change in him and that it was finally coming to fruition. Before, it had taken her and Anakin to pull him out of his lowest point, and this time, after nearly being that low again in pain, he pulled himself out of it. He was getting stronger.

This was the man she could love. NOT the one that made the plan to break their heart to do a Revan impersonation of going off into the sunset, but the one that turned around and said 'No! I'm going to take care of my family.'

"It's okay, you're forgiven." She said.

"… how can you do that? You're supposed to want to kill me, yell at me, slap me." He narrowed his eyes at her. "Is this going to come back to bite me in the ass?"

"Probably." She admitted.

"Then how can you say you forgive me… I can barely forgive myself…"

"Secret." She whispered with a small smile.

He rolled his eyes. "Is this another 'woman' thing?"

"Yep. Let's get you back. We have pieces of a crew to pick up."

"And a war to face."

She looked to him curiously. He explained his thought, "The Sith is out there Ahsoka. A thousand years this Emperor has been twisting the galaxy to his tune. He has used puppets to hit us round after round… I don't plan on us giving him another round. This is the last chance we have. Anakin may not be able to die to the Void, but he is aging. If he dies… the Chosen One, the prophesized one dies… then Valkorion wins. We finally know where to look, who he is, where to fight. He can't hide in the shadows anymore. He can't use time to his advantage like he has." Varus shuddered. "This war has been coming a thousand years. I can't even imagine how big it will be."

The sight of the Ravager came into view, and Varus sighed deeply. Ahsoka asked, "What?"

He whispered, "I'm tired... Just... so tired."


	84. Conclusion

AND THERE WE HAVE IT! That's In the Path of the Ravager.

How do I put this...

I'm sorry?

I had it planned for 18-20 episodes. I really did. I sat down to do it. Varus' plan was in motion. Koj was with Leland to make sure it went well on their end believing that Ahsoka would return a weeping wreck carrying Starkiller's body believing it to be Varus OR believing that Ahsoka would chase after Starkiller and beat the truth out of Varus and not let him face the Sith alone.

The truth is, that is what was going to happen. There was going to be several episodes of Varus infilitrating the Sith, finding the home world, planting a beacon, and then going off like Revan to try to kill the Emperor himself, because its Varus with Revan in his head and he was emotionally compromised as it was and just wanted to bring it all to an end. He wanted to save his family from the war to come by ending it himself.

It wouldn't have worked. Simply. You don't infiltrate a planet like that, where the Dread Lord's are, and NOT have your brain analyzed and your spy-status revealed. He would have been captured, logically. Anakin would have had to reveal the big truth after the funeral, be the one to face the backlash, and then it would have been hell. But at the same time, it would have been a lot of people realizing that just as much as they couldn't forgive Varus, they couldn't just leave him to die alone.

Ahsoka wouldn't be able to forgive Varus. Not this time. She would break up with him, but still want to at least save him.

Cahjinawl would either listen to the voices, or become a wreck as numb and emotionless as Varus was.

Hell, the galaxy would be going after that beacon, and it would have been a huge battle. I had battle plans mapped out, grand strategies to show just how insanely brilliant Nihilus is at battlefield strategy, and there would have been epic battles. Here is a list of the PEOPLE involved in the war I had planned: Revan, Son, Daughter, Anakin, Mandalore, HK, Sion, HK, Nihilus, Ahsoka, Koj, Varus, Revan's daughter (I forget her name at the moment), the Dread Lords, Scourge, Obi-Wan, Rebhorn, Falon... Valkorion. All in one gigantic war.

I won't say how it would have ended. Let's just say only one person would have been left on the planet as victor. The rest would have either been dead or fled.

I promised a war. I promised a massive epic plot after Starkiller, but when the time came... Despite how ready I was to start it.

Varus couldn't do it.

He was completely numb when he made the plan, and after releasing a good portion of his pent up emotion on Starkiller, and then reflecting on everyone outloud for Starkiller when he died... he realized what his plan would do. He could accept hurting Ahsoka, because, after all, she would be hurt, devistated, betrayed, but she would live in his mind. She would move on. Cahjinawl wouldn't be able to. Varus knew that.

So he couldn't bring himself to do it. He had time, opportunity, and couldn't do it. It was hard for him. He believed he could stop the war or bring it to a swift conclusion, and he had to balance that fact with a single life. Logically, as he would have been taught by Nihilus, that would have been the thing to do. It would have been greedy for him to choose one life over the lives of a galaxy. Not to mention, HE WAS RIGHT! He was the ONLY one who could impersonate Starkiller PERFECTLY, right down to the DNA, and infiltrate the Sith to their core as one.

To a degree, when the war comes, he will bear the guilt of the war. Knowing he allowed it to be put off even by a little bit. But then, that is the burden of people like Revan and Varus, that truly and honestly believe they can and choose not to. Some burdens people just shouldn't have to take. There is nothing wrong with taking responsibility in the small things. Naturally, Revan and Varus should use their responsbility to the fullest extent of their power by playing major roles in the war against the Sith in their respective times, but there is a difference between wisdom and stupidity. Wisdom would say join the war. Stupidity would say face it alone without being ordered to just because you think you can.

I really tried to write the war, or at least how the war starts, but Varus wouldn't let me. My philosophy in writing is that I don't MAKE my characters do anything. They have life of their own. They decide what to do, what to say, and all I do... is document it. I'm the journalist that watches events as they happen, they aren't my events.

So I let Varus decide. I sat him down. I looked at his emotional state and saw it was healthier than it was before fighting his brother. I saw his conversation with Starkiller. I told Varus to get started on his plan, and I saw the turmoil in him as he tried to start... and I let it go. He couldn't do it. Doing it would have literally DESTROYED him. I let Varus sit on a rock, put his head in his hands, and realize 'I can't do this'.

* * *

Sooo... yeah.

Varus wasn't cooperating with his own plan, so I decided to let that be the end of this season. Starkiller vs Varus was at the core of this fic, and I will not tarnish that by adding more and more and more to it. We got to explore the Miraluka, we got to find the Forge, and we got to end a bunch of storylines. Varus had issues with his family a lot, but at the end of the day, it all came down to Starkiller and Varus. And since we coincidentally just killed the main villain of this fic (We can say Nihilus and Valkorion are villains, but being bigger and badder doesn't make them the focus) I decided to let that be the way it ends. Like a nice wrapped up bow you didn't quite realize it was time to have wrapped. A bit early...

I really didn't think the story would get this far. I really had no idea... its freaky how things get a life of their own, and an amazing part of my day is reading people's reviews. Some have ticked me off and thankfully they aren't repeatedly bashing me, but most leave me smiling and feeling like my effort to write and publish here is worth it. Knowing that people enjoy it is pushing me to explore it further and see what juicy things I can pull out of it! :D

I have also been enjoying it personally, of course. The scenes where I want certain emotions conveyed, well... if I didn't feel it myself, I wouldn't believe anyone else would. I needed to cry and cry to believe others would when the time was write. I needed to have adrenaline rushes and feel all bouncy in my bed (I sit in bed and write) to get the feeling that something epic was going on. I needed to laugh until I cried myself to believe others would find something amusing. If I couldn't bring myself to feel something when I write, then how could I believe others would? I've been feeling everything right along with everyone. :)

So yeah. What do you think?

Me? I think I need a break from 'In the Path of...'

**Here is what I would like now.**

**What did you think? (0-10)?**

**Your favorite part and why?**

**Your favorite character and why? (And if you say Varus, pick a second one. That's too easy.)**

**what made you cry?**

**What made you happy?**

**Anything you wanna say?**

**Also what story do I work on next?** I will not be working on 'In the Path of Balance' next, because I really really need a break from it and I want to explore other things. I'll be starting a new fiction. I want to be writing 2 fictions simultaneously. (1 means I can't let myself drift away and take a break. 3 is too many.)

**Choice #1. Kingdom under Heaven**

Kingdom under Heaven is a kinda novelization of the Manga Kingdom. Its a political thriller. I think it will be good, but it will be difficult to write. Very difficult... the main character is a no-nonsense kind of guy.

**Choice #2. To the Top**

To the Top is a kinda novelization of the video game Tales from the Borderlands. Should be a lot of fun. :D The exact opposite of Choice #1 because there is a LOT of nonsense! :D

**Choice #3. A Song of Power**

Legend of Zelda. The Spirit of Hatred decides to give up on Ganondorf and grabs a new champion. Let's see what Ganondorf has to say about that. He's the main character. A mix of being exciting and fun. Maybe. Hard to picture Ganondorf and 'fun' being in the same room... Yeah, I don't see it happening. But should be neither too serious nor too laid back.

* * *

Here is my own answer to my own survey, because why not?

**What did you think? (0-10)?**

8\. A lot of things looked better in my head than written down. But the same could be said in vice versa. But I know I had flaws all along the way, but I just wrote too fast and had too much written down by the time I realized my mistakes to be able to go back and fix them properly.

**Your favorite part and why?**

Damnit... hard to decide. I would say when Koj and Varus were fighting and yelling. I still get chills when I read back through what Koj. (*Reads it again*.) Yeah, still get chills. I actually got that quote from somewhere. I was playing Amnesia the Dark Descent and Amnesia a Machine for Pigs at the time, and I heard the villain say that line, and I was like "o.o... epic! That is exactly how Koj feels!" I had to use it. It described PERFECTLY what Koj was feeling. If you want to know what I am talking about, youtube "Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs" and go all the way to the end of the game when you are on a conveyer belt on your way to die.

**Your favorite character and why? (And if you say Varus, pick a second one. That's too easy.)**

Varus, first, because while he may be a bit of a goofball at times and immature, he has so much emotional depth that it is difficult to go all the way through. It is like trying to peel away the layers of someone with so much abuse, guilt, loneliness, trama, and etc layer by layer. There are so many layers! If Varus wasn't as messed up as he is, this story wouldn't be near as juicy as it is.

But beyond that, I would have to say Koj. I'm sorry, I made a damn good OC. I think I unconsciously got inspiritation from Teal'C of SG-1 with a dose of Sasuke from Naruto. I actually had no idea myself until a reviewer pointed it out. Then I was like 'Damn... they are a lot alike aren't they?' I had no idea. As for why I like Koj... all I can say is: COME ON! HE'S KOJ MAN! He's awesome! :D

How'd people like me making him the leader of the Rebel Alliance? :P Kinda fitting.

**what made you cry?**

A. Lot. OF. Things.

The better question is, WHAT DIDN'T make me cry? I was crying after Bastilla died, for that whole part. I was crying when Koj left the Ravager. I was crying when Koj and Varus fought. I was crying when Koj was taken over. I was crying when Victoria died. I was crying when Starkiller died. I was crying while exploring how Cahjinawl and Varus met. I was crying when Ahsoka was briefly taken over by the Dark Side and wanted to do crap to Varus.

**What made you happy?**

I was really really happy when... err...

Uh...

Did I even write a happy part?

Oh, I know. I was laughing till I cried when you first meet Cupcake, and when HK was depressed and talking about how it wouldn't get to see the end of the universe. Yeah...

I think the only truly good happy happy parts was involving Varus and Ahsoka, and I am not a fan of sappy. Although I guess you could be happy for him saving Cahjinawl's life, and then not going off on his own and breaking her in the end. Though I am still ticked off about that. I WANTED TO WRITE THAT WAR! He wouldn't let me. Q.Q

**Anything you wanna say?**

Nah, I've said a lot. I've been leaving notes thus far. I loved writing this fiction. :) I hope I have inspired others, and I hope I haven't disappointed anyone with how it ended... Although, now that I think about it, Ahsoka might not have forgiven him like that in the end. Yes, she would forgive him because he grew up enough to pull himself out of his pain and stop himself, but to do it like that? Not sure what Ahsoka would have actually done, but then I have had difficulty with her. I'm not a girl.


	85. Sequel Teaser

Here is a teaser for In the Path of Keepers:

I walk through the village slowly. My eyes scan for any movement and my instincts are coiled like a snake. I stoop down over various bodies and check their neck. No pulse. One after another I find them dead. All of them have the same common clothes expected of an outlying village toiling in dirt, grass, and trees to make a living.

Before long, I begin to notice a pattern amongst the corpses. At first I thought they were simply old people. But everyone? Even the short ones? No. They look like Nihilus touched them. Nihilus rampaged through the village and killed everyone, woman, children, men, elders, doesn't matter, and they fought back. Several of them have blasters and lightsabers that look freshly used.

A cold chill goes down my spine. Is Nihilus loose?


End file.
